We are continually told by consumers that dealerships are required to run their credit, even sometimes claiming anti-terrorism laws require this! Not true. Some anti-terrorism and anti-money laundering rules require dealers to CHECK THE IDENTIFICATION of customers paying more than $10,000 in cash and to report to the IRS on Form 8300. BUT DEALERS DO…
The closely watch case, Yelchin v. FCA US LLC, about the tragic death of Star Trek actor Anton Yelchin, has a new development. FCA will have to turn over documents regarding the allegedly defective gear shifter in the Jeep Grand Cherokee. These documents may show what, if anything FCA did after receiving over 700 complaints…
Unless sold “As-Is,” all cars come with a warranty of fitness that is implied by law. Was the car frame-damaged or had some other latent defect at the time of sale? The implied warranty protects you. But for how long? Recent case law developments have clarified that, under the Song-Beverly Consumer Warranty Act, the lemon…
Effective January 1, 2018, sleazy car dealers and other bad actor businesses can no longer attack consumers based on their immigration status as a defense to consumer rip-offs or consumer abuse by their business. AB 1690 was just signed in to law by Govenor Brown. The impetus for the bill was a case where a…
More than 800,000 people with car loans from Wells Fargo were charged for insurance they did not need! These extra charges reportedly drove 25,000 cars into repossession and 274,000 into delinquency. Many members are military service members. If this happened to you, contact a consumer-protection lawyer immediately! Here is what appears to have happened: when…
Consumers are always wondering when “enough is enough” under the lemon law. How many times do I have to take my lemon car back to the dealer for repair? One way of answering that question is to find out the minimum number of repair attempts. The case of Silvio v. Ford Motor Company, a lemon…
In Schreidel v. American Honda, the jury awarded the consumer plaintiff double damages under the Lemon Law. In that case the jury heard of the consumer’s 6 repair attempts for her clutch where Honda claimed it “could not duplicate” the problem, which the consumer told them was only occasional. The jury also heard how an…
Is your car a “lemon”? Under the Lemon Law’s terms, you must have suffered a substantial impairment of the vehicle’s use, value or safety. The case, Schreidel v. American Honda Motor Co., 34 Cal.App.4th 1242 (1995) provides examples. In that case, the early appearance and repeated clutch problems caused the consumer to feel like…
Many times consumers are forced to hire their own mechanic or other expert to assist with their Lemon Law case. The Court in Jensen v. BMW specifically held that those expenses are recoverable by the consumer who wins their case against a manufacturer. All reasonably incurred expert expense, just as any other cost, and just…
California’s Lemon Law applies to any car “sold with a balance remaining on the manufacturer’s new motor vehicle warranty.” Jensen v. BMW, 35 Cal.App.4th 112 (1995). In the Jensen case, a car with over 7,000 miles was leased. BMW refused to repurchase the vehicle despite continual brake shudder problems that they could not fix after…
