Federal Warranty Law Handbook

How to Use This Handbook

Federal warranty law is not a complete national warranty code. The Magnuson-Moss Warranty Act regulates qualifying consumer-product warranties and service contracts, but many of the rights that consumers call warranties arise under state law. Express warranties, merchantability, fitness for a particular purpose, privity, damages, limitation periods, and lemon-law remedies can differ materially by state.

This handbook therefore uses a two-layer method. First, it asks whether a product, promise, warrantor, seller, or service contract falls within the federal statute and FTC regulations. Second, it identifies the state-law questions that determine creation, breach, remedies, enforceability, insurance classification, and litigation procedure. The book does not present the Uniform Commercial Code as one identical nationwide statute.

The practical objective is to help manufacturers, retailers, online sellers, service-contract providers, and compliance personnel create clear warranty documents, make terms available before sale, avoid unlawful tying language, administer claims consistently, and preserve a reliable record. Product-specific statutes and state law should be reviewed for the actual product and jurisdiction before publication or use.

Contents

PART I - COVERAGE AND WARRANTY CLASSIFICATION

PART II - DRAFTING AND DISCLOSING WRITTEN WARRANTIES

PART III - OFFERING, SELLING, AND ADVERTISING WARRANTY COVERAGE

PART IV - ADMINISTRATION, DISPUTES, AND ENFORCEMENT

Appendices