Louisiana Consumer Protection Laws: Lemon Law, Refunds, Repairs and Scams

Louisiana's motor vehicle warranty (lemon) law covers new passenger and passenger-commercial vehicles bought for personal, family or household use, plus personal watercraft and all-terrain vehicles used only for personal purposes; it also covers lessees and people to whom the vehicle is transferred during the warranty. Vehicles of 10,000 GVW or more and vehicles used only for commercial purposes are excluded. The consumer must report the defect to the manufacturer or a dealer and make the vehicle available for repair before the warranty expires or within one year after original delivery, whichever is earlier. If, within that period, the same defect has been subject to repair four or more times without success, or the vehicle has been out of service for repairs for a total of 45 or more calendar days, the manufacturer must replace the vehicle with a comparable new one or accept its return and refund the full purchase price, amounts paid at the point of sale, and sales tax, license and registration fees, minus a reasonable allowance for use (leases have their own refund rules). If the manufacturer has an informal dispute program that complies with federal rules (16 C.F.R. Part 703), the consumer must use it first. Suit must be filed within three years of purchase or one year after the warranty ends, whichever is longer, and a consumer who wins in whole or in part is entitled to reasonable attorney fees.

The lemon law applies to new vehicles. Under the Civil Code's general rules on sales, a seller warrants the buyer against redhibitory (hidden) defects: a defect that makes the thing useless or so inconvenient that the buyer would not have bought it lets the buyer seek to cancel the sale, and a defect that only reduces its usefulness or value lets the buyer seek a price reduction. The parties may agree to exclude or limit this warranty (an "as is" sale), but the exclusion must be clear and unambiguous and brought to the buyer's attention, and it does not protect a seller who declared that the thing had a quality the seller knew it did not have.

In a home solicitation sale, the consumer may cancel until midnight of the third business day after signing the agreement or offer to purchase, by written notice to the seller at the address in the agreement; a mailed notice counts when it is mailed, and it need not be in any particular form. The right does not apply if the consumer asked for goods or services without delay because of an emergency, the seller has substantially begun performance in good faith, and any goods cannot be returned in substantially the same condition. Within 10 days after cancellation the seller must return the consumer's payments and any note; the seller may keep a cancellation fee of 5% of the cash price, but not more than the cash down payment, unless the seller failed to comply with the law.

The Louisiana Unfair Trade Practices and Consumer Protection Law declares unfair methods of competition and unfair or deceptive acts or practices in trade or commerce unlawful. A person who loses money or movable property because of an unlawful practice may sue individually (not as a class representative) for actual damages. If the court finds the practice was knowingly used after the Attorney General gave notice, the court must award three times actual damages. When damages are awarded, the court must also award reasonable attorney fees and costs; a defendant may get fees if the suit was groundless and brought in bad faith or to harass. The claim must be filed within one year from the transaction or act that gave rise to it.

During a state of emergency declared by the governor or a parish president, prices for goods and services sold in the emergency area may not exceed the prices ordinarily charged for comparable goods and services in the same market area at or just before the emergency, unless the increase is due to commodity or regional or national market fluctuations, or to reasonable expenses and business risk of procuring or selling during the emergency. The rule lasts for an initial period of no more than 30 days and is renewed only by specific reference in a later proclamation by the governor. It expressly covers gasoline and diesel fuel, each sale or offer is a separate offense, and local governments may adopt ordinances to implement it. The section does not create a private right to sue.

It is unlawful to sell a gift certificate or gift card that expires less than five years from the date it is issued; the expiration date must appear in capital letters in at least 10-point type. Service fees, including dormancy fees, are not allowed, except a one-time handling fee of no more than $1 per certificate. A gift certificate sold without an expiration date is valid until redeemed or replaced. The rules do not apply to free loyalty or promotional certificates, certificates sold below face value or donated to nonprofits for fundraising, or bank-issued general-use prepaid cards. A violation is an unfair trade practice.

Credit repair services organizations must file a $100,000 surety bond with the Attorney General and may not charge or accept any money from a buyer unless they have the bond. They may not advertise without filing a registration statement with the Attorney General, make false or misleading claims (such as promising to "erase bad credit" without disclosing this is possible only for inaccurate or obsolete information), or violate the federal Credit Repair Organizations Act. Each contract must be in writing and dated, describe the services and the estimated time to perform them (no more than 180 days), state all payments, and include a notice that the buyer may cancel at any time before midnight of the fifth day after the transaction; payments must be returned within 10 days after the seller receives a cancellation notice.

The Louisiana State Licensing Board for Contractors defines "home improvement" as reconstruction, alteration, renovation, repair or similar work on existing residential structures where the project value is $7,500 or more. The Board states that a residential building license is required for residential construction exceeding $50,000 (including labor and materials) and for home improvement projects on existing residential structures exceeding $50,000.

A person or business that owns or licenses computerized personal information must notify Louisiana residents whose personal information was, or is reasonably believed to have been, acquired by an unauthorized person in a security breach. Notice must be given in the most expedient time possible and without unreasonable delay, but no later than 60 days after discovery of the breach. If notice is delayed for law enforcement needs or to determine the scope of the breach, the business must give the Attorney General the reasons in writing within the 60-day period, and the Attorney General must allow a reasonable extension. Notice is not required if, after a reasonable investigation, the business determines there is no reasonable likelihood of harm to Louisiana residents; it must keep that written determination for five years. Businesses must also maintain reasonable security procedures and destroy personal records no longer needed. A violation is an unfair trade practice.

Consumers can file a consumer dispute with the Attorney General's Consumer Protection Section using the online form, or by mailing or faxing the printable form with supporting documents. The office may refer the matter to another agency or forward the dispute and documents to the company; if the company responds, the office reviews the response and sends a copy to the consumer. The office says it cannot act as the consumer's attorney, a court or a legal advisor, and it does not handle disputes involving airlines, utilities, insurance claims, public officials or agencies, child support, employer-employee issues or licensed professionals. Questions can go to the Consumer Protection Hotline at 1-800-351-4889.

1) Notice: the consumer must report the defect to the manufacturer or one of its authorized dealers, and make the vehicle available for repair, before the warranty ends or within one year after original delivery, whichever is earlier. The statute does not spell out a separate written-notice requirement. 2) Final repair attempt: the statute says a manufacturer that fails to respond to the consumer or to perform repairs within the time periods in that subsection is considered to have waived its right to a final attempt to fix the defect, but the subsection does not itself set those time periods. 3) Arbitration: Louisiana has no state-run lemon law arbitration program. If the manufacturer has an informal dispute program that substantially complies with federal rules (16 C.F.R. Part 703), the refund/replacement remedy does not apply to a consumer who has not first used that program. After a program decision awarding a refund or replacement, the manufacturer has 30 days to provide it. 4) Deadline: the consumer has three years from the purchase date, or one year after the warranty period ends, whichever is longer, to sue the manufacturer to enforce the refund/replacement remedy.