Lemon Laws Explained in laymans terms

You just can’t make lemonades out of some lemons, but thank heavens for lemon laws.

It’s not a law regulating the consumption of this much-maligned citrus fruit.

A lemon law, any lemon lawyer will tell you, is a statute enacted to protect consumers from substandard or defective products, usually automobiles.

How did such a nutritious fruit come to mean something defective? The slang coinage is actually older than your grandfather.

Wikipedia says: ‘In the 1800s people started using the word lemon to describe people who were sour (or unfriendly).

In American English the word was first recorded in 1909 in the slang sense of worthless thing. Over time, lemon came to refer to anything that was defective or broken or which breaks constantly, particularly a car.’

Lemon lawyers, however, are not worthless attorneys, no matter how you feel about your counsel.

Lemon law attorneys, in fact, are anything but sour and rotten, if you consider what they can do to give you the just value for your money.

Lemon laws are essentially an American legal tool. It should not give anyone the idea that the United States is littered with worthless products. Rather, it is a testament to Americans’ strong sense of consumerism.

The Magnuson-Moss Warranty Act is the federal lemon law that protects citizens of all states.

A complainant has the option of getting a refund or a replacement for a defective product, but he may have to go to arbitration or court to exercise this option.

Under this act, the warranter is obligated to pay the fees for the complainant’s attorney, if the complainant wins.

Car lemon laws are the most utilized legal tool as the United States has a massive automobile industry.

To qualify under state car lemon laws, the defect must be considerable and must occur within a certain time or mileage.

Wikipedia lists the following problems the car lemon law covers:

• Prior history of mechanical problems known to the seller (‘laundered lemon’)
• Previously salvaged or wrecked
• Fraudulently rolled back odometer
• Rental car, police car, taxi, or similar
• Stolen, stripped and rebuilt
• Involved in a flood

American state lemon laws vary. In some states, lemon laws not only cover used or rented cars, but also motorcycles, boats, RVs, wheelchairs, computers and other appliances. It is important to know exactly what your state’s lemon law says.