Lemon law – National

"The Truth About Lemon Laws How to get satisfaction when your car 'just can't be fixed' "

"In 1979, Rosemary Shahan marched in front of that dealership for five months. People sympathetic to her cause stopped on the street to tell her their own auto repair horror stories. Shahan realized she wasn't alone...thus was born the citizens' movement that begat today's 'lemon laws.'

Regardless of what method you use for lemon-aid, you can thank Rosemary Shahan and her fellow citizen activists for badgering dealers, manufacturers, and state officials to do the right thing by putting lemon laws on the books that now provide recourse for us all."

– Motor Trend, October, 2000

Note: all 50 states have adopted lemon laws modeled after California's.

State of Minnesota

Office of the Attorney General Hubert H. Humphrey, III

November 15, 1989

Rosemary Shahan

President CARS Foundation

Falls Church, VA 22043

Dear Rosemary: In response to the auto industry's petition to the Federal Trade Commission requesting preemption of state new car lemon laws, we have submitted comments today to the FTC on behalf of the Attorneys General of every state in the country as well as the District of Columbia, Guam, American Samoa, and the Northern Mariana Islands. As far as we are aware, this unanimous outpouring of opposition is unprecedented. It reflects the fact that the carmakers' proposal would undermine [state lemon laws.] And it reflects the fact that this proposal offends basic principles of federalism and state sovereignty. If you should have any questions, please call me or our Communications Director at (phone number).

Thanks for all your work on this issue!

Sincerely

Doug Blanke

Douglas Blanke

Assistant Attorney General, Consumer Division