California can collect documents for auctions for “junk fees” car fees

From Ryan Sabalow and Jean QuangCalmness

This story was originally published by CalmattersS Register about their ballots.

The California Senate is also prevalent – with bilateral support – approved legislation that would allow car dealers to charge buyers up to $ 500 additionally with every vehicle purchase, and a clear leaving from promises that both countries made this year to reduce Californiars costs.

Opponents of the bill said they were shocked that the senators would ignore their promise by adding more “junk fees”.

“This is the opposite of saving money for people,” said Rosemary Shahan of Users for car reliability and safetyS “There are no two ways to do this. It just takes advantage of car dealers at the expense of car buyers. That’s all.”

Yet on Tuesday only one senator voted against Senate Bill 791 This would raise the fees that car dealers can charge for processing documents with $ 415 from their current cap to $ 85 for a new or used vehicle. The proposal will allow dealers to charge up to 1% of the purchase price of the vehicle up to $ 500. The average listed price of a new vehicle in the United States in May was $ 48,656, according to market research company COX AutomotiveS

In recent years, legislators have target At such so -called junk fees or “hidden”, business To be faster for them so that customers are not surprised by the end label.

California car dealers say they need to be able to raise fees to cover the increasing costs that come with the processing of the documents needed to buy a vehicle, including loan documents, forms for registration of a motor vehicle and fraud protection. Fees are charged separately from the purchase price.

Dealers say they need to increase fees

Anthony Samson, the lobbyist of the Association of Car Association in California, told the Senate Transport Committee in April that legislature is constantly adopting new laws that add costs to car dealers and other California enterprises. Other businesses are allowed to recover similar costs through service fees, but dealers cannot, he said.

Other businesses may adjust the fees, but the dealerships “must continue to return to the legislature to ensure (they) can do it”, “” Samson saidS “If we believed that we could simply reimburse the cost and price of the vehicle, I assure you that we would not be here today with a request for your support for this measure.”

Voting comes against the reporting report that Auto dealers use creative tactics Maintain profits without raising stickers to compensate for the expected Trump administration tariffs.

The California New Car Merchants Association has donated at least $ 2.9 million to legislators since 2015, according to Digital democracy databaseS

The group has an ally in Sen. Dave CortesDemocrat from San Jose, who is the author of the bill on behalf of car dealers. He has received at least $ 7,000 for donations from campaigns from the Dealers Association, according to digital democracy.

In an interview with Calmatters on Wednesday, Cortez admitted that it is “not perfect”, that legislation would increase the cost of buying a vehicle, but he said it was necessary as the eligible fee was not up to date with the increasing costs in California. He said that he and his colleague legislators are still committed to reducing costs, citing other legislation that the Senate adopted last week.
The accessibility program “is not a trick,” he said. “We are very serious about accessibility.”

He said he was working with the Dealers Association to reduce the fees ceiling when the bill listened to the Assembly, noting that in order to make the Gavin New York government “we will have to justify it in the next few months and we will have to be more backed.”

Seven Republicans, including Sen. Brian JonesThe Republican leader of the Senate votes for this. Jones, who repeatedly criticizes the Democrats for making California too expensive, will not comment. Jones has received at least $ 28,700 from the 2015 car traders Association, according to digital democracy.

Republican Seni. Roger NiloWhose family owns car dealerships in the Sacramento area, he withdrew from the vote, saying that the bill “directly affects my business in the private sector”.

The law will release the state to pay the fee when buying vehicles for its fleet.

Twenty Democratic Senators including Senator President Mike McGuireVotes for the measure. McGuire has received at least $ 13,000 from car dealers since 2016. He did not explain his vote on Tuesday and his spokesman did not make it available for an interview.

Some Democrats go back to “junk fees”

Democratic Senal of the Kalabasas region. Henry Stern He was the only senator who voted for “no” on the bill. In an email statement, he said car sellers undermined California’s efforts to Consumer Protection and the environment including lobbying hard for US Senate to accept Federal Legislation This seeks to block the mandates of electric vehicles in California.

“Car dealers have not won confidence to justify this significant increase in junk fees,” Stern said. “Bad behavior should not be rewarded.”

A handful of senators said they had reservations for the bill but did not vote, which reported the same as the vote “no”. As CalMatters reportedWide practice not to vote in Capitol allows lawmakers to avoid accountability – and to explode from interest groups.

One of the senators who did not vote on Tuesday was Saint. Carolyn MenjovarDemocrat representing the Van Nuys area.

She did not explain her justification for not voting on Tuesday. But when the bill was in front of the April Transport Committee, she said she suspected that car dealers would add “additional junk fees” to the cost of buying a car, but would not reduce the purchase price – or their profits.

“If we are looking to help everyday Californians with accessibility, why are we looking to help an industry that earns a healthy profit?” she saidS “And the Californians continue to scream us, saying they can’t afford things.”

She also does not vote on this hearing.

This article was Originally Published on CalMatters and was reissued under Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Noderivatives License.