Dynamic Accident Lawyers: FACTA: Why Should I File A Debit Card Lawsuit?

credit-card-receipt FACTA One misprogrammed cash register printer can reveal sensitive bank account information by printing it on the receipt, exposing hundreds or thousands of consumers to credit card fraud.

Fortunately, Congress has provided consumers with a generous incentive to fight this careless practice in the provisions of FACTA, the Fair and Accurate Credit Transactions Act.

What is FACTA?

Congress enacted FACTA in 2003 in response to growing concerns about identity theft. To that end, they included provisions for debit card receipt lawsuits that would deter businesses from printing consumers’ sensitive information on their credit or debit card receipts.

FACTA prohibits businesses from printing more than the last five digits of a credit or debit card number on any electronically printed receipt, a process called truncation. Businesses are also forbidden from printing the expiration date on the receipt.

These prohibitions apply only to receipts printed via electronic means, however FACTA provides an exception to these requirements for handwritten receipts and those printed using the old mechanical imprint method.

Why Should I File a Debit Card Receipt Lawsuit?

What really sweetens the pot for plaintiffs is FACTA’s provision for statutory damages. Each willful violation of FACTA – that is, each willfully-printed receipt that is not within FACTA compliance – can cost the offending merchant a minimum of $100 and up to $1,000 in damages.

The plaintiff still has the alternative of proving actual damages, if they would surpass the statutory damage amount. However, at least one appeals court has held that a plaintiff does not need to prove or even allege actual harm to bring a FACTA debit card receipt lawsuit. The court said that merely printing a noncompliant receipt can create grounds for a FACTA lawsuit.

These damages can really add up in a FACTA class action lawsuit. Since the FACTA receipt provisions apply to receipts printed by automated equipment, one receipt that’s out of FACTA compliance could be a sign that many other such receipts were printed.

A FACTA class action lawsuit can make the offending business account for all such noncompliant receipts, not just those of an individual plaintiff.

Two recent FACTA debit card receipt lawsuits show how big settlement amounts can be in these cases. In one of those cases, Laboratory Corporation of America agreed to pay $11 million dollars into a settlement fund to be distributed to members of the plaintiff class who claim their payment on time. With a plaintiff class consisting of an estimated 665,000 persons, it’s estimated that each class member will receive about $200.

The lead plaintiff – the one who initiates the debit card receipt lawsuit – gets more. Generally, the plaintiffs who bear the burden of representing the entire class gets what’s called an “incentive award,” a larger piece of the settlement amount. In the LabCorp settlement, lead plaintiff Christopher L. is asking the court for an incentive award of $10,000.

In the other recent settlement, Spirit Airlines agreed to a $7.5 million dollar settlement based on alleged FACTA violations. Spirit had allegedly printed the first seven digits of its customers’ credit and debit card numbers on their receipts, in addition to the last four digits. Each class member is expected to get about $265 out of that settlement. As in the LabCorp case, the class representative is seeking an incentive award of $10,000, subject to the court’s approval.

Free FACTA Class Action Lawsuit Investigation

If you made one or more purchases and the retailer provided you with a receipt that contained more than the last five digits of your credit or debit card number or the expiration date, you may be eligible for a free class action lawsuit investigation and to pursue compensation for these FACTA violations.

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