H. B. 2840
(By Delegates Faircloth, Boggs, Michael,
Hunt, Staton and Buchanan)
[Introduced March 28, 1997; referred to the
Committee on the Judiciary.]
A BILL to amend article eight, chapter fifty-five of the code of
West Virginia, one thousand nine hundred thirty-one, as
amended, by adding thereto a new section, designated section
fifteen, relating to authorizing an action for the late
return of a rented video cassette; providing the measure of
damages; and allowing for recovery of attorneys fees and
court costs.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That article eight, chapter fifty-five of the code of West
Virginia, one thousand nine hundred thirty-one, as amended, be
amended by adding thereto a new section, designated section
fifteen, to read as follows:
ARTICLE 8. ACTIONS ON CONTRACTS.
§55-8-15. Action for late return of rented video cassette.
An action may be maintained on any note or writing, by which there is a promise or agreement to pay money for the late return
of a rented video cassette; and if the plaintiff prevails in such
an action, he or she is entitled to recover: (i) The late fee
agreed upon at the time the video cassette was rented; (ii) an
amount equal to three times the video cassette's regular daily
rental, multiplied by the number of days that the video cassette
was not returned after it was due, notwithstanding that the
amount computed hereunder may exceed the purchase price of the
video cassette; and (iii) a reasonable attorney fee and court
costs in the action.
NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to provide a cause of
action with enhanced damages and attorney fees to recover profits
that are lost when a rented video cassette is not returned on
time.
This section is new; therefore, strike-throughs and
underscoring have been omitted.