Help! I Want to Know What is Going to Happen at the Lemon Law Hearing
According to lemon laws in Texas, a consumer is required to accept arbitration attempts and an informal hearing to resolve faulty vehicle related issues before moving court in the matter. So here is some information about filing a complaint to the TX DOT and the subsequent hearing.
How to prepare for the hearing?
1. Get your documents ready, file al your documents including warranty booklet, sales contract, repair tickets, work orders and any other form of communication that you may have had with the manufacturer or dealer. You will need to get three copies of all these documents to the gearing.
2. The work orders should be arranged by date: Ensure that the appear work is arranged neatly particularly the work orders should be filed b date, put the oldest work order first and subsequently complete the warranty repair log with any testimonies or notes that you my have or that you could gather from witnesses.
3. Get the \”List of Agreed Facts\” Ready: It is important to form these in advance to save time.
4. Arrange for witnesses, you will not be able to use notarized statements, so you will need to calling friends or other witnessed who may have seen the problem, ensure that you let them know that the will have to spend the better part of the morning or afternoon in court and where and when they need to come. You also have the option to subpoena witnesses.
5. Ensure that the vehicle is ready to be inspected: Ensure that you have current state inspection and registration, so if the complaint is about severe vibration ensure that the tires are not worn out and are properly balanced and aligned. Make sure that you bring along all records that stet that your vehicle has had the necessary maintenance as required by the manufacturer.
How can you prove your case?
A Hearing will be held in front an Administrative Law Judge and will be less formal than a court case; however, you will still be required to prove the following:
1. If you have purchased or leased a vehicle and still own or lease it at the time of the informal hearing.
2. The vehicle has a defect tat is covered by the manufacturer warranty and you apprised the dealer and the manufacturer of such a defect while the warranty was still valid.
3. You have paid the filing fee and the lemon law complaint was filed within the stipulated period provided by the law.
4. The manufacturer and/or dealer was given a reasonable number of attempts to sort out the issue but despite all efforts from the manufacturer\’s side, the fault continued, generally, it is required that the defect continue till the time of the hearing.
5. You notified the dealer or manufacturer in writing about the issue and have given the manufacturer at least one opportunity to fix the problem.
6. The fault with the vehicle, impeded its safety, and impairs the market value of the vehicle along with hindering the functionality of the car. You can also prove that the vehicle is impaired if one or more of the major systems in the car are faulty or if there are other defects like water leakage that prevent its usage in rains.
The value of a vehicle may also be decreased due t paint and body related flaws; however, a serious defect that can threaten the safety of the driver would be something that can create the risk of accidents, fire or explosion and impedes your ability to operate the vehicle normally.
Such a hearing generally lasts for two to four hours and is conducted by TX DOT attorneys; they travel all over the state so that the hearings can be held in locations that are convenient to the consumers. The judges do not represent any party and will reach the decision on the evidence presented by both parties.
Author Bio: Seomul evans is a SEO Services consultant for Texas lemon law and also write Free Law Content.
Category: Legal
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