12/25/2023 0 Comments Kill switch billSophia Romero, staff attorney in the Consumer Rights Project at the Legal Aid Center of Southern Nevada, said it took years and a series of lawsuits for the law in her state to catch up with the practice of installing the devices on cars. Most of the other laws call for 24 or 48 hours’ notice before the vehicle is disabled, and many allow grace periods or emergency overrides. The Colorado law specifically prohibits stopping the vehicle if doing so would pose a danger to its occupants, such as when it’s in motion. The laws vary, but all, at the least, require telling the borrower that the devices, which also have GPS tracking, are installed. “We do have best practices in terms of how we think that the industry should operate with the consumer in mind and being respectful and taking proactive action to keep the consumer in the vehicle,” he said.īut only half a dozen states have enacted regulations on kill switches, including California, Colorado, Connecticut, Nevada and New Jersey. His company conforms to state laws, Karg said. Jeff Karg, director of marketing and communications for PassTime in Colorado, said that the automobile starter interrupt devices, as kill switches also are known, that his company manufactures can help consumers avoid repossessions by buying time to negotiate a payment plan with the lender. Some states also require an emergency override code that can be sent to a borrower if an urgent need arises. Guerrero tracks the handful of states that have passed laws that rein in the use of kill switches by requiring disclosure when the devices are placed on the cars and allowing borrowers who are in arrears to make a payment that will get the cars to start again. They also give some consumers access to credit who otherwise might not qualify.” “They reduce repossession costs, and they permit the consumer to cure the default and restart the vehicle when it’s cured. Guerrero, consumer finance attorney at Ballard Spahr, a California law firm that specializes in advising companies on how to comply with consumer law, in an interview. “They do serve a purpose, and there are benefits to them,” said Michael R. They argue that the switches make getting the car operational again faster and easier than going to an impound lot. Lenders and switch makers contend that the switches are less embarrassing than the traditional repo man showing up on a car owner’s doorstep to take the car. I was scared and shaking and had no idea what just happened.” “I was barely able to make it to the left shoulder. “All of a sudden the steering wheel locked up and the car shut off,” she testified. Smith in 2013 testified to the Nevada legislature that her car’s kill switch activated as she was driving down Interstate 15. But she says having a kill switch on her cars led to her being stranded more than once.Īt least her cars didn’t stop in the middle of a trip. Hayes, now 27, acknowledges her credit wasn’t very good back then that’s why she had the high-interest loans and the kill switches in the first place. Lawmakers in at least two other states, Illinois and Rhode Island, are considering legislation. Nevada’s and New Jersey’s similar laws took effect in 2017. New York is the latest, with a law that took effect in October requiring lenders to disclose in writing by certified mail when they install the devices on vehicles.
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