Lemon Law Blog

As a long-running lemon law firm, you can imagine that we have received some crazy inquiries over the years, but this one takes the cake….Special thanks to the author for giving us permission to share it with you:

Dear Attorney Kimmel:

As a retired podiatric physician and tenured professor at Temple University’s School of Podiatric Medicine, I now have time to view the television more than I did in the past 35 years.  I observed oftentimes on NBC’s Channel 10 (WCAU) 1-800 LEMON LAW’s commercial regarding the Lemon Law.  Your declared willingness to aid the Delaware Valley viewers per the statement “Your car belongs on the road and not in the shop,” causes me to write.

My direct question of you concerns whether your services are limited to cars or wives  as well! My inquiry is based upon the following facts that are relevant to your advertisement.

1.  I acquired my wife, Nancy, over 38 years ago, and presumably her warranty as issued by her parents is still valid and in effect to this time.

2. My wife belongs in the house and not in the shop; well she spends a considerable amount of time in the shop, i.e. The Malls, Retail Outlets or the Shopping Centers.

3. The rising costs in maintaining her upkeep also extends to the times she spends at the medical shops of doctors’ offices, out-patient clinics, radiology centers, etc.

I may add that she has extended the privilege of her driver’s license to driving me crazy and her marriage license to clean the car rather than taking it to a car wash, as well as to clean the house and maintain the lawn. In addition, my contract with the parental dealership and the good Lord was to keep her until “death do us part,” but more recently, she has threatened to be with me through eternity.  The “for richer or poorer” phrase in the contract is also being taken seriously, most especially the second term, and the phrase “in sickness and in health” is also extended to the limits, more the recently the first term!

I would appreciate your kind response as to the extent that you can apply the Lemon Law.

Sincerely,

Dr. K (I have decided to protect the author for obvious reasons.)

Alas, we can’t help Dr. K but he is not the first one to make such an inquiry (there are many lemon sons-in-law out there as well apparently), but we have enjoyed conversing on-line with the Good Doctor who shared the following addendum:

Regretfully, I thought of the following statement after forwarding the aforementioned e-mail, and that is: Her rear wheels are out of alignment necessitating my podiatric care, and her roof keeps fading resulting in visits to the beauty shop every six weeks for re-colorization.

  Thanks Doc –they always say laughter is the best medicine!

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Your help is urgently needed on important legislation impacting on all consumers. The Arbitration Fairness Act of 2007 (House Bill H.R. 3010 and Senate Bill S. 1782) would outlaw mandatory arbitration agreements for consumer contracts.

As you know, businesses and corporations bury binding mandatory arbitration clauses in contracts for countless products and services including credit cards, new homes, and cars. These clauses force you to surrender your rights to a privatized system known as arbitration. Corporate wrongdoers and fraudulent companies protect themselves from being held accountable by hiding behind BMA clauses inserted in fine print.

Although states have tried to address this problem through their consumer protection laws, the courts have interpreted the current onerous Federal Arbitration Act to trump state laws leaving consumers very little recourse. Historically, the FAA intentionally omitted ordinary citizens from these types of agreements. The Arbitration Fairness Act would return this statute to its original intention and omit consumer, medical, franchise, and employment agreements from these pre-dispute agreements. Americans are entitled to a trial by jury; pre-dispute mandatory arbitration agreements give only one side the upper hand.

The Pennsylvania Trial Lawyers Association urges you to write to your Senators and Representatives and tell them to cosponsor this legislation. A sample letter is included below that you are welcomed and encouraged to modify. You can locate mailing info. for your Senators and Representatives by going to www.congress.org

**Sample Letter**

Re: BMA Clauses Hurt Average Americans

Dear ___________ :

I urge you to cosponsor the Arbitration Fairness Act of 2007, which would ban pre-dispute Binding Mandatory Arbitration clauses in consumer and employment contracts. This unfair practice stacks the deck against average Americans trying to hold powerful interests accountable when they have been hurt through no fault of their own.

Buried within the fine print of many consumer contracts for credit cards, home-building contracts and car purchases are clauses that force consumers to give up their rights to seek justice through the courts. These clauses have hurt thousands of Americans already, and will continue to do so if Congress doesn’t pass the Arbitration Fairness Act of 2007.

I ask you to consider the story of Guy Combs who was hurt by a Binding Mandatory Arbitration clause:

Vietnam veteran Guy Combs bought a house in his hometown of Alpine, Texas. After living in the house for only four years, Guy discovered that his home had severe structural problems. He asked his builder to repair the damage, but the builder offered to pay only $3,000 for $300,000 worth of damages. When Guy bought the home he unknowingly signed an arbitration agreement, which was not explained to him at the time. Therefore, he was forced to settle his dispute in arbitration.

Guy describes arbitration as “third world justice.” The arbitrator refused to recognize that there were damages to Guy’s home despite the testimony of twenty expert witnesses that Guy hired. The arbitration process cost him $77,000. The arbitrator billed him a flat fee of $150,000 but after negotiations he brought the fee down to $50,000 plus interest. Guy did not want to lose his ranch and, since there was no means for appeal, he paid the fees.

Guy has a PhD from Brown and he thought he understood our legal system, until his rights were eviscerated by arbitration.

Guy Combs is just one of thousands of victims of Arbitration. These clauses, buried within many consumer contracts for credit cards, nursing homes and car purchases, stack the deck against ordinary Americans and force consumers to give up their rights before a dispute even occurs.

Again, I urge you to cosponsor the Arbitration Fairness Act of 2007 which bans this unfair practice and allows hardworking Americans to seek justice through the courts, often the only place they can face powerful interests on a level playing field.

Sincerely,

_________________
For more informaiton, ccontact PaTLA 121 South Broad Street, Suite 600 Philadelphia, PA, 19107
Tel 215.546.6451 Fax 215.546.5430

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