Pub. 4 2015-2016 Issue 1

22 San Diego Dealer of whether your GAP vendors provide any or all of the translations, and sell accordingly. Finance staff also needs to make sure that they are executing the contract in a place that has the required sign posted. What Happens If I Goof Up? A violation of any of these requirements (sign posting, or providing a completely filled in copy of the contract) has serious consequences. The statute specifically states that“the person aggrievedmay rescind the contract or agreement . . .” In other words, the customer can force the dealer to buy back the vehicle and refund amounts paid. But what happens if the contract has already been assigned to a third party lender? The law addresses these circumstances as well, specifically stating that“if a contract for a consumer credit sale or consumer lease that has been sold and assigned to a financial institution is rescinded [under this law], the consumer shall make restitution to and have restitution made by the person with whom he or she made the contract, and shall give a notice of rescission to the assignee.” “Notwithstanding that the contract was assigned without recourse, the assignment shall be deemed rescinded and the assignor shall promptly repurchase the contract from the assignee.” In other words, the customer would return the vehicle to the dealer, the dealer would refund amounts paid for the vehicle, and the dealer would be required to notify the lender of the rescission and repurchase the contract—even on a non-recourse deal. [Reference: Civil Code § 1632(k)] What About Translators? If a statutory exemption exists that creates more confusion or a greater false sense of security than the one that applies to foreign language transactions involving a translator, we at Auto Advisory Services aren’t aware of it. The law effectively provides that the requirement to provide a translation does not apply to situations where a transaction is negotiated primarily in a covered foreign language if the buyer/lessee negotiates through his or her own interpreter. The law also clarifies that to qualify for the exemption, the interpreter must be over 18 years old, and must speak fluently and read with full understanding both English and the negotiation language. The law also clarifies that the translator cannot be employed by or made available through the business. These are conditions that can be difficult for a dealer to detect or verify during the sales process (how can you learn whether the customer can read both languages with full understanding?) or prove in court. Continued from page 21