Articles for Legal & Compliance
Wednesday, May 19, 2010
Nicole Munro - I get lots of calls from dealers who want me to review and comment on the latest and greatest new product they plan to offer their customers—damage waivers, GAP products, service contracts, warranties, “etch.” You name it; I’ve probably spoken to a dealer about it.
Wednesday, April 14, 2010
Emily Beck - According to the blotter, a car dealership reported that a man using a stolen identity purchased a new car worth over $51,365 with no money down. This tasty little morsel of news really got me thinking, but left me with far more questions than answers.
Wednesday, March 03, 2010
One of our lawyers shared with me her recent car-buying experience. She explained that, after forwarding an e-mail containing the terms she received from the “X Organization” to the “Y Organization,” to see if the “Y Organization” could beat the “X Organization’s” price, she received an e-mail from the general sales manager of the Y Organization.
As soon as this e-mail landed in her inbox, my colleague decided to cross the “Y Organization” off her list.
Wednesday, February 03, 2010
Here’s some free advice for folks who earn their bread in F&I. Choose your words carefully—very carefully. You may have picked up your sales spiel from the best trainer in the world or the most successful finance guy in your 20 group, but none of that will matter if your customer walks out of the box with a mixed-up idea of what role the dealership plays in the transaction.
Wednesday, January 13, 2010
While the Y2K phenomenon proved to be more hype than “byte,” the apocalyptic compliance frenzy that dealers face today makes Y2K look like a cake walk.
Wednesday, November 25, 2009
It makes me sad to hear stories about dealers who get dinged for seemingly insignificant technical violations of the law. Unfortunately, it is not unusual for us to hear about dealers who get slammed because of some error in their paperwork, or because they overlooked a change in the law.
Friday, September 11, 2009
In 2007, in conjunction with the FTC, a large committee passed final legislation for the Fair and Accurate Credit Transactions Act of 2003, also known as the Identity Theft Red Flags and Notices of Address Discrepancy, or “Red Flags Rule.”
Thursday, September 03, 2009
Usually a party has to sign a contract in order to be able to enforce it. It seems simple enough, right? That isn’t always the case, however, and that can be good news for parties that have some relationship to a dealer’s sale and financing agreements, even though their signatures don’t end up appearing on the bottom line.
Friday, May 01, 2009
Emily Beck- It probably won’t surprise you that this issue comes up quite a bit. Unfortunately, car folks all too often use the word “warranty” to describe both service contracts and warranties. While warranties and service contracts may be similar in their scope of coverage, they have some key differences that can spell big trouble for dealers who don’t properly distinguish between the two.
Sunday, March 01, 2009
Emily Beck - So, it always comes as a bit of a surprise to me when I hear stories about dealers who willingly turn over the keys to their dealerships to third-party sales outfits and let them take the reins and run willy-nilly through the dealership for days or weeks at a time.
Thursday, January 01, 2009
Emily Beck - Anonymity can be a very good thing. My high school and college buddies and I often joke about how fortunate we are that we made it through our awkward stages before the explosion of the information superhighway.
Monday, December 01, 2008
Emily Beck - You didn’t know you had a lot in common with your local Attorney General, did you? Just think about it. You’re both very driven and ambitious... You both care about your public image. And, neither of you is a stranger to phone calls from angry customers
Wednesday, October 01, 2008
Emily Beck - At a recent conference, a dealer shared with me his “secret formula” for avoiding consumer lawsuits. This dealer explained he didn’t need to concern himself about the technical “nuts and bolts” of the laws, but that by “treating customers right,” and “trying to do the right thing,” he was able to sleep at night and not worry about lawsuits.
Friday, August 01, 2008
Emily Beck - Ahh, the dog days of summer. Hot dogs. Balloons. Face painting. Whatever it takes to get folks on the lot, you’re up for it. Right?
Sunday, June 01, 2008
You won’t see it coming. You won’t know how it got there. Then one day, when you least expect it, it will hit you right between the eyes. I’m talking about compliance atrophy. Merriam Webster defines “atrophy” as “a wasting away or progressive decline.”
Tuesday, April 01, 2008
Emily Beck - While many of my colleagues and I earn our bread by picking apart and analyzing the laws that govern motor vehicle dealers and finance companies, a good chunk of our firm’s practice deals with the laws and regulations that govern mortgage lending.
Friday, February 01, 2008
Emily Beck - Can a penny dropped from the top of the Empire States Building really be deadly? Can you survive a multi-story elevator fall by jumping right before the elevator hits the ground?