Class-action suit would target car-leasing firms
A Montreal law firm is seeking authorization for a class-action suit on behalf of Quebec consumers who were charged fees by seven leasing companies when they exercised the “buyback” clause for their vehicles, arguing the fees were not precisely indicated in their contracts.
The leasing companies and types of vehicles targeted by the suit, filed last Friday by LPC Avocats, are: Mercedes-Benz Financial Services Canada Corporation (Mercedes-Benz, Smart and Daimler); GM Financial Canada Leasing Ltd. (Buick, Cadillac, Chevrolet, General Motors and GMC); SCI Lease Corp. (Alfa Romeo, Chrysler, Dodge, Fiat, Jeep and Ram); Compagnie de Gestion Canadian Road/Ford Credit Canada Leasing (Ford and Lincoln); Honda Canada Finance Inc. (Acura and Honda); Toyota Credit Canada Inc. (Lexus, Scion and Subaru) and Canadian
Dealer Lease Services Inc. (Hyundai, Jaguar, Kia, Land Rover, Maserati, Mazda and Volvo).
The suit notes that at least three other leasing companies not targeted by the suit and dealing in Audis, Nissans and BMWs “specifically provide for and disclose the fees that consumers must pay in order to exercise their option to purchase upon lease termination.”
The suit contends that not to do so is a violation of Quebec’s Consumer Protection Act, which calls for all charges claimed from a consumer to be clearly indicated in a contract and obliges the leasing companies targeted by the suit to “mention an important fact in any representation made to a consumer.”
The suit contends that consumers who would be part of the action “have lost millions of dollars due to Defendants’ failure and omission to disclose the fees that are eventually charged to consumers who wish to exercise their option to purchase their vehicles at the end of the lease.”
The class action would cover “all consumers who had a vehicle lease agreement with any of the Defendants and, since March 14, 2016, paid a fee to exercise their option to purchase their vehicle (buyback) at the end of their lease which was not disclosed in their lease.” More details can be obtained at LPC Avocats.