LEMON LAW NOUN (BUSINESS WORLD)

In the US, a law designed to provide some redress for buyers of faulty or substandard cars. Etymology: Formed by compounding; in US slang, a lemon is anything that is faulty or undesirable. History and Usage: The first lemon laws were passed in the US (as individual State Laws) in the early eighties, after much public discussion during the seventies of the high proportion of lemons among new and second-hand cars, and the impossibility of doing anything about their poor quality. The different laws passed for different States vary in their provisions, but all give the buyer of a substandard car some redress from the manufacturer or salesperson. There are now at least 42 variations on the three basic types of 'lemon laws' among the states. To say the least, most manufacturers do not find such variation among the states encouraging. Legal Times 11 Apr. 1988, p. 19 Mr Forth, American Consumer Affairs Minister, has rejected demands from consumer organisations to adopt American-style 'lemon laws' for purchasers of cars. Daily Telegraph 24 Jan. 1989, p. 4