201709.29
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Car Dealer Fraud? Did You Know the Lender / Finance Company Is on the Hook for the Consumer’s Damages and Attorney’s Fees?

In the recent case, Medina v. South Coast Car Company, Fourth App. Dist., Div.5, 2017 DJDAR 939 (Sept. 25, 2017), a California Court of Appeal affirmed a trial court’s judgment that Veros Credit, the lender on a fraudulent car sale, was held responsible for consumer damages and attorney’s fees through the “holder clause” that is…

201709.20
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Car Dealership Credit Report Scams and the Patriot Act

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…

201709.18
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Chrysler Ordered to Turn-Over Papers on Jeep Grand Cherokee Lemons

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…

201709.04
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Car Dealers Can’t Use Immigration Status to Deny Equal Protection under California Consumer Protection Laws

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…

201708.18
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Consumer Alert: Forced Unwanted Auto Insurance by Wells Fargo

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…

201708.10
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Ford Focus and Fiesta Lemon Law Alert: Beware the September 5 Class Action Deadline

So you received notice of the class action settlement for 2012-2016 Ford Fiesta or Ford Focuses, what now? Make sure to contact a lemon law lawyer If your Fiesta or Focus has experienced the same shuddering, hesitating, jerking, lack of power, failure to shift, failure to start, grinding, activation of the “CHECK ENGINE” warning light,…

201708.06
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California Lemon Law Guide: Emotional Distress and Loss of Use Damages Are Not Recoverable Under the Lemon Law,, But Punitive Damages Are: Bishop v. Hyundai Motors

Our lemon law clients, most of whom have suffered mightily at the hands of car makers that can’t fix but won’t buy back their cars, often ask “what about all the hassle of not having my vehicle, what about the stress of repeated life-threatening engine failures”?  These are good and fair questions.  Unfortunately, the case…

201708.04
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Ford Explorer Exhaust Leaks Plague the Police

NHTSA is investigating, and several police and sheriff departments across the country have complained about, exhaust leaks in the Ford Explorer.  CO2 monitors have been installed by some of these departments and others claim officers have been getting sick or even passed out.  Dramatic video shows a Ford Explorer police SUV crashing.   If you…