Boating while intoxicated has severe penalties that will affect both your drivers and boating license, insurance rates and financial situation. If you get pulled over for boating while intoxicated you are required to take a breathalyser but not perform the psychophysical tests. Failure to take the breathalyser will also have serious consequences. Be cooperative and get a lawyer as soon as possible.
New Jersey has a host of regulations that require certain disclosures by boat repair facilities. As an example if you are getting a new engine the installer must disclose new, rebuilt or re manufactured so this is clear to the customer what they are getting.
My website addresses at length the obligations of those repairing boats
The violation of the regulations creates a per se violation of the New Jersey Consumer Fraud Act
Do you know what a seller's disclosure is? Almost all sellers agents have the seller complete this to protect themselves as much as to help the buyers. It includes all major defects and some minor ones. As a buyers your lawyer should demand that the disclosure is completed and your lawyer should follow up to make sure that the items are repaired that are listed in the agreement.
did you know that real estate agents have a code of ethics? They do. They are required to make full disclosure to their client and the other party to the transaction.
Realtors get sued under the Consumer Fraud Act. This time of year many people are buying houses and they should be familiar with the duties of real estate agents
Real estate fraud investigation also increased
Lets use this example:
You unknowingly buy a crash damaged car for $30,000 and it is dangerous to drive and you would never have purchased the car BUT it has a NADA value of $10,000. You now have driven the car for 5 years due to the length of the litigation and the car has 100,000 miles. Under current case law the damages are $20,000. Under breach of contract your damages are $20,000. While it is true the damages are tripled under the Act the dealer gets the benefit of the having sold you the car. BUT the dealer might argue that you drove the car and you have no damages. Does this seem fair that you were forced to drive a car you did not want, you only purchased because the dealer lied to you about the history and they get a mileage credit. NO NO NO.
Here is the answer. The damage is the purchase price. The dealer can argue some offset for value or use that a jury can accept or reject, This amount it tripled under the Act and then the set off is applied.
This is only fair since the dealer lied to sell the car, the consumer got a damaged car they did not want and was forced to drive the car. The burdens should be shifted to reflect the purpose of the Act
The Courts continue to interpret the Consumer Fraud Act in such a way that limits the remedial nature of the act. Courts have been strictly applying breach of contract principles to the damages analysis. The issue is what is the ascertainable loss that is recoverable under the act? The Court has been requiring a benefit of the bargain analysis. As an example, if you buy a product that costs you $100 and it is worth $40 you damages are $60. Or maybe you purchased the product for $100 and you sold it for $60 your damages would be $40.
Here is the problem. The New Jersey Consumer Fraud Act is not breach of contract and should not be analyzed as a breach of contract. The Act was in addition to the remedies that already existed. So lets answer this, why are the breach of contract damages the same as fraud damages? I don't know. This analysis gives the defendant the benefit of his improper conduct. Why should the defendant get to keep the profit or get any benefit of the sale? I don't know? Why does the plaintiff have to pay for experts, costs that are not reimbursed under the Act, and not be able to afford to pursue the claim? I don't know.
I do have an answer that makes sense.
