Union City, NJ Lemon Law Attorney

Yes, in the sense that we represent people from Union City and all over Hudson County, though we don't have an office in Union City; the nearest of ours is in Newark, and the work itself happens by phone, email and e-signature, in English or Spanish.

RockPoint Law represents Union City and Hudson County drivers with New Jersey lemon law claims, but we don't have an office in Union City. The nearest of our offices is in Newark, about eight miles away, and you don't need to visit it, because a New Jersey case is a paper case from start to finish: the dealer's repair statements, one certified letter to the manufacturer, and an application that goes to the Lemon Law Unit by mail. We work through all of that with you (not literally side by side, since it's over the phone, by email and through e-signature), in English or Spanish. Should it go to a hearing, the closest Office of Administrative Law location is in Newark too. We take qualifying cases on contingency, and if you win, N.J.S.A. 56:12-42 makes the manufacturer pay your attorney's fees.

Often it does. Say you bought in Manhattan but put the registration at your Union City address; that's enough for New Jersey's registration test. Bought in New York and registered there too? Then it's New York's law the car falls under instead.

Often, yes. N.J.S.A. 56:12-30 covers a vehicle bought or leased in New Jersey, or one registered with the New Jersey Motor Vehicle Commission. So a new car from a Manhattan dealership that you registered at home in Union City meets the registration test (and the Division's own consumer brief reads it that way, too). Flip it around, though, and it falls apart, because a car bought or leased in New York and registered in New York meets neither test, and New York's own law is the place to look. The usual conditions still apply on top of all that. The defect must substantially impair the car's use, value or safety, and it has to arise within 24,000 miles or two years.

Mostly, yes. You'll find the rights statement, the Division's application and its guidebook in Spanish, and if you ask the OAL ahead of time, it provides an interpreter at the hearing.

For most of the process, yes. When a new car is sold or leased in New Jersey, N.J.S.A. 56:12-34(a) requires a statement of your Lemon Law rights in English and Spanish, and section 56:12-34.1 adds a second bilingual notice about your warranty within 90 days. The Division of Consumer Affairs, for its part, publishes its application and its Lemon Law guidebook in Spanish. At the hearing, the Office of Administrative Law provides an interpreter to anyone with limited English who asks, and it wants the request as far ahead of the hearing as possible, so that's something to raise early rather than the week before. As for us, RockPoint Law's team serves clients in English and Spanish, and you can go over your repair history, sign documents and get ready for the hearing in whichever of the two you'd rather use.

Three tries at an ordinary defect, or one at a defect likely to cause death or serious injury, or 20 calendar days out of service. All of it inside 24,000 miles or two years, and only dealer or manufacturer repairs count.

Three for an ordinary defect. Under N.J.S.A. 56:12-33, if substantially the same problem has been through three or more repairs and is still there, the law presumes the manufacturer can't fix it. That's the one people tend to call three strikes. There are two others, and either one can get you there faster. A defect likely to cause death or serious bodily injury needs only one examination or repair. And 20 or more calendar days out of service, added up across one or more defects, qualifies no matter how many visits it took. Motorhomes need 45 days, if that's what you drive. Everything must happen within 24,000 miles or two years of delivery, whichever arrives first. After that, the manufacturer must receive your certified letter and get 10 days for one final repair. Only repairs by the manufacturer or its dealer or distributor count.

It would be before the Office of Administrative Law in Newark, Trenton or Atlantic City, on a date you choose, and coming from Union City the Newark office at 33 Washington Street is by far the closest of them.

Before the Office of Administrative Law, which hears Lemon Law cases in Newark, Trenton and Atlantic City. The Lemon Law Unit schedules accepted cases and lets you choose from the dates available. For anybody in Union City, Newark is by far the closest, and the OAL lists its Newark office at 33 Washington Street, which is under eight miles from the center of Union City. By statute, the hearing takes place within 20 days of acceptance unless you agree to a later date. An administrative law judge hears it, with no jury, and can subpoena witnesses and records. The judge's written decision is due within 20 days, and the Director of Consumer Affairs then has 15 days to adopt, reject or modify it.

Yes, you can file in the Superior Court's Hudson Vicinage over in Jersey City, but keep in mind that a Division decision binds both sides and rules out a later court case under the Act.

Yes. N.J.S.A. 56:12-39 lets you file in the Superior Court without first using the Division's hearing or a manufacturer's arbitration program. If you're filing from Union City, that means the Hudson Vicinage, which the New Jersey Judiciary lists at the William J. Brennan Jr. Courthouse and at the Frank J. Guarini Justice Complex, both of them in Jersey City. A consumer who prevails in court is awarded attorney's fees, expert witness fees and costs, the same as before the Division. Going to court does add one chore, which is that any party pleading a Lemon Law claim or defense sends the Attorney General a copy within 10 days. So it's worth thinking it through before you file, because once the Division issues a final decision, both sides are held to it, appeal aside, and a Superior Court case under the Act is off the table.

