Jones, Wolf & Kapasi, LLC was granted final approval of a consumer class action settlement in New Jersey state court alleging that an AAMCO Transmission dealership in Irvington, New Jersey as well as a company called Electronic Payment Systems ("EPS") based in Englewood, Colorado (collectively "Defendants"), violated New Jersey's Consumer Fraud Act, N.J.S.A. 56:8-1 et seq., Administrative Code, N.J.A.C. 13:45A-26C et seq.; the Retail Installment Sales Act ("RISA"), N.J.S.A 17:16C-1, et seq; and the Truth-in-Consumer Contract Warranty Notice Act, N.J.S.A. 56:12-13 et seq., by including a fee in its standardized form contract prohibited under RISA.
Plaintiff, and the New Jersey class members, alleged that Defendants required them to enter into the contract, which violated the aforementioned New Jersey statutes, by including the statement, "Any returned checks will be charged a $25.00 returned item fee." RISA only permits the charging of up to a $20.00 return check fee in any retail installment sales contract. Furthermore, Defendants' contract stated that such fee may be applied only for checks that are returned uncollected due to insufficient funds in the consumer's account.
The case is Pamela Stokes v AAMCO Center Number 11680 A/K/A Marlia Inc. dba AAMCO Transmission; John Does 1-25; Electronic Payment Systems; Jane Does 1-25; And Jack Marabella, and the Final Approval Order can be read here.
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