West Virginia Consumer Protection Laws: Lemon Law, Refunds, Repairs and Scams

West Virginia's lemon law covers new passenger automobiles bought or titled in West Virginia, including Class A pickup trucks and vans, the self-propelled chassis of motor homes, and certain farm vehicles. If a defect is reported during the warranty or within one year of delivery, whichever is longer, the manufacturer must make the needed repairs. If a defect that substantially impairs use or market value cannot be fixed after a reasonable number of attempts, the manufacturer must replace the vehicle with a comparable new one; the consumer may also sue the manufacturer and may be awarded a refund of the purchase price (including sales tax, license and registration fees and other reasonable purchase expenses) or damages for diminished value, repair costs, loss of use and inconvenience, and reasonable attorney fees. A reasonable number of attempts is presumed if, within the warranty or one year (whichever is earlier), the same defect was repaired three or more times and continues, the vehicle was out of service 30 or more calendar days, or a defect likely to cause death or serious injury was repaired at least once and continues; the manufacturer must first receive written notice and a chance to cure. Suit must be filed within one year after the express warranty expires.

West Virginia generally bars merchants from excluding or limiting implied warranties (such as merchantability) on consumer goods. A used vehicle may be sold "as is" only if it is inoperable and a total loss, custom built or modified for show or racing, or sold for less than $4,000, driven more than 100,000 miles, or seven years old or older. A buyer of an "as is" vehicle in the last group may cancel the sale by returning it by the end of the dealer's third business day after the sale if it has a significant mechanical problem that reasonably existed at the time of sale. An "as is" sale requires a specific disclaimer on the front page of the sales contract.

A buyer may cancel a home solicitation sale until midnight of the third business day after signing the agreement or offer to purchase. Written notice is effective when mailed to the seller's address in the agreement and need not be in any particular form. The buyer cannot cancel if the buyer requested goods or services without delay because of a genuine emergency and the seller has substantially begun performance, or goods cannot be returned in substantially the same condition.

The West Virginia Consumer Credit and Protection Act declares unfair methods of competition and unfair or deceptive acts or practices in trade or commerce unlawful. A person who buys or leases goods or services and suffers an ascertainable loss of money or property may sue for actual damages or $200, whichever is greater, plus equitable relief, and may demand a jury trial. The person must prove an actual out-of-pocket loss caused by the violation, and for claims based on misrepresentation, that the deception caused them to enter the transaction.

When a state of emergency or state of preparedness is declared, and for its duration or 30 days, whichever is longer, it is unlawful to sell or offer consumer food, essential consumer items, emergency cleanup goods, emergency and medical supplies, home heating oil, building materials, housing, transportation, freight and storage, or gasoline in the affected area for more than 10% above the seller's price on the 10th day before the declaration, unless the increase is directly due to added supplier or labor and material costs (and then no more than 10% above cost plus the usual markup). For 180 days after the declaration, contractors may not charge more than 10% above their pre-declaration prices for repair, reconstruction or emergency cleanup services in the area, with the same cost exception.

Credit services (credit repair) organizations must file a registration statement with the Secretary of State before doing business in West Virginia. They may not charge or receive payment before completing all promised services unless they have the required surety bond or an in-state trust (surety) account, may not charge solely for referrals to lenders, may not falsely guarantee to "erase bad credit" or guarantee credit, and may not make or advise false statements to credit bureaus or creditors.

A person or business that owns or licenses computerized personal information must notify affected West Virginia residents, without unreasonable delay, when their unencrypted and unredacted personal information was or is reasonably believed to have been accessed and acquired by an unauthorized person and this has caused or is reasonably believed will cause identity theft or other fraud. The notice must describe the categories of information involved and provide contact information. Only the Attorney General may enforce the law, and civil penalties require repeated and willful violations, capped at $150,000 per breach.

Consumers can file a complaint with the Attorney General's Consumer Protection Division online, by email (consumer.complaint@wvago.gov), or by mailing a printed form to Office of the Attorney General, Consumer Protection Division, PO Box 1789, Charleston, WV 25326-1789. The Division reviews the complaint, contacts the business for a response, and facilitates voluntary mediation toward a mutual resolution; patterns of violations may lead to enforcement action. Consumer Protection Hotline: 1-800-368-8808.

1) Report the problem to the manufacturer, its agent or an authorized dealer during the express warranty term or within one year after original delivery, whichever is longer. 2) Written notice: the presumption that the manufacturer had a reasonable number of repair attempts applies only if the manufacturer received prior written notice from or on behalf of the consumer and had at least one opportunity to fix the defect. The manufacturer must give buyers a printed statement at purchase saying they must first notify the manufacturer in writing and give it a chance to repair. 3) Arbitration: the Attorney General sets rules for qualified third-party dispute resolution programs, supervised by the Attorney General's consumer protection division and meeting federal Magnuson-Moss standards. If a qualified program exists and the consumer was told about it in writing in time, with a description of how it works, the consumer must use it first before suing. The consumer may sue if no qualified program exists, if dissatisfied with the decision, or if the manufacturer does not promptly carry it out. The statute does not set a consumer fee. 4) Deadline to sue: a lawsuit in circuit court must be filed within one year after the express warranty term expires. Time limits are paused from the day a complaint is filed with a third-party program until its decision (or the deadline for carrying it out, if later). The court may award reasonable attorney fees.