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Thread: Another typical STUPID NYS law - Who wants it? - NYS trial lawyers

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    Another typical STUPID NYS law - Who wants it? - NYS trial lawyers

    You want to lease a car? You live in NY ? - SCREWED AGAIN !!

    ONLY IN NEW YORK $TATE

    This benefits ONLY NYS TRIAL LAWYERS, who have lobbied tooth and nail, to KEEP THIS ANTIQUATED, OUTDATED LAW. It makes them MILLIONS per case, instead of mere 6 figure settlements, cause their LAW allows them to SUE MANUFACTURES.

    -----Want to be TAX BAIT ? - Head to New York State---------------

    -----A "New York moment" - worth no time at all (after taxes)------

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    Another example of a cost that's higher in New York:

    The group said Monday that the leasing of automobiles fell by 32 percent in 2004. Since 2002, leasing has fallen by 57 percent in New York state.

    No other state has a vicarious liability statute.

    "The only New Yorkers benefiting from this archaic law are a small group of trial lawyers, who make money from the current law and are spending large sums of money to keep this unfair law in place," said Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers director of communications Charles Territo.
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    The great New York auto-lease ripoff

    New Yorkers who lease cars and trucks have to shell out hundreds of dollars more than folks in New Jersey or Connecticut - and often can't get a real lease at all - because of this state's uniquely absurd "vicarious liability" law.
    Try out the lease payment estimator at Toyota's Web site. Plug in any New York zip code, and it spits out an acquisition fee of $1,050. That's $650 more than in almost any other state, and it's all because of the threat of lawsuits, according to a Toyota official. Honda's Web site includes this telling disclaimer: "Lease rates and payments will be higher for customers and dealers in New York State."

    Here's the problem: A law from the 1920s makes the owner of a car responsible for accidents, even if someone else is driving. This made sense in those days of plutocrats with chauffeurs, but it's silly when the owner is a leasing company with no control over how the car is used. So when a teenager sunbathing in her driveway was run over by her father, a jury zapped Ford Motor Credit Co. for $900,000 while demanding only $100,000 from the driver's insurance.

    Trial lawyers have blocked reform. As a result, carmakers, including GM, Ford and Chrysler, have stopped leasing in New York. Instead, they offer "balloon payment" deals that cost more because the driver takes title and pays full sales tax. Companies that still lease charge hefty fees to cover litigation costs.

    It's up to the Legislature to relieve consumers of this nonsensical burden. Gov. Pataki and the GOP Senate would exempt auto leases from the vicarious liability law, but Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver and his Democrats refuse to go along. The speaker, himself a trial lawyer, seems to think it's okay that U.S. auto manufacturers don't lease in New York. And he claims import leases aren't more expensive here than in other states. He should visit www.toyota.com.

    Two years ago, a reform bill that passed the Senate with bipartisan support died in the Assembly when Transportation Committee Chairman David Gantt refused to bring it up for a vote. This year, Silver should make sure the committee acts. If not, consumers who shell out an extra $650 for a Camry can think of it as the Silver tax.

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    Vicarious Liability Talking Points

    In New York, over 25% of new vehicle sales were leased, with many high-end and metropolitan dealers leasing 80% of their vehicles.

    Vicarious liability has caused unacceptable losses for leasing companies and led over 70 such businesses to close since September 2000. More importantly, consumers are losing a viable option in controlling costs, which allowed them to transport their families in newer and safer vehicles.

    New York is now the only state with unlimited vicarious liability. Connecticut and Rhode Island repealed their vicarious liability laws in 2003.

    This is a truly antiquated law dating to 1924 and meant to cover livery drivers of that era who had no assets or insurance of their own.

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    Leasing Plummeted in New York in 2004, While Nationally it Grew Substantially
    Leasing Declines One-third in NYS; Grows 12% Outside NYS

    Albany, NY – (May 2, 2005): Leasing of motor vehicles declined in New York State between 2003 and 2004 by 32 percent, while leasing in the other 49 states grew over the same period by 12 percent. Since 2002, leasing has plummeted in New York by 57 percent. New York is the only state in the nation with an unlimited vicarious liability law.

    “Leasing is an affordable option for driving a new car or truck that many consumers take advantage of,” said Charles Territo, Director of Communications for the Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers. “Unfortunately for New York consumers, leasing is either unavailable or costs more than it does in any other state in America as a result of the state’s antiquated and burdensome unlimited vicarious liability law.

    “From 2003 to 2004 leasing in the United States – outside of New York – grew by 12 percent, from 1.76 vehicles to 1.97 million vehicles. At the same time, vehicle leases in New York State plummeted from 141,335 to 96,243, a decline of 32 percent, or virtually one-third. Over the last two years, leasing has declined in New York by nearly 130,000 vehicles or 57 percent.

