Ford loses $300 million fraud case in California

Thanks to the California ballot proposition system, the authorities has immoderate of the strictest user extortion laws successful the country.

The ballot inaugural process allows Californians to suggest laws and law amendments without the enactment of the politician oregon legislature.

All idiosyncratic has to bash to get a instrumentality passed successful California is:

• Write retired the substance of the law

• Submit the inaugural draught to the Attorney General

• Pay $2,000 filing interest (which is refunded if the measurement qualifies for an predetermination ballot)

• Collect signatures from registered voters

If the ballot proposition receives signatures adjacent to astatine slightest 8% of the votes formed for politician successful the erstwhile predetermination and it passes the Secretary of State's scrutiny of the reddish tape, it is eligible to beryllium placed connected the ballot for a statewide vote.

California passed the Song-Beverly Consumer Warranty Act in 1970.

Song-Beverly is 1 of the strongest user extortion laws successful the country. It protects California car buyers and different consumers from buying faulty products.

The instrumentality ensures that each retail merchantability of user goods successful the authorities comes with definite implied warranties and limits retailers from voiding those warranties.

• 2024: 2.08 cardinal vehicles sold, +4.2%

• 2023: 1.99 cardinal vehicles sold, +7.1%

• 2022: 1.77 cardinal vehicles sold, -2.2%

• 2021: 1.9 cardinal vehicles sold, -6.8%
  Source: Best-Selling Cars

Related: Defense accuses Ford of retaliation successful messy RICO lawsuit

So if you bargain a car from Ford that is simply a lemon, the car shaper could beryllium required to bargain backmost oregon regenerate your conveyance if, aft a “reasonable” fig of repair attempts, nary solution is found.

Retailers sued nether the instrumentality indispensable reimburse litigation costs and attorneys’ fees.

While car manufacturers are usually the defendants successful these lemon-law cases, Ford went connected the violative earlier this year.

In May, Ford filed a civilian racketeering lawsuit against lemon-law firms and lawyers successful California.

In the lawsuit, filed successful U.S. District Court for the Central District of California, Ford alleges that 3 instrumentality firms, led by the Knight Law Group LLP and six affiliated attorneys and unit members, violated the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act, overbilling for ineligible fees by submitting tribunal timesheets signaling much than 24 hours worked successful a azygous day.

This week, the justice dismissed Ford's case, ruling that Knight Law Group and its codefendants were protected by a ineligible doctrine known arsenic Noerr-Pennington immunity, which shields petitioners from antitrust claims erstwhile they lobby the government, adjacent if their advocacy promotes authorities enactment that would trim competition.