New Jersey Lemon Law Lawyer Blog

CAR DEALERSHIP SELLS CAR TO TWO BLIND PEOPLE.

This is not a joke. It is true.

The names will withheld until suit is filed BUT today I saw, possibly, the worst case in the many years that I have been doing this type of work.

Both of my clients are legally blind. The primary obligor and the cosigner. They do not even have a driver’s license nor are the permitted to drive. The dealership even got the car registered and insured. The customer was at the dealership with his cane and his glasses. When they told me the story it was hard to believe. They are both legally blind.

To make matters even worse the car is a mess. It looks like it was in a prior accident with a different hood and various parts are melted on the interior of the car. They were told the car had only one prior owner when it had two.

The following are the causes of action (theories of liability) against the dealer and/or the lender.

• Consumer Fraud-deceptive conduct. Cox v. Sears.
• Fraud
• Breach of contract
• Breach of good faith and fair dealings. Wilson v. Hess
• Revocation. Cuesta v. Classic
• Negligence
• Discrimination against disabled persons, the blind. Law against discrimination.
• Declaratory relief that the contract is void ab initio (from the beginning)

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What is UDAP?

Unfair and deceptive Practices Acts. The New Jersey Consumer Fraud Act would be considered a UDAP statute. The purpose is to assist consumers in battling fraud in the market place and provides several protections top consumers that are meant to encourage consumers to bring suit and attract competent lawyers to litigate the cases. The UDAP statutes include provisions for tripled damages, attorney fees and injunctive relief. The State AG's office is also permitted to bring suit under the Consumer Fraud Act.

The UDAP statutes vary significantly by State, with some providing more protection that others. There is a published report indicating the strength and weaknesses of all the statutes for all of the 50 states. The report indicates that Michigan and Rhode Island are the two weakest statutes because the courts have interpreted tham to cover almost no transactions.

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What is a class action and how does it work?

A class action is a procedural device to allow one or a few representatives act on behalf of many other people. Because the person is acting in a representative capacity the rules require that this claim be substantially similar to the other “absent” class members. The interests must be similar, the claims must be similar, and the underlying facts supporting the similar claim must be similar. As an example if the class member is alleging that he was charged an improper document fee as part of an automobile transaction, the other class members must also have purchased the product and must also have purchased a vehicle.

As you can see there are some very simple cases that are well suited for class actions. See for example Cerbo v. Ford of Englewood where the plaintiff was alleging that she and other consumers were overcharged for title and registration fees. This was a huge class action with thousands of class members who received a refund of the overcharges to an extent with certain conditions. The claims were simple and very amenable to class action procedures. Simple claims make the best class actions. Class action settlements range into the billions of dollars depending on the size of the class and the size of the claim. Just search the internet for class action and settlement and you will get pages of class action results.

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The fear of buying a car

Many people have a fear of having to go to a dealership and purchase or lease a car. There are so many pitfalls. How do you get answers to important questions? Where did the dealership get the car? What did they do to it to get it ready for sale? Did they really inspect the car and what did they find in that inspection? These are basic safety issues and concerns that need to be answered. It is very important to get accurate answers to these questions. There is almost no option except to trust the dealership. Remember that you are dealing with the salesman not the service department. Can you really get an accurate answer?

After these most basic questions are answered you still have to be concerned about the financing and the terms of the transaction for the purchase either lease or purchase. As an example what is the best interest rate available, what are the real terms of the financing? What are the products that are being packaged with the vehicle? What is GAP and what are the terms of the coverage? What is the real cost? You need to ask all of these questions and get answers in writing, if possible.

The best thing to do is get everything in writing and do you research as best you can. Do a CARFAX and also try to get you own financing? Ask a lot of questions to feel the salesman out and don’t get timid when you need a question answered or you are not sure.

There are many New Jersey cases that demonstrate examples of the type of conduct might be determined to be consumer fraud or auto fraud.(each case turns on its own set of facts)

Delany v. Garden State Auto Mall: The dealer sold products without full disclosure.

Romano v. Galaxy: Violation of Federal Odometer Law

Cuesta v. Classic: Odometer Roll Back

Sema v. Automall : Misrepresenting the vehicle as new when it was a demo

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Consumer Fraud: Do You Need A Price Tag?

The New Jersey Consumer Fraud Act has a specific provision for "price tags"

56:8-2.5. Sale, attempt to sell or offer for sale of merchandise without tag or label with selling price

It shall be an unlawful practice for any person to sell, attempt to sell or offer for sale any merchandise at retail unless the total selling price of such merchandise is plainly marked by a stamp, tag, label or sign either affixed to the merchandise or located at the point where the merchandise is offered for sale.

The reasonable reading is that the price has to be where it can be seen, which is on the product. This is only fair. The failure to have this information on the product can give rose to a number of deceptive tactics.

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Wachovia Settlement

It appears that Wachovia Corp settled for up to $125 million for the following

The telemarketers then used that information to write checks to themselves, purportedly from the consumers they had called. These checks did not require a signature from the accountholder; instead, the signature block included text such as "authorized by your depositor, no signature required."

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