Lemon Law – Ohio

Opinion "California lemon law reflects reality, so live with it"

"[Shahan] now heads the California-based Consumers for Auto Reliability and Safety, which is based in Sacramento. But by phone and fax, she recently played an important role in awakening less-than-alert Ohio legislators and preventing what she saw as a booby trap in Ohio's lemon law.

Northeast Ohio legislators interviewed later said they though it was a no-brainer, pro-consumer bill, although many later admitted in interviews that they had not read it. "They were snookered,' said Shahan, who learned about House Bill 21 as part of her ongoing monitoring of lemon laws around the country. She actually read the bill, and thought the auto industry was trying to pull a fast one.

"She was really the consumer watchdog, the initial alert,' said Amy Simpson, the state director for the Ohio Public Interest Research Group (PIRG). 'A lot of people, when they looked at the legislation, they looked at the summary, they looked at the title, and they looked at the sponsors. None of those things raised any red flags. Rosemary took the time to do some analysis and then had the tenacity to contact and follow up with people. From our perspective, she was the instigator in alerting us.' Simpson said.

The [auto industry provision] would 'drastically impact' how or if consumers get relief in Ohio, according to Philip Nowicki, a nationally known lemon-law consultant from Tallahassee, who ran Florida's program.

– Cleveland Plain Dealer, May 30, 1999