Recently, Ohio’s Ninth District Court of Appeals upheld the dismissal of a class action lawsuit against a dealer for several counts of the Ohio Consumer Sales Practices Act. The facts of the case are not unlike that in a routine lease transaction. The plaintiff leased a vehicle and executed a lease agreement. The lease agreement […]
Scenario: You advertise your new and used vehicles on the internet. Mrs. Jones comes to the dealership to purchase a vehicle. She sees the price handwritten on the window of the car she is purchasing which is displayed in the showroom. She finishes the purchase and takes delivery. Shortly thereafter, you receive a lawsuit from […]
Recently I received an e-mail from a colleague of mine in the southeast. The scenario is as follows: Dealer sells and delivers a new Jeep. It is a cash deal. “Customer” pays with a check, the funds are not verified and a new title clerk immediately titles the vehicle. Shortly thereafter, the same customer visits […]
Scenario: Your customer arranges his own financing on the purchase of a vehicle. When the customer arrives to take delivery of the vehicle, he brings a check from his local credit union in the full amount of the transaction. However, the check has an endorsement on the back which states in essence “by cashing […]
As you are aware, Ohio has two statutes requiring a manufacturer/franchisor to indemnify the dealer/franchisee relative to defective motor vehicles that are produced by the franchisor and provided to the dealer/franchisee. The two Ohio statutes are O.R.C. §4517.60 “Indemnification and Holding Harmless of Franchisee” and §4517.72 – “Duty to Repair – repair unsuccessful,” commonly known […]
This is a matter that you should be extremely concerned about. A few days ago, the appellate court for the Sixth District issued a decision in a case entitled Beau Townsend Ford Lincoln, Inc. v. Don Hinds Ford, Inc. and remanded the case back for a full trial. The transaction involved in the case is something you […]
Ohio is now at the forefront of the blockchain revolution. On August 3, Governor Kasich signed Sub S.B. 220 into law. The bill specifies that transactions recorded by blockchain technology are permitted under the Uniform Electronic Transactions Act. Ohio is now just one of a handful of states, including Arizona and Tennessee, that have passed blockchain-focused legislation. […]
Although it doesn’t happen often, every once in a while a new automobile dealership will go dark and, under Ohio law, if the dealership ceases operations for 45 days, then it is deemed a closed franchisee point. Surprisingly, until recently, there has been no judicial definition of what “going dark” means. This author was recently […]
