§ 697-A — Warranty to consumers

§ 697-a. Warranty to consumers. 1. Every supplier of new farm\nequipment which is sold within or outside of this state shall provide a\nfair and reasonable warranty on all new farm equipment that shall be of\nno less duration than twelve months following the date of original\ndelivery of the farm equipment to the consumer. If the new farm\nequipment does not conform to all applicable express warranties during\nthe warranty period, and the consumer reports the nonconformity, defect\nor condition to the supplier or its dealer in writing before the end of\nthe warranty period, or verbally within thirty days before the warranty\nends and then in writing within thirty days after the expiration of the\nwarranty period, such supplier or dealer shall make such repairs as are\nnecessary to conform the new equipment to such express warranties at no\ncharge to the consumer.\n 1-a. Farm equipment that is not specifically manufactured for the\nUnited States market or in compliance with the laws and standards of the\nUnited States is not covered by this article. A dealer who sells such\nfarm equipment shall receive written acknowledgement from the purchaser\nthat the purchaser has been made aware that such equipment is not\ncovered by this article.\n 2. If the supplier or its dealer are unable to conform the farm\nequipment to any applicable express warranty by repairing the\nnonconformity after a reasonable number of attempts, the supplier, at\nthe option of the consumer, shall replace the farm equipment with\ncomparable farm equipment provided that such comparable equipment is\navailable from the supplier, or accept return of the equipment from the\nconsumer and refund to the consumer the full purchase price or, if\napplicable, the lease price and any trade-in allowance plus fees and\ncharges, less a deduction for use calculated pursuant to the formula\nprovided in subdivision four of section six hundred ninety-seven of this\narticle. For purposes of this section, fees and charges shall include\nbut not be limited to license fees, registration fees or other\ngovernmental charges. Refunds shall be made to the consumer or\nlienholder, if any, as their interests may appear on the records of\nownership. Such refund shall also be accompanied by the proper\napplication for credit for refund of state and local sales tax as\npublished by the department of taxation and finance and by a notice that\nthe sales tax paid on the purchase price, lease price or portion thereof\nbeing refunded is refundable by the commissioner of taxation and finance\nin accordance with the provisions of subdivision (f) of section eleven\nhundred thirty-nine of the tax law.\n 3. If a dealer refuses to undertake the repairs within the time\nallotted pursuant to subdivision one of this section, the consumer may\nimmediately forward written notice of such refusal to the supplier, who\nshall have twenty days from receipt of such notice to commence such\nrepairs.\n 4. (a) If the supplier refuses to undertake the repairs, the supplier\nshall provide information for consumer complaint remedies which shall\ninform the consumer of, among other things, whether an informal dispute\nsettlement mechanism has been established by the supplier and how the\nconsumer may avail himself or herself of such mechanism.\n (b) If a supplier has established an informal dispute settlement\nmechanism, such mechanism shall provide, at a minimum, the following:\n (i) That the arbitrators and the consumers who request arbitration are\ngiven a written copy of the provisions of this article together with the\nnotice set forth below entitled "New Farm Equipment Bill of Rights" and\nthat the arbitrators participating in such mechanism are trained in\narbitration and are familiar with the provisions of this article;\n (ii) That the consumers, upon request, are given an opportunity to\nmake an oral presentation to the arbitrator; and\n (iii) That the rights and procedures used in the mechanism comply with\nfederal regulations promulgated by the federal trade commission relating\nto informal dispute settlement mechanisms.\n (c) Each consumer shall have the option of submitting any dispute\narising under this section, upon the payment of a prescribed filing fee,\nto an alternate arbitration mechanism established pursuant to\nregulations promulgated hereunder by the state attorney general. Upon\napplication of the consumer and payment of the filing fee, all suppliers\nshall submit to such alternate arbitration, and shall pay a fee\nestablished pursuant to regulations of the attorney general. Such\nalternate arbitration shall be conducted by a professional arbitrator or\narbitration firm appointed by the state attorney general. Such mechanism\nshall insure the personal objectivity of its arbitrators and the right\nof each party to present its case, to be in attendance during any\npresentation made by the other party and to rebut and refute such\npresentation. In all other respects, such alternate arbitration\nmechanism shall be governed by article seventy-five of the civil\npractice law and rules.\n (d) A supplier shall have up to thirty days from the date the consumer\nnotifies the supplier of his or her acceptance of the arbitrator's\ndecision to comply with the terms of that decision. Failure to comply\nwith the thirty day limitation shall also entitle the consumer to\nrecover a fee of twenty-five dollars a day for each business day of\nnoncompliance up to five hundred dollars. Provided, however, that\nnothing contained in this paragraph shall impose any liability on a\nsupplier where a delay beyond the thirty day period is attributable to a\nconsumer who has requested replacement farm equipment built to order or\nwith options that are not comparable to the farm equipment being\nreplaced or otherwise made compliance impossible within said period. In\nno event shall a consumer who has resorted to an informal dispute\nsettlement mechanism be precluded from seeking the rights or remedies\navailable by law.\n (e) A court may award reasonable attorney's fees to a prevailing\nplaintiff or to a consumer who prevails in any judicial action or\nproceeding arising out of an arbitration proceeding held pursuant to\nparagraph (c) of this subdivision. In the event a prevailing plaintiff\nis required to retain the services of an attorney to enforce collection\nof an award granted pursuant to this section, the court may assess\nagainst the supplier reasonable attorney's fees for services rendered to\nenforce collection of such award.\n (f) Any action brought pursuant to this section shall be commenced\nwithin twenty-four months of the date of original delivery of the farm\nequipment to the consumer.\n (g) It shall be presumed that a reasonable number of attempts have\nbeen undertaken to conform the farm equipment to the applicable express\nwarranties, if: (i) the same nonconformity, defect or condition has been\nsubject to repair four times by the supplier or its authorized dealers\nand such nonconformity continues to exist; or (ii) the farm equipment is\nout of service by reason of repair of one or more nonconformities by the\nsupplier or its dealer for a cumulative total of thirty calendar days\nduring the warranty period.\n (h) The term of an express warranty, the one year warranty period and\nthe thirty day out of service period shall be extended by any reasonable\ntime during which repair services are not available to the consumer for\nreasons which shall include war, terrorist attack, pestilence, invasion\nor strike, fire, flood or other natural disaster or unforeseen and\nunanticipated extraordinary circumstances.\n