California’s already strong lemon law, the Song-Beverly Consumer Warranty Act, has been amended on January 1, 2008, to include military personnel stationed in California.
In the past, California’s lemon law, similar to other lemon laws throughout the country (including Texas lemon law), is only applicable inside the state where the consumer purchased the subject vehicle. In other words, proper jurisdiction is directly related to the state where the purchase transaction took place.
With this new amendment, military service personnel who is stationed in California at the time the vehicle was purchased or the time the lemon law action is filed, can lean on California’s lemon law to get a repurchase or replacement on a defective vehicle. This is strategically a benefit and convenience for our men and women in the military, especially if they purchased the vehicle or reside in a state where the lemon law is not as strong as California.
Specifically, where a consumer’s car is ineligible for a repurchase in Texas because the deadline to file has padded, if that consumer was stationed in California at the time of purchase or the time they file a lemon law claim, then he or she can forgo the harsh Texas Lemon Law program and file under the California Lemon Law program instead.