California Governor Signs ‘Lemon Law Cleanup’ Legislation – RVBusiness – Breaking RV Industry News
California Governor Gavin Newsom on Wednesday, April 2, signed into law California Senate Bill 26 — the cleanup legislation promised by the authors of AB 1755, the recent law that streamlined lemon law claims and went into effect on Jan. 1, 2025, according to a News & Insights report by the RV Industry Association (RVIA).
The intent of the SB 26 legislation is twofold. First, it allows manufacturers (especially smaller manufacturers that may find some of the procedures in AB 1755 unworkable or unnecessary to streamline their cases) to continue under the previous procedural rules governing lemon law claims.
It accomplishes this by creating an opt-in procedure for those manufacturers who want to be governed by AB 1755. RV manufacturers now have 30 days to decide whether to opt-in to AB 1755. Once a manufacturer opts-in, they will be required to comply with all of AB 1755 for five years at which point they may opt-in again if they so choose. The RV Industry Association will share information about the opt-in process once we have it.
Second, the legislation incentivizes consumers to provide a prospective buyer information about a current lemon law claim prior to the sale of a used vehicle.
As the bill moved through the legislature, two important revisions were added:
- The effective date of the pre-dispute notice requirement has been changed from April 1, 2025, to July 1, 2025.
- Language has been added to SB 26 that would allow the legislature, in 2029, to review how AB 1755 is working and for the possibility of the sunset of AB 1755 in 2029 (only if the legislature passed legislation to do so).
Senate Bill 26 was first introduced by California Senator Tom Umberg on December 2, 2024 at the request of Governor Newsom, who had included a signing statement when he signed AB 1755.
The RV Industry Association looks forward to continuing to work with California legislators to support the RV industry and provide legislative clarity to members.
NEXT STEPS: For those manufacturers who wish to continue to be governed by AB 1755, they must provide written notice to the Arbitration Certification Program within the Department of Consumer Affairs (Department) within 30 days of April 2, 2025. Such a notice would inform the Department of the manufacturer’s choice to opt-in and stay under this procedural law. For those manufacturers who wish to be governed by the previous procedural rules prior to AB 1755, nothing needs to be done. For those that miss the deadline to opt-in, there will be another opportunity at the end of each year to opt-in beginning the following year.
Please contact Vice President of Government Affairs Jason Rano at [email protected] with any questions.
