BILL ANALYSIS �
AB 964
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Date of Hearing: May 15, 2013
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS
Mike Gatto, Chair
AB 964 (Bonta) - As Amended: May 6, 2013
Policy Committee: JudiciaryVote:7-3
B&P 7-4
Urgency: No State Mandated Local Program:
Yes Reimbursable: No
SUMMARY
This bill expands restrictions and conditions on sales of used
vehicles. Specifically, this bill:
1)Prohibits a vehicle from being advertised or sold as certified
if the dealer knows or should have known that the vehicle is
subject to a manufacturer's safety recall.
2)Prohibits a car dealer from selling a used car without
providing the buyer a written disclosure in English or in
Spanish, Chinese, Tagalog, Vietnamese, or Korean, depending on
the language used in the transaction, identifying which of any
specified conditions are present that the dealer knows or
should know of.
3)Prohibits the sale of a used vehicle without providing the
buyer a completed inspection report indicating all components
inspected prior to sale.
FISCAL EFFECT
1)Minor increased costs to the DMV for additional investigations
of licensed dealers regarding potential violations of the
bill's requirements.
2)Potential non-reimbursable costs to local governments for
enforcement, offset to some extent by fine revenues from
misdemeanor judgments.
COMMENTS
AB 964
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1)Background and Purpose . The Car Buyer's Bill of Rights,
established pursuant to AB 68 (Monta�ez)/Chapter 128 of 2005,
prohibits car dealers from advertising or selling a used
vehicle as certified if certain conditions are present,
including odometer rollbacks, salvage titles, and damage that
substantially impairs the vehicle's use or safety. This bill
adds another prohibited condition-that the dealer knows or
should have known that the vehicle is subject to a
manufacturer's safety recall.
This bill also requires car dealers to disclose certain
vehicle conditions to the buyer for non-certified used cars if
the transaction is conducted primarily in Spanish, Chinese,
Tagalog, Vietnamese, or Korean. The author's intent is to
provide additional information to consumers outside of the
certified vehicle market so they can make a more informed
purchase. The sponsor, the Latin Business Association,
contends that the average car buyer will not have sufficient
mechanical knowledge to determine the condition of a used car
and whether or not it needs costly repairs. Therefore, the
consumer must currently rely on the car dealer to voluntarily
disclose any problems with a non-certified used car.
2)Opposition . According to the California New Car Dealers
Association, "AB 964 wrongly targets all car dealers for a
problem that has been brought about by the rental car
industry. The rental car industry has faced scrutiny in
recent years for renting defective vehicles to consumer
despite being informed of open safety recalls? Rather than
focusing on rental car companies, AB 964 targets every dealer
seeking to 'certify' a vehicle - regardless of how minor the
recall is, or whether the dealer has access to information
about the recall."
According to the Consumers for Auto Reliability and Safety,
"[This bill] allows auto dealers to sell used cars with
serious problems that may be life-threatening, if they merely
give "written disclosure" to the buyers. However, those
disclosures are not required to be clear or conspicuous, or in
plain language, so they could easily be hidden in fine print
or incomprehensible legalese."
Analysis Prepared by : Chuck Nicol / APPR. / (916) 319-2081
AB 964
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