Court action by consumer, costs, expenses, attorney's fees, how paid
If a person follows Missouri's lemon law rules and wins their court case, the court can make the other side pay back the person's court costs and lawyer fees. But if a person files a case in bad faith — meaning they are being dishonest, just trying to harass the company, or their case has no real legal or factual basis — or if they win less than 10% more than what the company already offered to settle, then that person has to pay the company's costs and lawyer fees instead.
407.577. Court by , costs, expenses, , how paid. — 1. If a consumer undertakes a court action after complying with the of sections 407.560 to 407.579 and ly in that action, he shall be allowed by the court to recover as part of the a sum equal to the of costs and expenses, including attorney's fees based on actual time expended, determined by the court to have been reasonably incurred by the for or in connection with the and .
2. If any by a consumer under sections 407.560 to 407.579 is found by a court to have been filed in , or solely for the purpose of , or in the absence of a of either law or fact raised by the consumer, or for which the final recovery is not at least ten percent greater than any made by the prior to the commencement of the court action, then the consumer shall be for all costs and reasonable attorney's fees incurred by the manufacturer, or its , as a direct result of the bad faith claim.
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Source & history notes
(L. 1984 H.B. 992 § 7)
Legal information, not legal advice. Always confirm with the official source at revisor.mo.gov.