L.A. District Attorney Warns Dealers About Memos

Most memo agreements are poorly written and not criminally enforceable, Los Angeles deputy district attorney Richard Walmark told dealers at a recent forum at the Diamond Club West Coast.

Walmark advised dealers to pattern themselves after the rental car industry, which had legislation passed that allows for the criminal prosecution of renters who fail to return a car five days after the return date.

"You must make accountability obvious," said Walmark, who is running for a judgeship. "The language should be specific, and uniform throughout the industry."

David Marcus, club president, said when Walmark talked about the problems with memos, "a light bulb went on in the dealers' heads."

Marcus said he is consulting with legislators and attorneys about solutions to the memo issue. "We need to have laws that are specific to our industry," he said. "We have to change the memos we use. It's a problem we need to attack on all fronts."