California saw a 31.3% decrease in lemon law filings during the first half of 2026 . This downturn is linked to the implementation of the Song-Beverly Consumer Warranty Act and a significant shift in the activity of high-volume plaintiffs' firms.
The 31.3% plunge in H1 2026 filings
Warranty dispute filings in California have dropped sharply, totaling 13,295 cases through June 2026. According to a review by Bowman & Brooke LLP, this represents a significant decline compared to the same period in the previous year. If this trajectory continues, the state is expected to end the year with approximately 26,500 filings, a notable decrease from the record-breaking 32,480 filings recorded in 2025.
This current downturn marks a complete reversal of a volatile period between 2020 and 2022. During those years, filings surged from 9,219 to nearly 15,000, eventually peaking at over 22,000 in 2023. The sudden contraction in 2026 suggests that the era of explosive growth in automotive warranty litigation in California may have reached a ceiling.
How AB 1755's one-year window curbed litigation
A primary driver of this decline is the Song-Beverly Consumer Warranty Act, also known as AB 1755. this legislation introduced stricter filing procedures designed to resolve disputes before they reach a courtroom. Specifically, the act generally requires claims to be filed within one year after a warranty expires and no later than six years after the vehicle was delivered to the consumer.
Beyond timing, AB 1755 mandates that consumers provide manufacturers with formal notice before seeking civil penalties. As reported by the source, the act also establishes mediation and limited early discovery procedures. These mechanisms have encouraged manufacturers to agree to vehicle buy-backs during the pre-suit phase, effectively removing thousands of potential cases from the court system.
Strategic Legal Practices' drop from 6,433 cases
The data reveals that the decline is not uniform across all legal practitioners but is instead concentrated among a few high-volume firms.. Strategic Legal Practices, previously one of the state's most active lemon law firms, submitted 6,433 warranty cases in 2025 but only 108 in the first half of 2026, according to Bowman & Brooke data.
In contrast,other firms such as Sina Rez Law and MFS Legal have maintained consistent filing volumes. Michael Narain, an intellectual property attorney representing manufacturers, noted that the current trend reflects a "shift in the players" rather than a systemic decline across the entire plaintiffs' bar. This suggests that the business model for high-volume "litigation mills" may be struggling under the new regulatory framework.
Whether consumer complaints are actually falling
While the number of lawsuits has plummeted, it remains unclear if the actual number of defective vehicles has decreased. Attorney John Kaufman of Pasadena suggests that the 2025 record high may have been artificially inflated, as many firms rushed to file cases before the new AB 1755 rules took effect to avoid legal uncertainty.
Because the source focuses on court filings rather than manufacturer complaint logs, a critical question remains: are consumers simply settling more often, or are they filing fewer complaints altogether? Furthermore , the report does not specify how many of the pre-suit settlements resulted in full buy-backs versus partial refunds, leaving the actual success rate for consumers in the new system unverified.
Comments 0