The protection period ends at 24,000 miles or two years from delivery, whichever comes first, and the manufacturer must receive your certified letter before that, so leave yourself some room for the mail.

Watch the protection period, which ends at 24,000 miles or the second anniversary of delivery, whichever arrives first, under N.J.S.A. 56:12-31. Your repairs or shop days have to fall inside it. The Division of Consumer Affairs adds a practical rule: the manufacturer must receive your certified letter before the odometer reaches 24,000 and within two years of delivery. In practice that means working back from the earlier limit and allowing for postal time, and a car that mostly sits parked on the street may well reach the two-year date long before it gets near the mileage. Any stretch when repairs couldn't be had because of war, a strike, fire, flood or a natural disaster is added to the two years and the 20 days. The Act prints no separate filing deadline beyond that, which is exactly why it's worth having a lawyer pin down your dates.

Not toward the repair count, no, since the statute counts repairs by the manufacturer or its dealer or distributor, so a recurring defect is one you take to a franchised service department.

Not toward the repair count. N.J.S.A. 56:12-33(a) counts repairs by the manufacturer or its dealer or distributor, and the Division's consumer brief excludes defects caused by anyone other than the manufacturer, its agent or an authorized dealer. The corner garage may get you back on the road, but its visits won't add to the three repairs the statute counts. That said, using one doesn't automatically cost you your warranty either. The notice required by section 56:12-34.1 explains that federal law bars a manufacturer from voiding a warranty just because someone other than an authorized provider did the service. So for a defect that keeps coming back, take the car to a franchised service department and ask for the itemized repair statement every time, even on the visits where it feels like a formality.

Start with the price and add the trade-in credit, early options, tax, fees, finance charges, towing and rental. Then subtract the mileage at your first repair visit, times the price, divided by 100,000, and that is the whole formula.

Add up everything listed in N.J.S.A. 56:12-32: the price you paid, including any trade-in credit, options the manufacturer or dealer added within 30 days of delivery, sales tax, license and registration fees, finance charges, towing, and what you spent renting an equivalent car while yours was out of service for the defect. Then there's one thing that comes off, the allowance for use, and section 56:12-30 fixes it: the odometer reading at your first repair visit for the defect, multiplied by the price, then divided by 100,000. Here's an example, since the formula reads worse than it really is. A $32,000 car first taken in at 7,500 miles carries a $2,400 deduction, and whatever you drive after that first visit doesn't raise it, which matters when a case takes a while. You can also turn down a replacement and insist on the refund.

It can. Whatever you actually spent renting a comparable car while yours was out of service for the defect goes into the refund, so save every rental receipt.

It can. The refund under N.J.S.A. 56:12-32 includes reimbursement for what you actually spent renting a car equivalent to yours, limited to the time your car was out of service because of the defect. Keep everything, then: every rental agreement, receipt and card statement, plus the dealer's repair statements showing the dates in and out. If the manufacturer appeals a refund and loses, section 56:12-37(d) adds rental costs from the day you offered the car back, unless the manufacturer gave you a comparable car free of charge. Towing is reimbursed too. In a household with only one car those receipts can add up quickly, they also tend to end up lost in a glovebox somewhere, and a buyback offer that leaves them out comes in low.

The state fee is $50, which the Lemon Law Unit asks for once it has accepted your application. Win, and you get it back as a cost, and the winning consumer recovers attorney's fees as well.

The state's filing fee is $50, and the Lemon Law Unit asks for it only after it accepts your application. Under N.J.A.C. 13:45A-26.8 you pay it by certified check or money order to the New Jersey Division of Consumer Affairs. It isn't refunded if you lose, but you get it back as a cost if you win. Then there's the certified letter to the manufacturer, which costs the postage. And lawyers? The statute deals with that too. Under N.J.S.A. 56:12-42, the consumer who wins recovers reasonable attorney's fees, expert fees and costs, in the Division or in Superior Court. That's also why our new car cases run on contingency: if we don't recover anything, you owe us no fee.

That depends on how old the car is and where you bought it. If it's still inside 24,000 miles and two years from first delivery, the new car law may cover it, and if it's older and came from a dealer, the Used Car Lemon Law may.

It depends on the car's age and where it was purchased. A used car that hasn't yet reached 24,000 miles or two years since its first owner took delivery may qualify under the new car law, because the Act treats someone who receives a car while its warranty is running as a consumer. Older cars may be covered by the Used Car Lemon Law, N.J.S.A. 56:8-67 and following. This law requires dealers to warrant the engine and drivetrain for a period set by the odometer reading at sale. It doesn't apply to cars sold for under $3,000, seven or more model years old, or over 100,000 miles, and it leaves out motorcycles and motor homes. If you're looking at your paperwork and can't tell which side of that line you're on, that's normal enough; send us the bill of sale and we'll tell you which law fits.