11 LC 35
2170
House
Bill 488
By:
Representatives Cheokas of the
134th,
Lane of the
167th,
Powell of the
171st,
Lindsey of the
54th,
Willard of the
49th,
and others
A
BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
To
amend Code Section 16-9-20 of the Official Code of Georgia Annotated, relating
to deposit account fraud, so as to clarify that a victim of deposit account
fraud or his or her agent is authorized to recover certain actual costs incurred
in collecting for the bad instrument; to provide for related matters; to provide
for an effective date and applicability; to repeal conflicting laws; and for
other purposes.
BE
IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF GEORGIA:
SECTION
1.
Code
Section 16-9-20 of the Official Code of Georgia Annotated, relating to deposit
account fraud, is amended by revising subsections (j) and (k) as
follows:
"(j)
For purposes of this Code section, no service charge or bad instrument charge
shall exceed $30.00 or 5 percent of the face amount of the instrument, whichever
is greater, except that the holder of the instrument may also charge the maker
an additional fee in an amount equal to that charged to the holder by the bank
or financial institution as a result of the instrument not being
honored; and
except that the holder of the instrument may also charge the maker an additional
fee in an amount equal to court costs incurred by the holder as a result of the
instrument not being honored and may also charge the maker a fee in an amount
equal to all certified and registered mailing fees reasonably incurred as a
result of providing notice as required by this Code
section.
(k)
An action under this Code section may be prosecuted by the party initially
receiving a worthless
instrument,
such party's agent, or by any subsequent
holder in due course of any such worthless
instrument, or
such holder's agent."
SECTION
2.
This
Act shall become effective on July 1, 2011, and shall apply to all instruments
made, drawn, uttered, executed, or delivered on and after such
date.
SECTION
3.
All
laws and parts of laws in conflict with this Act are repealed.