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367.865 Informal dispute resolution system.
(1)
(2)
(3)
(4)
Effective January 1, 1983, each motor vehicle manufacturer shall offer to the buyer
a comprehensive informal dispute resolution system. By transacting business in the
Commonwealth of Kentucky, each manufacturer is deemed to have voluntarily
consented to participate in the system. Each system shall operate pursuant to written
rules and procedures which:
(a) Ensure that the system is impartial, accessible to the buyer, and expeditious,
and shall operate at no cost to the buyer;
(b) Provide that if the buyer elects to submit the dispute to the system, the
manufacturer shall not refuse to submit the dispute to the system as long as the
subject of the dispute occurred during the first two (2) years or twenty-five
thousand (25,000) miles, whichever occurs first, of the buyer's ownership of
the motor vehicle involved in the dispute;
(c) Provide that the system shall provide for an oral hearing, unless the buyer
agrees in writing that the system shall render a decision based solely on
documents submitted to it;
(d) Shall include, but is not limited to, procedures for informing the buyer of the
existence of the system, preparing the agreement between the buyer and the
manufacturer whereby the dispute may be submitted to the system, selecting
the members of the decision-making panel, notifying the parties of the
complaint, investigating the complaint, providing for hearings, rendering a fair
and expeditious decision, and informing parties of the decision.
The decision of the system shall be legally binding on the manufacturer. The
decision of the system shall not be legally binding on the buyer, unless the
manufacturer elects to have its system binding on all buyers who submit their
disputes to the system. If the system is to be binding to both parties, the written
agreement between the buyer and the manufacturer whereby the dispute is
submitted to the system shall include in conspicuous, bold-faced type the following
statement:
"YOU SHOULD REMEMBER THAT BY ENTERING INTO THIS
AGREEMENT YOU ARE DECIDING TO USE THIS DISPUTE
RESOLUTION SYSTEM TO SETTLE YOUR DISPUTE INSTEAD OF
GOING TO COURT. AFTER A DECISION BY AN ARBITRATOR,
NORMALLY A COURT WILL REFUSE TO HEAR THE FACTS IN A
CASE IN ALL BUT THE MOST UNUSUAL SITUATIONS. YOUR
SIGNATURE IS REQUIRED IMMEDIATELY BELOW TO INDICATE
THAT YOU HAVE READ THIS DISCLOSURE.
----------------------------------"
SIGNATURE OF BUYER
Before a dispute may be submitted to a system which is legally binding on both
parties, the buyer shall sign the disclosure statement required by subsection (2) of
this section.
Each manufacturer shall take steps reasonably calculated to make the buyer aware
(5)
(6)
(7)
of the existence of the system at the time the dispute arises.
Each manufacturer shall take all steps necessary to ensure that the system is
sufficiently insulated from the manufacturer so that the decisions of the system are
not influenced by the manufacturer. The system's decision-making panel shall be
composed of members at least fifty-one percent (51%) of whom have no
involvement in the manufacture, distribution or sale of motor vehicles. No member
deciding a dispute shall be a party to the dispute; nor shall any member deciding a
dispute be an employee or agent of a party to the dispute, unless solely for the
purpose of impartially deciding disputes.
Nothing herein shall prohibit the manufacturer from participating in a system
sponsored or administered by an impartial third party having no direct involvement
in the manufacture, distribution, sale, or service of motor vehicles.
Each dispute resolution system shall provide to the office of the Attorney General,
upon request, the name and address of each buyer whose complaint is resolved
through its system. The Attorney General shall have the authority to monitor each
dispute resolution system as well as review the records on each complaint, upon
request. An annual report shall be prepared and published by the office of the
Attorney General evaluating the performance, effectiveness, and benefits of the
system, and shall include in this report recommendations for continuing, modifying,
or terminating the requirement of this section.
Effective: July 13, 1984
History: Amended 1984 Ky. Acts ch. 360, sec. 1, effective July 13, 1984. -- Created
1982 Ky. Acts ch. 193, sec. 2, effective July 15, 1982.
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