ETHICS

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

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

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.

The answer is no. It is a waste of time. Any resolution is basically voluntary. They really cannot force anybody to do anything such as paying the claimant damages. The only benefit is that the you will receive some information that you might be able to use late in civil litigation. Almost all of the clients who come to me have been unsatisfied with the process and the results.

Monmouth County Consumer Affairs

Better Business Bureau

Computer Sales

Debt Collection

Internet Sales / Goods

Telecommunications

Home Improvement Repair - General

Health Spas / Health Clubs

Home Furniture / Furnishings

Car Repair

In this case the Judge used some new questions and asked the jurors what they thought of the civil justice system and whether it did not permit appropriate claims or allowed too many claims. The jurors were very attentive and gave very specific answers and I think they wanted to serve on the Jury. It was only a 2-3 day trial.

The point to jury selection is to excuse the jurors that will not be favorable to your case. A tough thing to do with a few questions and a quick answer here and there. You are supposing built in prejudices in people you have never met, a dangerous thing to do. Generally plaintiff's; lawyers remove people in the insurance industry and those who own business. Remove people who hate lawsuits is the idea

His name is Duane C. Clark, 55, of Kansas City formerly employed as general manager of John Chezik Homerun, Inc, d/b/a John Chezik Honda according to the article. If you feel that you have been taken advantage of by this dealership you should seek legal counsel.

There were at least 4 trial dates and on the fifth date we got a Judge on Thursday of the trial week.

No substantive motions were made because there really were none that needed to be decided by the Court.

The dealer and the manufacturer rep could not duplicate the problem. Hannah claims that the courtesy driver at the dealer verified the complaint, but not the service writers or the mechanics.

The car cost $50,000 and was a Mercedes Benz.

Suit was filed late 2005 after the first or second repair attempt.

For those of you who want to know the verdict it is the continued portion of the entry. If you chose to wait feel free to do so until you hear the whole story.