Wednesday, August 27, 2008

PA Lemon Law

Pa lemon law has been protecting consumers for a long time. Residents of Pennsylvania have been happy with the comprehensive lemon law which seeks to enable lemon car owners get their rightful compensation from manufacturers and dealers of motor vehicles. A lemon is a generic term that is used to describe a new car that has experienced a nonconformity. This means that the car has shown some signs of serious defects before is time. Many people in Pennsylvania find themselves in this predicament and they take advantage of the lemon law. The first thing you might do when you experience a problem with your new car is to take it to the repair shop. When you realize that the problem is much more serious than you thought, the Pa lemon law requires you to contact the manufacturer or the car dealer in writing to inform them about the situation.

This will allow them a chance to repair the lemon and verify whether it is a complete lemon or not. If your new vehicle is a lemon, it will not respond to the repair attempts and you will then request for compensation or a refund from the car dealer. Do not forget to keep every document or correspondence in regard to the lemon. This is because it is evidence which might be necessary if you proceed with the case. Some dealers will not hesitate to compensate and you can choose a refund or a replacement. However, this will happen in an ideal situation and many manufacturers or car dealers will not agree to compensate this easily. They might allege that you are the one who did not maintain the car properly and they might also accuse you of negligence.

If they have enough grounds to do this, you must be prepared to state your facts in the most convincing way. According to Pa lemon law, a lemon must have undergone at least 3 attempts of repair. When the car has not served you in 30 days, you can also use the lemon law to get compensation. When the manufacturer fails to deliver on the compensation, you have other options under the Pa lemon law to proceed with the case. The first option you have is to go through the informal dispute settlement programs. The first program is sponsored by the manufacturers and what they do is to have a neutral mediator who can help settle and resolve the issue.

Both parties which are the lemon car owner and the car dealer present their cases and voice out every concern they might have in regard to the lemon case. The mediator then makes a ruling which might favor you. If you win the case, the manufacturer or car dealer will have to compensate you. If the case does not go your way at the manufacturers dispute resolution program, you have the option of going to a program that is government sponsored. There will be an administrative judge to hear your case and when they have taken all the facts into consideration, they will rule. Again, you might not be pleased by the ruling and the next thing you have to do is to file a civil suit where a good lemon law lawyer will come in handy. When you believe that your case deserves to win, you will present all the documents to show that you bought a lemon.

Utilizing Legal Aid Services

I have worked in the human services field for years and I am well aware of the fact that most people don't know that there are legal aid services available. When people need legal advice they can turn to a variety of legal aid services. Most of the states in the US offer legal aid services to people who cannot afford to pay for lawyers. In each state there is a different division of legal aid services, they may be located by regions, counties or cities. It is good to know that legal aid services include many different services.

Usually when you need to have an attorney answer a specific question over the phone, you don't have to pay for their services. However, you should be very careful and absolutely sure that you are speaking with the right guy. For example, if you need a legal advice about a crime you shouldn't talk to a real estate attorney and in case you need information about taxes a criminal attorney won't help you. It is vital to know that each area of legal service is divided into areas of expertise.

In case talking over the phone is not good enough, then you will have to hire the attorney to help you solve your case. This is when you can turn to the legal aid services in your state. You can get legal advice and representation at a discounted price or sometimes completely free of charge if you are not able to pay anything. There are states which provide public defenders for criminal cases. Sometimes these services are divided into separate offices. In some states legal aid services handles only civil matters and family court cases. For instance, the legal aid service in my city offers help for divorces for women who are victims of domestic violence. The local office also protects the civil rights of vulnerable adults.

Maybe you are wondering how legal aid services can be free of charge. This is possible when the attorneys working on the case do the work pro bono which means that they donate their time to represent the person in court. Sometimes local or state governments hire attorneys to provide services to individuals in the community. It is great that there are legal aid services because this is the only chance that the poor will be able to protect their rights and will get legal advice. However, when you turn to the local legal aid services office you should be ready for long waiting as the attorneys working there have very heavy case loads.

Before any attorney in such offices provide you with whatsoever legal service you will have to give your financial information in beforehand to insure you qualify for legal aid services. There are different income guidelines for the different states. If you go to one of the offices for legal aid services you will also be informed if they can take the particular case that you need legal representation for or not.