Farm Equipment Lemon Law
What is the Farm Equipment Lemon Law?
The New York Farm Equipment Lemon Law provides a legal remedy for New York residents who buy or lease new farm equipment that turns out to be defective, or in other words, a lemon. If your farm equipment fails to conform to the terms of its written warranty, and the supplier or authorized dealer is unable to repair the equipment after a reasonable number of attempts, you may be entitled to relief.
What are the specific requirements to qualify for Farm Equipment Lemon Law?
To qualify, all of the following must be true:
- You bought, leased, or received the farm equipment from a supplier that issues the warranty effective in New York State for the farm equipment sold by the dealer.
- You are a New York State resident.
- The equipment had a purchase price or lease value of at least $1,500.
- The equipment is self-propelled.
- The equipment is not purchased, leased or transferred for the purposes of resale.
Your equipments’s manufacturer must first try a certain number of times to fix your equipment for any defect covered by the lemon-law warranty, free of charge.
You may be able to get a refund or replacement for your equipment if either of the following is true:
- The problem is still there after the manufacturer tries to fix it four or more times.
- You cannot use your equipment for a total of 30 days or more while the manufacturer is fixing it.
Is used farm equipment covered under the Farm Equipment Lemon Law?
No, the Farm Equipment Lemon Law applies to new farm equipment only.
Can I still file a claim if my equipment was fixed?
If you have met all the other legal requirements, you may still be entitled to relief under the law, if either of the following is true:
- A defect remained even after the fourth repair attempt.
- Because of the defect, you were unable to use the equipment for a total of 30 days or more, even if the defect was subsequently repaired.
For example: Your equipment had a defective engine that could not be fixed after four repairs. The fifth repair fully fixed the problem. You are still considered to have made a reasonable number of repair attempts and you may be entitled to relief.
What happens if you win your case?
List of Services
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Repurchase / RefundList Item 1
If you win your case, you may be entitled to a full repurchase / refund. Your equipment would be repurchased by the manufacturer and you would recieve a full refund.
The refund should include the full purchase price of the equipment (purchase price or lease price plus trade-in allowance) plus any fees the consumer paid and less a deduction for use.*
Sales tax and attorneys fees (if applicable) are refunded separately. To obtain a refund of sales tax paid, tax refund form AU-11 should be completed and sent directy to the NYS Department of Taxation.
*The deduction for use is calculated based on different formulas provided in the law, depending on whether the equipment contains an engine hour meter, hours are the basic usage standard, and the equipment is “self-propelled harvesting equipment.”
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Replacement
If you win your case, you may be entitled to replacement equipment. Your current equipment would be replaced by the manufacturer and you would recieve different equipment of comparable make, model and hours (if the equipment has a meter).*
*If the replacement equipment has a higher MSRP than the equipment being replaced, you may be required to pay the difference, depending on financing options, original trade-in value and other factors.
Financing vs. Leasing Farm Equipment
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FinancingList Item 1
The refund you will receive from the manufacturer is the same, whether the equipment was financed or paid for in cash at time of purchase. However, if the equipment is financed, the refund is divided between you and the lender (the bank or finance company). The lender will calculate how much you still owe and apply its part of the refund to that amount. The balance of the refund then goes to you*.
*There can be instances in which you may owe the manufacturer to comply with the award. This can happen if you had a large amount of negative equity on a prior trade-in or if the deductions for use or sales tax exceed the amount of principal payments you have made to date.
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Leasing
If the equipment is leased, the refund due from the manufacturer is divided between you and the leasing company. Your refund is the total of your downpayments (including any trade-in allowance), plus the total of the monthly lease payments you have already made, minus interest charges and any other service fees.
For example: You leased new equipment under a three-year lease, with a $1,500 downpayment, and pay a monthly lease payment of $300. Of the $300 monthly payment, $100 is allocated as interest charges. After you make 12 monthly payments, you are granted a refund under the lemon law:
Deposit $1,500
Monthly payments (12 x $300) $3,600
Interest (12 x $100) (-$1,200)
Total refund $3,900
The refund will be $3,900.
If the monthly payment includes other service fees, such as insurance or other costs that are paid for your benefit, these amounts will also be deducted from your refund.
The leasing company’s portion of the refund is the balance of the lease price, as that term is defined by the law.*
*Your lease agreement will be terminated if you win your case. However, you should continue to make any monthly lease payments as required under the lease agreement until the lease is paid off by the manufacturer to avoid late charges and/or negative credit reporting.
Ready to File or Still Have Questions?
To file a claim, click on the below file button to be redirected to the claim form. If you have any additional questions, you may reach out to NYSDRA's Lemon Law program manager directly at lemonlaw@nysdra.org. You may also complete the Contact Us form via the below button. When completing the form, please be sure to select Lemon Law as your area of interest. We also encourage you to review the below program FAQ which answers additional questions about the Lemon Law program and case management process.