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Lemon Law

Lemon Law

Overview

To protect consumers, the Song Beverly and Tanner Acts (aka Lemon Law) were enacted to require that manufacturers repurchase or replace vehicles with serious auto defects expeditiously.

When first enacted, the legislature required that the manufacturer pay the reasonable attorney’s fees of the consumer. In recent years, a cottage industry of plaintiff’s firms have begun to exploit this provision increasingly by delaying case resolution to run up excessive attorneys’ fees and collect larger shares of awards.

Reforms are needed to ensure customers and manufacturers are incentivized to resolve claims quickly. There needs to be a clear, direct path from consumers to the auto manufacturer, and greater utilization of the state’s third-party dispute resolution program, supervised by the Department of Consumer Affairs.

Post

California’s Lemon Law: A sweet deal for lawyers, sour for consumers

Los Angeles Daily News - July 17, 2024

Los Angeles Daily News published version here

By Kyla Christoffersen Powell

In 2023, ‘lemon law’ lawsuits for defective automobiles surged in California at an alarming rate, with 22,655 cases filed statewide. These cases represented a staggering 52% increase from the previous year. According to statistics gathered by the law firm Bowman and Brooke, 2024 is on track to be another record-breaking year for these types of lawsuits. 

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