European Stars And Stripes (Newspaper) - May 17, 1985, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Page 16 the stars and stripes consumer watch May 1985 use car dealers must Tell More if you Are heading Back to the United states and thinking of buying a used car when you get there is Good according to Randolph Schmid of the associated from now on the nations use car lots must clearly Tell customers whether they offer warranties and what is covered on the vehicles being the warranty information and other consumer warnings Are to be included in window required under new Federal Trade commission Etc regulations for the estimated million used cars sold annually by the regulation forces dealers to disclose the most important information needed by a use car buyer who has to pay for any needed repairs said Carol director of the commissions Bureau of consumer and the warranties May Well prove a Good guide to the Quality of cars being since a dealer is Likely to offer More Protection on cars in which he has More added Deputy director Amanda the Etc Rule covers sales of used Light trucks As Well As used cars by dealers who sell at least six vehicles a the roughly 7 million people a year who sell their own used vehicles privately Are not covered by the detailed information on the new Regula Tion was mailed to every use car dealer in the nation a few weeks Petersen in order to give them time to Consumers should look for the and we want to hear from them if there not seeing she told a news dealers who fail to comply could face fines of up to per Day per although Petersen indicated the Agency will be tolerant of some missing stickers in the Early the major focus of the new stickers is to require the dealer to state that the car is being sold either As is or with a and if a warranty is the terms must be stated on the Crawford said a decade Long study of the use car business found the biggest problem was dealers sell ing cars As but verbally promising customers that they would fix any problems that came promises that Are not in writing cannot be she pointed for the first buyers will be Able to walk into a use car lot and know up in what warranty coverage is being she while she could not estimate the Cost of the regu Crawford said she thinks savings provided by warranties could Range from to in re pairs on cars with an average Price of to warranties Are not required by the Only that it be made Clear whether they Are offered if what systems Are covered and for How current she dealers offer warranties on about half of the billion in used cars sold besides the warranty the new sticker also warns Consumers to get any promises in suggests getting an Independent inspection before buying a used car and provides a list of the major systems of cars and suggests problems that might occur with there has been controversy surrounding the primarily entered on a dropped provision that would have forced dealers to Tell customers about anything they knew was wrong with the that provision led to congressional intervention which helped delay reauthorization of the commis generated a lawsuit by use car dealers which wound up in the supreme court and has since led to another suit by Consumers Union Over deletion of that while consumer groups contended that removal of the requirement to disclose defects gutted the Crawford contended that the provision promised More than it could have under that dealers would have had to Tell about problems they were aware but there was no Protection for defects not noticed by the a statement that the dealer didst know of any problems with a car might mean it was in perfect Crawford or it might merely indicate that the dealer haunt had the car inspected at in she warned such a provision would encourage buyers to rely on a dealers representation about a while the Agency prefers to encourage she Neth tightens child support Laws regulations cracking Down on parents in the United states who fail to make child sup port payments will go into effect this with the government saying the new rules will re quire states to use not the implementing a landmark child support enforcement Law passed by Congress last gives state child welfare officials Broad authority to take child support Money from parents who Are not willing to pay it voluntarily state child welfare officials will be Able to attach the wages of parents who fail to make deduct pay ments from income tax impose liens against prop erty owned by delinquent parents and require Security Bonds or other guarantees that future payments will be the final regulations Are being published in the Federal Register and go into effect the department of health and human services has announced the publication and issued a statement by has Secretary Margaret heckler saying the new rules require states to use not bark proven techniques to collect child sup port this Law will be a Lifesaver to millions of single parents and their heckler we will be Active partners with the states in efforts to quickly get these needed enforcement practices in according to the Usa eur jag since this is a new we will be looking to see what added enforcement it makes available against service people and civil employees anyone who has questions about child support claims should take them to their local Legal held up by the Bank United press International Banks and savings and loan institutions in the United states make millions of dollars each Day by holding checks for up to two weeks before giving customers Access to the a consumer study has the study by the Ralph Nader founded Public interest research group said the institutions enjoy mar Ket interest rates with the Money while customers Are subjected to indefensible delays in cashing the held up at the Bank a study of Check hold policies across the the study surveyed 669 Banks and savings and Loans in 10 among its findings 52 percent of the Banks place holds on local checks of three to five 75 percent hold out state checks for More than a 20 percent hold out state checks for More than two no legitimate reason exists for these lengthy said Gene the consumer groups executive Karpinski noted that the Federal Reserve has deter mined 99 percent of deposited checks Are collected by Banks within two business he while Banks defend their policies by raising the Specter of bad Check less than 1 percent of All checks Are returned and Only one in every bad checks goes uncollected by the if 18 percent of the Banks Are Able to Grant immedi ate Access to local checks and if 10 percent Are Able to Grant Access within two Days for out state Why cant the Karpinski the american Bankers the Industry biggest Trade group with More than had no immediate Mike the study the enormous profits earned from investing customer funds that Are on hold Are the real reason behind lengthy hold w Caudel Feagan Banks make millions of dollars each Day on funds subjected to these he noted that three states new York and California enacted legislation in the past two years to set a limit on How Long a Bank could hold a Check before giving customers Access to the Only by enacting Federal legislation placing strict ceilings on Check hold periods can this consumer abuse be Caudel Feagan the study surveyed Banks in new Ore Rhode Island and