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California Business And Professions Code Section 17207

Legal Research Home > California Lawyer > Business and Professions Code > California Business And Professions Code Section 17207

(a) Any person who intentionally violates any injunction
prohibiting unfair competition issued pursuant to Section 17203 shall
be liable for a civil penalty not to exceed six thousand dollars
($6,000) for each violation.  Where the conduct constituting a
violation is of a continuing nature, each day of that conduct is a
separate and distinct violation.  In determining the amount of the
civil penalty, the court shall consider all relevant circumstances,
including, but not limited to, the extent of the harm caused by the
conduct constituting a violation, the nature and persistence of that
conduct, the length of time over which the conduct occurred, the
assets, liabilities, and net worth of the person, whether corporate
or individual, and any corrective action taken by the defendant.
   (b) The civil penalty prescribed by this section shall be assessed
and recovered in a civil action brought in any county in which the
violation occurs or where the injunction was issued in the name of
the people of the State of California by the Attorney General or by
any district attorney, any county counsel authorized by agreement
with the district attorney in actions involving violation of a county
ordinance, or any city attorney in any court of competent
jurisdiction within his or her jurisdiction without regard to the
county from which the original injunction was issued.  An action
brought pursuant to this section to recover civil penalties shall
take precedence over all civil matters on the calendar of the court
except those matters to which equal precedence on the calendar is
granted by law.
   (c) If such an action is brought by the Attorney General, one-half
of the penalty collected pursuant to this section shall be paid to
the treasurer of the county in which the judgment was entered, and
one-half to the State Treasurer.  If brought by a district attorney
or county counsel the entire amount of the penalty collected shall be
paid to the treasurer of the county in which the judgment is
entered.  If brought by a city attorney or city prosecutor, one-half
of the penalty shall be paid to the treasurer of the county in which
the judgment was entered and one-half to the city, except that if the
action was brought by a city attorney of a city and county the
entire amount of the penalty collected shall be paid to the treasurer
of the city and county in which the judgment is entered.
   (d) If the action is brought at the request of a board within the
Department of Consumer Affairs or a local consumer affairs agency,
the court shall determine the reasonable expenses incurred by the
board or local agency in the investigation and prosecution of the
action.
   Before any penalty collected is paid out pursuant to subdivision
(c), the amount of the reasonable expenses incurred by the board
shall be paid to the State Treasurer for deposit in the special fund
of the board described in Section 205.  If the board has no such
special fund, the moneys shall be paid to the State Treasurer.  The
amount of the reasonable expenses incurred by a local consumer
affairs agency shall be paid to the general fund of the municipality
or county which funds the local agency.

Last modified: January 12, 2009