"Lemon Law"

No more "lemons" for Singaporeans from 01 September 2012 when the new changes to the Consumer protection (Fair Trading) Act and the Hire Purchase Act come into effect. "Lemon Laws" refer to consumer protection laws against latent defects in new products and in America State Law offers protection against the purchase of cars that repeatedly fail to comply with quality and standards in the industry.

In Singapore the new laws will protect consumers against all new goods purchases if there is a defect found within the first six months of the purchase date. In such cases it is assumed that it is a latent defect that had been there at the time of delivery. Retailers will have the option to repair or replace the product withing a "reasonable" time and in not doing so consumers can bring the matter to the Small Claims Tribunal.

The amendments are designed to make commercial transactions more transparent. Certainly good news for all consumers and hopefully root out the suspect retailers.