California Lemon Law: Affirmative Defenses

An affirmative defense is defined as a fact or a set of facts that defeat a claim, even if the facts supporting the claim are true. When a plaintiff files a complaint in a civil or criminal court order to get relief from the court, the defendant can make the claim void by asserting and proving that there are other factors affecting the claim. These could be negligence or the expiry of statute of limitations. In the affirmative defense clause that comes under the Californian lemon law, a defendant can avail of the same if certain conditions are satisfied or proven.

Flaws caused by illegal or unreasonable use of a motor vehicle, following sale or lease are the main reasons behind this kind of defense strategy. This means that if the person availing of this law has abused or misused the vehicle in any way, then the vehicle is not considered to be a lemon and thus cannot come under the relief provided by the law.

Affirmative defenses, in general, are made to protect the defendant from fraudulent claims. Fraudulent claims include damages due to the negligence, misuse or unreasonable use by the person seeking relief.

This may include damage caused due to driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs. Damage caused due to accidents, that are a result of illegal driving, is also considered as negligent driving. "Unreasonable use" is defined as using the vehicle without following the proper guidelines and terms and conditions. These include speed limits, proper maintenance and other mandatory guidelines that are crucial to the efficient working of the vehicle.

An affirmative defense usually acts against the plaintiff. It is important to prove that the damage caused was not due to the negligence of the owner, in order to make the defense void.