{"data":{"id":"us-ga/o.c.g.a.-10-1-438","jurisdiction":"us-ga","citation":"O.C.G.A. § 10-1-438","heading":"Disaster related violations of Part 1, 2, or 4 of this article; definitions; civil penalties; cause of action for damages and attorney’s fees.","body":"(a) As used in this part, the term:\n(1) “Attorney General” means the Attorney General or his or her designee.\n(2) “Disaster related violation” means any violation of Part 1, 2, or 4 of this article, which violation involves:\n(A) The sale or offer for sale of supplies for use in the salvage, repair, or rebuilding of a structure damaged as a result of a natural disaster; or\n(B) The performance of or offer to perform services for the salvage, repair, or rebuilding of a structure damaged as a result of a natural disaster.\n(3) “Natural disaster” means any natural disaster for which a state of emergency is proclaimed by the Governor.\n(b) Whenever the Attorney General or any court is imposing a penalty for any violations of Part 1, 2, or 4 of this article and the violation is a disaster related violation, in addition to any other applicable penalty there may be imposed an additional civil penalty not to exceed $10,000.00 for each transaction.\n(c) Any person who suffers damage or injury as a result of a disaster related violation shall have a cause of action to recover actual damages, punitive damages, if appropriate, and reasonable attorney’s fees. Amounts recovered in such an action shall have priority over a civil penalty imposed under this Code section.","path":["TITLE 10 Commerce and Trade","CHAPTER 1 Selling and Other Trade Practices","Article 15 Deceptive or Unfair Practices","PART 6 Disaster Related Violations"],"source_url":"https://archive.org/download/gov.ga.ocga.2018/release86.2022.11/gov.ga.ocga.title.10.odt","current_through":"Release 86 (2022-11)","vintage":"Public.Resource.Org bulk O.C.G.A., Release 86 (2022-11), retrieved 2026-09-17","retrieved_at":"2026-09-17T19:34:57Z","sha256":"6862c50a560102fe4a4700d2872e4e9da218af38dcf475d910b7f970ccc37adb","source_id":"us-ga","stale":false,"prev":"us-ga/o.c.g.a.-10-1-437","next":"us-ga/o.c.g.a.-10-1-439"},"notice":"GroundRules: Original legal text. Not legal advice."}