2016 Iowa Code
Title XVI - CRIMINAL LAW AND PROCEDURE
Chapter 715B - PROTECTION OF BUYERS OF FINE ART AND VISUAL ART MULTIPLES
Section 715B.4 - Remedies to buyer.
715B.4
Remedies to buyer.
1. An art merchant who sells a work of fine art or a multiple to a buyer under a warranty attesting to facts about the work which are not true is liable to the buyer to whom the work was sold.
a. If the warranty was untrue through no fault of the art merchant, the merchant’s liability is the consideration paid by the buyer upon return of the work in substantially the same condition in which it was received by the buyer.
b. If the warranty is untrue and the buyer is able to establish that the art merchant failed to make reasonable inquiries according to the custom and the usage of the trade to confirm the warranted facts about the work, or that the warranted facts would have been found to be untrue if reasonable inquiries had been made, the merchant’s liability is the consideration paid by the buyer with interest from the time of the payment at the rate prescribed by section 535.3 upon the return of the work in substantially the same condition in which it was received by the buyer.
c. (1) If the warranty is untrue and the buyer is able to establish that the art merchant knowingly provided false information on the warranty or willfully and falsely disclaimed knowledge of information relating to the warranty, the merchant is liable to the buyer in an amount equal to three times the amount provided in paragraph “b”.
(2) This remedy shall not bar or be deemed inconsistent with a claim for damages or with the exercise of additional remedies otherwise available to the buyer.
2. In an action to enforce this section, the court may allow a prevailing buyer the costs of the action together with reasonable attorneys’ and expert witnesses’ fees. If the court determines that an action to enforce this section was brought in bad faith, the court may allow those expenses to the art merchant that it deems appropriate.
3. An action to enforce any liability under this section shall be brought within the time period prescribed for such actions under section 614.1.
87 Acts, ch 49, §4; 2013 Acts, ch 90, §233
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