    “Vicarious liability is hurting New York consumers, hurting auto dealers and hurting automobile workers in the state, many of whom feel their jobs are at risk as a result. The only New Yorkers benefiting from this archaic law are a small group of trial lawyers, who make money from the current law and are spending large sums of money to keep this unfair law in place,” Territo said.

    More than 90,000 New Yorkers have jobs in the automobile industry, earning more than $3.2 billion annually. There are 1,200 automobile dealerships in New York, employing 56,000 workers.

    Vicarious liability – the antiquated legal concept that holds a leasing company liable for a driver’s negligence – has already forced 20 automakers and every major retail bank in New York out of leasing. The companies no longer leasing in New York are: Buick, Cadillac, Chevrolet, Chrysler, Dodge, Ford, GMC, Hummer, Hyundai, Jeep, Kia, Lincoln, Mazda, Mercury, Oldsmobile, Pontiac, Porsche, Saab, Saturn, and Subaru.

    This law has cost New York consumers more than one-quarter billion dollars in the last two years in the form of increased acquisition fees for those who are still able to lease and higher sales taxes for those who have been forced to purchase rather than lease.

    “It’s a fundamental matter of fairness. People who drive leased cars – and not the bank or finance company – should be held accountable for their actions,” Territo said. “Just as people who drive purchased cars – and not the bank or finance company – are held responsible for their actions.

    “The State Senate has voted twice to repeal it. Governor Pataki, the United Auto Workers and automobile dealers across the state support getting rid of it. Even the New York State Bar Association says it should be abandoned. New York is the only state in the nation with an unlimited vicarious liability law, which means New Yorkers face higher costs and fewer choices. Manufacturers will continue working with consumers, dealers and workers to urge the Assembly to reform the law and return affordable automobile leasing returns to New York,” Territo concluded

    The Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers The Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers is a trade association of nine car and light truck manufacturers including BMW Group, DaimlerChrysler, Ford Motor Company, General Motors, Mazda, Mitsubishi Motors, Porsche, Toyota and Volkswagen. One out of every 10 jobs in the U.S. is dependent on the automotive industry. No other industry is linked to so much U.S. manufacturing or generates more retail business and employment. For more information, visit www.autoalliance.org.
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    Extra sales taxes paid by consumers who were forced out of leasing: 81,565 consumers paid an average of $707.14 each, or a total of $57,677,874 in additional sales taxes that they would not have paid if they would have been able to lease a vehicle.

    Additional acquisition fees paid by New York consumers: 142,656 consumers who leased vehicles paid an average additional acquisition fee of $524.88 each, or a total of $74,829,517 more to lease a car in New York due to the Vicarious Liability Law.

    Combined, the total additional cost to consumers is $132,507,391.

    “Consumers are effectively paying a ‘Trial Lawyers Tax’ because of this ridiculous and antiquated law,” said Mark Schienberg, president of the Greater New York Automobile Dealers Association.

    “The New York State trial lawyers, who stand to make huge sums of money from unlimited vicarious liability claims, are effectively holding consumers and the auto industry ransom,” continued Schienberg.
    =====================================
    N.Y. Auto Industry Restarts Stalled Drive to Reform Vicarious Leasing Liability Law
    March 14, 2005

    Auto leasing interests in New York are renewing their battle against the state's vicarious liability law that they say has demolished the car leasing industry in the state.

    "A recent poll showed that New Yorkers overwhelmingly want this law changed," said Charles Territo, director of communications for the Alliance.

    New York is the only state in the nation with an unlimited vicarious liability law, Connecticut and Rhode Island repealed similar laws in 2003. The law allows lessors of cars to be sued along with the lessee if the lessee gets into an accident.

    The so-called vicarious liability law raises car leasing firms costs by more than $130 million a year and has led to a 36 percent decline in the number of vehicles leased in New York each year, according to the industry.

    The state Senate has passed the changes but thus far the Assembly has refused to go along.

    Trial lawyers see the issue differently. The New York State Trial Lawyers Association claims that vicarious liability ensures that victims of accidents involving leased cars and uninsured or underinsured drivers are fairly compensated for their injuries.

    "It's a fundamental matter of fairness. People who drive leased cars - and not the bank or finance company - should be held accountable for their actions," Territo said. "Just as people who drive purchased cars - and not the bank or finance company - are held responsible for their actions.

    "New Yorkers should have access to the same vehicle financing options as consumers in 49 other states.

    We hope that the Assembly recognizes the weight of the arguments and the will of the people and makes 2005 the year that access to affordable automobile leasing returns to New York. We will be working with consumers, dealers and workers to make sure the Assembly hears those arguments," Territo concluded.

  2. #2
    Member jbinbny's Avatar
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    I agree completely. New York is all about special interests feeding at the taxpayer trough. And this is an excellent example of what is wrong with this state.

    By the way, I'll bet Sheldon Silver's firm in Manhattan gets a big chunk of this "business". And he certainly isn't going to help change this law.

    Better to screw the taxpayer who just continually bends over and grabs his/her ankles.
    Thank you New York, may I please have another!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

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