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Committee extends Pennsylvania lemon law to include recreational vehicles, delayed until 2027
Summary
The House Consumer Protection, Technology & Utilities Committee voted to report House Bill 804 as amended, expanding Pennsylvania's automobile lemon law to cover recreational vehicles but delaying implementation to Jan. 1, 2027 and clarifying coverage for RVs without odometers.
House Consumer Protection, Technology & Utilities Committee members voted to report House Bill 804 as amended, extending the state's automobile lemon law to cover recreational vehicles and setting Jan. 1, 2027, as the effective date for that coverage.
The bill's sponsor, Representative Hamidj, told the committee that RV owners face substantial repair costs and legal uncertainty because recreational vehicles are not currently covered by the state's Lemon Law Act. "If you buy a defective RV in Pennsylvania, should you should have a right to repair, replacement, or refund. Plain and simple," Hamidj said.
The measure would apply the protections already in the automobile lemon law to recreational vehicles, and sponsor materials cited 32 camper- and RV-related complaints so far this year to the Bureau of Consumer Protection as part of the rationale. Staff described the bill as amending the automobile lemon law to add definitions and to apply its remedies to recreational vehicles.
Committee debate included concerns about the scope of the law. Representative Williams argued the lemon law was designed to protect modes of transportation needed for work and gave examples of components in RVs that are not analogous to automobile defects. "This is not in that class," Williams said, urging a no vote. Representative Haddock opposed that view and called RV purchases a major investment for many Pennsylvanians, saying owners "deserve coverage" if repeated defects occur.
Members voted on two amendments before reporting the bill. Amendment A000431 replaced multiple, itemized definitions (house coach, house trailer, motor home, recreational trailer, truck camper) with the definition of "recreational vehicle" already found in statute; that amendment passed on roll call. Amendment A000490 moved the effective date for coverage from January 2026 to Jan. 1, 2027, and added a clarification that recreational vehicles without odometers are covered for a period of one year following actual delivery or during the term of the warranty, whichever occurs first; the amendment passed without recorded negative votes.
The committee recorded final passage of the bill as amended by a 14-12 vote.
The measure now moves to the next stage of the House process; the committee did not adopt a separate fiscal note or appropriation in this session.
