Pub. 2 2011 Issue 4

www.wvbankers.org 12 New Name. Familiar Service. Converge is CenterState Bank’s innovative web-based online banking platform and is the access point for our Clearing/Cash Management Solution. Converge services include: For more information regarding Converge, please contact your Business Development Officer. 120 Club Oaks Court, Suite 150 Winston-Salem, NC 27104 336.659.7100  877.604.8282 www.csbcorrespondent.com Account Information Domestic Wires OFAC Email Notification ACH Services FRB Services International Services Angela L. Beblo and Patrick R. Barry are associates in the Consumer Finance Litigation Group at Spilman Thomas & Battle, PLLC. Spilman is the leading con- sumer protection defense firm in the region. Ms. Beblo and Mr. Barry routinely represent, counsel, and defend financial institutions and other creditors in federal and state courts involving alleged violations of the WVCCPA and federal consumer protection laws in connection with home loan mortgages, unsecured loans, automobile financing, credit card accounts, and consumer credit sales. You may contact Ms. Beblo at 304.340.3852, abeblo@spilmanlaw.com , or Mr. Barry at 304.340.3884, pbarry@spilmanlaw.com . The fact-finder’s duty is to determine if the WVCCPA has been violated and the number of violations. The court, however, determines the amount of any statutory penalty. In addition to actual damages and statutory penalties, a court may award the consumer all or part of their at- torney’s fees and court costs. The consumer’s counsel will only be awarded attorney’s fees that are adequately documented and not found by the court to be excessive. Estimating the amount of attorney’s fees that ultimately may be awarded in any case is a difficult task. However, the federal courts in West Virginia assume that $18,000 is a reasonable conservative estimate of attorney’s fees and court costs in action alleging violations of the WVC- CPA. Meanwhile, some state courts in West Virginia have awarded statutory attorney’s fees in the amount of one- third of the total statutory penalties. While the penalties and damages under the WVCCPA may appear to be steep, attorney’s fees are available to a creditor or debt collector if the consumer’s claim was brought in bad faith and for the purposes of harassment. In this instance, just as for a consumer, the creditor or debt collector will only be able to seek attorney’s fees and costs that are adequately documented and not found by the court to be excessive. In sum, damages available to a consumer under the WVC- CPA can often be steep and costly for the creditor or debt collector whose actions are found to violate the WVCCPA, as consumers may recover actual damages, statutory pen- alties, and, possibly, attorney’s fees and court costs. n