412
Opinion of the Court
of the transaction. We answer no and hold that § 1635(f) completely extinguishes the right of rescission at the end of the 3-year period.
I
The declared purpose of the Act is "to assure a meaningful disclosure of credit terms so that the consumer will be able to compare more readily the various credit terms available to him and avoid the uninformed use of credit, and to protect the consumer against inaccurate and unfair credit billing and credit card practices." 15 U. S. C. § 1601(a); see Mourning v. Family Publications Service, Inc., 411 U. S. 356, 363-368 (1973). Accordingly, the Act requires creditors to provide borrowers with clear and accurate disclosures of terms dealing with things like finance charges, annual percentage rates of interest, and the borrower's rights. See §§ 1631, 1632, 1635, 1638. Failure to satisfy the Act subjects a lender to criminal penalties for noncompliance, see § 1611, as well as to statutory and actual damages traceable to a lender's failure to make the requisite disclosures, see § 1640. Section 1640(e) provides that an action for such damages "may be brought" within one year after a violation of the Act, but that a borrower may assert the right to damages "as a matter of defense by recoupment or set-off" in a collection action brought by the lender even after the one year is up.
Going beyond these rights to damages, the Act also authorizes a borrower whose loan is secured with his "principal dwelling," and who has been denied the requisite disclosures, to rescind the loan transaction entirely "until midnight of the third business day following the consummation of the transaction or the delivery of the information and rescission forms required under this section together with a statement containing the material disclosures required under this subchapter, whichever is later." § 1635(a). A borrower who exercises this right to rescind "is not liable for any finance or other charge, and any security interest given by [him], including any such interest arising by operation of law, becomes void" upon rescission. § 1635(b). Within 20 days
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