DETROIT, May 24 /PRNewswire/ -- On May 22, 2007, the Michigan Court of Appeals issued a ruling affirming a Judgment obtained by Matthew Van Eman against CARS Protection Plus in Wayne County Circuit Court for a violation of the Michigan Consumer Protection Act. Matthew Van Eman purchased a used car warranty from CARS covering his engine, oil pan and oil pump on his 1998 Dodge Durango. The suit alleged that after the engine in Mr. Van Eman's car needed to be replaced, with the engine being a covered, insured part by CARS, CARS continued to demand additional tear down and diagnosis of the cause of the engine failure before it would honor its warranty. The last tear down demand made by CARS would have required Mr. Van Eman to spend $1,500 to determine why the engine failed.
The Court affirmed a Wayne County Circuit Court award of damages of $4,047 for the engine replacement, $43,537 in attorneys' fees, an award of further attorneys' fees for the appeal, and an injunction, which provides as follows:
C.A.R.S. Protection Plus, Inc. is prohibited from imposing tear down and
diagnostic testing costs on its warranty holders for the mere purpose of
determining the precise reason why the covered part was damaged or failed
where it is evident that a covered part has been damaged or failed and
there is no legitimate reason to suspect that the failure of the covered
part was caused by negligent maintenance by the warranty holder.
Gerard Mantese, at Mantese and Rossman, P.C., in Troy, Michigan is counsel for Plaintiff Matthew Van Eman. He stated that the next step will be the filing of a Motion in the trial court seeking attorneys' fees against CARS for work performed responding to CARS' appeal of the trial court's injunction and Judgment.