Breach Of Express Or Implied Warranty
In 1975, Congress passed the Magnuson-Moss Warranty Act in response to a number of widespread problems consumers encountered when the products they purchased were defective. First, warranties were often very vague or extremely technical and thus difficult to understand and interpret. Second, companies often gave a narrow written warranty, but then disclaimed all implied warranties in the same document, thus providing the consumer with little or no recourse if the product turned out to be defective. Third, some manufacturers restricted the warranty and limited its remedies to such an extent that the warranty proved to be useless to consumers. Finally, the lack of privity with a distant manufacturer often precluded the consumer from seeking a remedy in court.
In addressing these problems, Congress did not mandate that manufacturers or sellers provide written warranties on consumer products, nor did they mandate substantive warranty terms for consumer products. Rather, Congress mandated that any company that chooses to give a written warranty on a consumer product must follow some basic ground rules.
As set forth in the Magnuson-Moss Warranty Act, these basic ground rules were designed to ensure:
- that warranties for consumer products be clear and understandable
- that warranties not become vehicles to disclaim or otherwise restrict substantive consumer rights provided by state law
- that warranties be available prior to sale so consumers could know the warranty terms before buying the product and could compare the warranties of different sellers
- that sellers and manufacturers honor the terms of their warranties
Finally, the Act gave consumers the right to sue for any violation of the Act, including breach of express or implied warranty.
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