56:12-36 Informal dispute settlement procedure.

8. a. If a manufacturer, or, in the case of an authorized emergency vehicle, a manufacturer, co-manufacturer, or post-manufacturing modifier, has established, or participates in, an informal dispute settlement procedure pursuant to section 110 of Pub.L.93-637 (15 U.S.C. s.2310) and the rules promulgated thereunder, or the requirements of this section, a consumer may submit a dispute regarding motor vehicle nonconformities, including a dispute between a manufacturer, co-manufacturer, or post-manufacturing modifier regarding the source of nonconformities and resulting liability to the consumer, to the dispute settlement body provided by that procedure, but a consumer shall not be required to first participate in the informal dispute settlement procedure before participating in the division's summary hearing procedure under this act.

b. If a consumer chooses to use a manufacturer's, co-manufacturer's, or post-manufacturing modifier's informal dispute settlement procedure established pursuant to this section, the findings and decisions of the dispute settlement body shall state in writing whether the consumer is entitled to a refund under the presumptions and criteria set out in this act and the findings and decisions shall be admissible against the consumer and the manufacturer, co-manufacturer, or post-manufacturing modifier in any legal action.

c. If the dispute settlement body determines that a consumer is entitled to relief under this act, the consumer shall be entitled to a refund as authorized by section 4 of this act.

d. In any informal dispute settlement procedure established pursuant to this section:

(1) Participating arbitrators shall be trained in arbitration and familiar with the provisions of this act.

(2) Documents shall not be submitted to any dispute settlement body unless the documents have been provided to each of the parties in the dispute at least seven days prior to commencement of the dispute settlement hearing. The parties shall be given the opportunity to comment on the documents in writing or with oral presentation.

(3) No party shall participate in the informal dispute settlement procedure unless all other parties are also present and given an opportunity to be heard, or unless the other parties consent to proceeding without their presence and participation.

(4) A consumer shall be given an adequate opportunity to contest a manufacturer's, co-manufacturer's, or post-manufacturing modifier's assertion that a nonconformity falls within intended specifications for the vehicle by having the basis of this claim appraised by a technical expert selected and paid for by the consumer prior to the informal dispute settlement procedure. If the dispute settlement body rules in favor of the consumer, his costs and reasonable attorney's fees shall also be awarded.

(5) A dispute shall not be heard if there has been a recent attempt by the manufacturer, co-manufacturer, or post-manufacturing modifier to repair a consumer's vehicle, but no response has yet been received by the dispute settlement body from the consumer as to whether the repairs were successfully completed. This provision shall not prejudice a consumer's right under this section.

(6) The manufacturer, co-manufacturer, or post-manufacturing modifier shall provide, and the dispute settlement body shall consider, any relevant technical service bulletins which have been issued by the manufacturer, co-manufacturer, or post-manufacturing modifier regarding motor vehicles of the same make and model as the vehicle that is the subject of the dispute.

e. Any manufacturer, co-manufacturer, or post-manufacturing modifier who establishes, or participates in, an informal dispute settlement procedure, whether it meets the requirements of this section or not, shall maintain, and forward to the director at six-month intervals, the following records:

(1) The number of purchase price and lease price refunds requested, the number awarded by the dispute settlement body, the amount of each award and the number of awards satisfied in a timely manner;

(2) The number of awards in which additional repairs or a warranty extension was the most prominent remedy, the amount or value of each award, and the number of awards satisfied in a timely manner;

(3) The number and total dollar amount of awards in which some form of reimbursement for expenses or compensation for losses was the most prominent remedy, the amount or value of each award and the number of awards satisfied in a timely manner; and

(4) The average number of days from the date of a consumer's initial request to use the manufacturer's, co-manufacturer's, or post-manufacturing modifier's informal dispute settlement procedure until the date of the decision and the average number of days from the date of the decision to the date on which performance of the award was satisfied.

L.1988, c.123, s.8; amended 2009, c.324, s.8.