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Inasmuch as we addressed this issue in the January, 2008 “You Auto Know”®, there will be no scenario this month. However, the Court of Common Pleas, Franklin County in a case entitled Ferron vs. RadioShack Corp. 175 Ohio App.3d 257, 2008-Ohio-1511, further addressed the applicability of the Federal statute to the Ohio statute regarding a customer receipt containing a debit/credit card expiration date.
Briefly, the facts are that the plaintiff went to RadioShack three (3) times in September and October of 2005, and made seven (7) separate purchases of merchandise and received a RadioShack electronically printed receipt that contained the expiration date of his debit card. Thereafter he filed suit against RadioShack, claiming a violation of ORC § 1349.18 Fair Credit Reporting Act and also the Federal Fair and Accurate Credit Reporting Act of 2003, 15 U.S.C.A. § 1681c(g). In essence, RadioShack contended that the Plaintiff's complaints were barred by the Federal act and that the Ohio statute did not automatically become a violation of the Consumer Sales Practices Act since the Plaintiff did not incur any actual damages and did not experience any identity theft or economic loss.
First it must be noted that the Ohio statute was enacted on July 1, 2004 and applies only to receipts that are electronically printed. It states that any person or company that utilizes credit or debit cards shall not “print more than the last five digits” of the credit or debit card account number “or print the expiration date of a credit or debit card on any receipt it provides to the cardholder.” Id. at 261.
Therefore, according to the statute, specifically R.C. 1349.18(C), a violation of the section is “deemed an unfair or deceptive act or practice in violation of section 1345.02 of the Revised Code,” giving a “person injured by a violation * * * a cause of action” and entitlement “to the same relief available to a consumer under section 1345.09 of the Revised Code.” Id. at 261. This section states a consumer is entitled to three times his actual damages plus attorney fees. It must be noted that the Ohio statute simply states that the requirement for damages is that a person has to be injured by a violation by the act alone. In a prior case in Ohio, Kimmel vs. Ulrey’s Foods, Inc., Franklin County M.C. No. 2005-CVH-006795, a consent agreement was entered into with the Ohio Attorney General’s office. The court stated that a merchant that violates the statute commits an unfair deceptive act or practice when it prints and provides to the customer the expiration date on a debit card. Further case law states that a consumer need only show a violation of the statute in order to recover under the OCSPA, not actual damages.
Again, RadioShack argued that the plaintiff needed to incur actual injuries under the Federal statute and therefore the plaintiff lacked standing to bring the action since he had no damages. The plaintiff argued that a mere violation of the statute provided his legal injuries. The Court did a complete analysis regarding the Federal statute and in essence stated that it was enacted to combat the growing problem of identity theft. Further, section 1681c(g)(1) of the Federal statute was utilized as the template for the Ohio statute. Under the Federal law there are two standards, one is negligence, where the consumer is entitled to recover actual damages as well as reasonable attorney fees and costs and the other is an action where the merchant’s action is willful. In this case, the consumer is entitled to actual damages or statutory damages (whichever is greater), punitive damages, plus costs and attorneys fees. The statutory damages are between $100.00 and $1,000.00. The court stated the Federal statute allows a consumer to bring an action without a showing of actual injury.
It must specifically noted that any electronically-utilized credit card machine that was put into operation after January 1, 2005 has to comply with the Federal and Ohio law and not print more than the last five digits of the customer’s credit or debit card number and cannot print the expiration date. After examination of the two statutes, the Court determined that the Federal statute did not truncate the applicability of the Ohio statute inasmuch as the Ohio statute parroted the language in the Federal statute. In essence, the courts stated that “the state statute provides the same remedies as in the Federal statute and therefore the Federal statute does not truncate or eliminate the application of the Ohio statute.”
Again, you must check your credit card machines and make absolutely sure that they do not print out more than the last five digits of the customer’s credit or debit card number and do not print out the expiration date of the credit or debit card.
As always, these are highlights of the law and are not to be construed as containing the entire law. This is not to be construed or relied upon as a legal opinion. If you are presented with this problem, contact your legal counsel for advice.
®Robert A. Poklar, 2008
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