Lemon Law
It seems that the need for lemon law only becomes clearer as time goes on—and it’s now reaching the rest of the world. A just-released study in Australia has found that faulty goods such as cars and electrical appliances cost the Australian economy about $12 billion a year. Citing lemon laws in the U.S. that have saved consumers when stuck with defective vehicles, the study calls for Australia to enact the same type of legislation.
Laws protecting consumers have been around for hundreds of years, but legislation specific to defective vehicles took a long time to evolve. The 1906 Uniform Sales Act was an attempt to regulate commerce throughout the U.S., the need for which was brought about by the great robber barons who banded together to manipulate prices and profits. In 1952, after more than ten years of drafting and revisions, the Universal Commercial Code emerged. Its purpose was to modernize the law governing commerce and trade, but was not designed to consumers as it was for merchants.
The first milestone in lemon law legislation came with California’s Song-Beverly Consumer Warranty Act of 1970. Under this act, manufacturers were only entitled to a reasonable number of attempts to repair defective consumer goods. If unsuccessful, they were compelled to either replace the goods or refund the purchase price. The legislation also made it economically viable for consumers to bring warranty suits by providing for an award of attorney’s fees. The Song-Beverly Act became the model for nearly all the lemon laws that followed in other states.
In 1975, Congress enacted federal lemon law in the form of the Magnuson-Moss Warranty-Federal Trade Commission Improvement Act. While not as effective as the Song-Beverly Act, this legislation did attempt to encourage manufacturers to provide better warranties.
California led the way once again in 1982 with the Tanner Consumer Protection Act, which specifically defined guidelines for a “reasonable number of repair attempts,” and again in 1991 with the Automotive Consumer Notification Act, which was meant to reduce what is known as “lemon laundering” (the practice of reselling lemons to unsuspecting car buyers).
“It’s no fun being on the receiving end when manufacturers and their dealerships won’t take responsibility for defects in the cars they sell, even though they know the defects exist,” said Norman Taylor, leading California lemon law attorney. “The law is an attempt to put you in the driver’s seat.”
If you are driving a lemon, the law is squarely behind you. Contact a qualified lemon law attorney right away.
About Norman Taylor & Associates
Norman Taylor and Associates have been assisting consumers since 1987. At Norman Taylor and Associates, the goal is to provide clients with the highest quality of legal representation if they’re one of the unfortunate residents of California who’ve had the misfortune of purchasing defective vehicles or goods and who have recourse under the Lemon Law. They represent consumers in Los Angeles, Orange, Riverside, San Bernardino, Ventura and Santa Barbara counties. With a twenty two year history of successful cases, Norman Taylor & Associates has established their reputation as a firm of consumer advocates that get the job done.
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Norman Taylor studied engineering at Arizona State University as an undergraduate. He attended Glendale School of Law, graduated and passed the Bar in 1986. Aside from advocating consumer rights he volunteers for international human rights efforts and sponsors drug education speakers in the public school system. For more information about the California Lemon Law, visit www.normantaylor.com.