§ 13-279. Enforcement and penalties.

(a)

Any violation of this article may be punished as provided in Chapter 8 of the Lake County Code. In addition, Lake County may bring a civil action in any court of competent jurisdiction to enforce or administer this article including seeking a temporary or permanent injunction or appointment of a receiver when it has reasonable cause to believe that a title loan lender is operating in violation of this article. Lake County shall be entitled to an award of costs and reasonable attorney's fee, including appellate fees and costs, in an action successfully enforcing the terms of this article.

(b)

In addition to any civil remedy available to Lake County under this article, the violation of any part of this article shall be a punishable in accordance with section 125.69, Florida Statutes.

(c)

A recipient/borrower of a title loan transaction may bring a civil action against a title loan lender violating the provisions of this article in a court of competent jurisdiction of Lake County. Upon adverse adjudication, the defendant shall forfeit the entire interest so charged or contracted to be charged and shall be liable to the borrower for two (2) times the original loan amount, together with court cost and attorney's fees incurred by the borrower. If the court finds that the suit fails to raise a justiciable issue of law or fact, the defendant shall be entitled to an award of court costs and reasonable attorney's fees incurred by the defendant.

(Ord. No. 1999-81, § 2, 8-24-99)