Fletcher Jones Motor Cars Settles Lawsuit
Settlement Reached With Fletcher Jones Motorcars
The Vachon Law Firm announces the successful resolution of the lawsuit Lewis v. Fletcher Jones Motor Cars, Inc., et al., which was filed in the Orange County Superior Court on January 14, 2011 (Case No. 30‐2011‐00441338).
In the Lewis v. Fletcher Jones Motor Cars, Inc. lawsuit, the plaintiff alleged in her complaint that Fletcher Jones Motor Cars had an illegal business practice of violating the “single document rule” imposed by California’s Vehicle Leasing Act. More specifically, the complaint asserts that the popular Newport Beach, California Mercedes-Benz dealership forces its lease customers to sign a document entitled Acknowledgment of Anti-Export Policy. According to the complaint, the Anti-Export Policy document obligates lessees to pay damages to the dealer if they export their leased vehicles. The plaintiff asserts that California’s Vehicle Leasing Act requires that all such monetary penalty provisions be set forth within the four corners of the lease contract, and not in a separate document.
The complaint also alleges that Fletcher Jones Motorcars falsified the down payment amounts in the plaintiff’s lease contract and committed other wrongful conduct in order to obtain financing for the lease.
Fletcher Jones Appealed Order Denying its Motion to Compel Arbitration – And Lost
In July 2011, Fletcher Jones Motor Cars filed a motion to compel arbitration. However, the Court denied the motion. Fletcher Jones then filed an appeal with California’s Fourth District Court of Appeal, Division Three (Docket No. G045603). But the Court of Appeal rejected the dealer’s arguments and upheld the trial court order. Click here to read the Court of Appeal’s decision.
Fletcher Jones Settled After its Appellate Loss
After the appeal, the parties agreed to a mutually acceptable settlement, the financial terms of which are confidential, but which resulted in Ms. Lewis’s vehicle lease contract being rescinded.
