Learn About the Law

Illinois Commercial Code: The Commercial Code governs sale of goods, such as cars. If your car has a substantial defect, not known to you at the time of sale, you may be able to "unwind" the deal and get your money back. This is called "rejection" or "revocation of acceptance." The disadvantage of these remedies is that they do not provide for attorney fees.
Magnuson-Moss Warranty Act: The Magnuson-Moss Warranty Act, commonly known as Mag-Moss, is an "add-on" to the warranty law contained in the Commercial Code. Under Mag-Moss, if the seller breaches express or implied warranties, you may be entitled to damages. Mag-Moss is a "fee-shiftable" statute, meaning, that the prevailing consumer can recover attorney fees from the defendant. This allows people to pursue small claims they ordinarily have no resources to pursue.
Illinois Consumer Fraud Act: The Act (fee-shiftable) prohibits deceptive or unfair acts or practices, and is applicable to a wide variety of fraudulent conduct. In a car context, it applies to undisclosed accidents, fraudulent sales techniques, odometer fraud, and myriad other deceptions car dealers engage in when selling cars.
Truth in Lending Act: This federal Act (fee-shiftable) regulates disclosures of financing terms. It is applicable to car cases when the dealers force consumers to buy unnecessary insurance, claiming it would improve their chances of getting financed, or when the dealers do not allow consumers to take unsigned copies of their finance contracts to shop around for a better rate. (Yes, it is your right under federal law!).
Equal Credit Opportunity Act, Fair Credit Reporting Act, Fair Debt Collection Practices Act: These federal Acts (also fee-shiftable) regulate extensions of credit and collection practices. Car dealers routinely violate the disclosure requirements of both ECOA and FCRA. Often, if a consumer falls behind on his or her payments, the account is referred to a collection agency, which may engage in sharp collection practices that violate the FDCPA. A consumer may be entitled to statutory damages for such violations.
Illinois Lemon Law: A useless piece of legislation, most familiar to the consumers. This Act is practically never used by competent consumer lawyers, for a number of reasons: for starters, it does not allow you to assert any claims other than those under the Act (in all other instances you can sue under several theories, such as warranty, truth in lending, fraud, etc.), and it does not provide for attorney fees to the prevailing consumer. It would not be an exaggeration to say that this Act is a lemon.

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