Attorneys General from 37 states, including Missouri, warn that the General Motors bankruptcy could cost consumers a lot of their rights.

The Attorneys General want the bankruptcy judge to rewrite the current agreement, saying consumers will lose important protections, and state lemon laws and product liability standards will be useless for GM cars people have bought before the bankruptcy agreement goes into effect.

Missouri’s Chris Koster admits the Attorneys General want the new GM to be saddled with some major liabilities from the old GM.

He says, "General Motors…shouldn’t be allowed to ignore product liability claims that may be trailing forward from the old company."

Koster says the worst thing that could happen to the company’s consumer base would be to throw the lemon laws, product liability laws, and warranties "out the window." He looks for a ruling on the Attorneys Generals’ petition as early as next week. He says the company’s desire to wrap up the case within 30 days of filing does not contemplate delays.

upload BP’s intereview with Chris Koster (3:25 mp3)