714.16A  Additional civil penalty for consumer frauds committed against older individuals — fund established.
  1.  a.  If a person violates section 714.16, and the violation is committed against an older individual, in an action brought by the attorney general, in addition to any other civil penalty, the court may impose an additional civil penalty not to exceed five thousand dollars for each such violation. Additionally, the attorney general may accept a civil penalty as determined by the attorney general in settlement of an investigation of a violation of section 714.16, regardless of whether an action has been filed pursuant to section 714.16.
  b.  A civil penalty imposed by a court or determined and accepted by the attorney general pursuant to this section shall be paid to the treasurer of state, who shall deposit the money in the elderly victim fund, a separate fund created in the state treasury and administered by the attorney general for the investigation and prosecution of frauds against the elderly. Notwithstanding section 8.33, any balance in the fund on June 30 of any fiscal year shall not revert to the general fund of the state. An award of reimbursement pursuant to section 714.16 has priority over a civil penalty imposed by the court pursuant to this subsection.
  2.  In determining whether to impose a civil penalty under subsection 1, and the amount of any such penalty, the court shall consider the following:
  a.  Whether the defendant’s conduct was in willful disregard of the rights of the older individual.
  b.  Whether the defendant knew or should have known that the defendant’s conduct was directed to an older individual.
  c.  Whether the older individual was substantially more vulnerable to the defendant’s conduct because of age, poor health, infirmity, impaired understanding, restricted mobility, or disability, than other persons.
  d.  Any other factors the court deems appropriate.
  3.  As used in this section, “older individual” means an individual who is sixty years of age or older.
91 Acts, ch 102, §1; 94 Acts, ch 1142, §6; 98 Acts, ch 1200, §4; 2013 Acts, ch 30, §261; 2022 Acts, ch 1132, §3
Referred to in §13.2
Section amended