Written Warranties, Disclaimers and Presale Availability
A written warranty on a consumer product costing more than a set amount must carry a designation, state its terms in a single document, and be available for the buyer to read before purchase. Offering one also forecloses disclaiming the implied warranties.
The rule in short
The Magnuson-Moss Warranty Act at 15 U.S.C. 2301 to 2312 governs written warranties on consumer products. A warranty on a product costing more than a threshold amount must be designated full or limited, and its terms must be disclosed in a single document in readily understood language under 16 CFR Part 701. A supplier that gives a written warranty may not disclaim or modify implied warranties, though a limited warranty may restrict their duration. Part 702 requires presale availability.
Magnuson-Moss does not require anyone to give a warranty. It governs what happens once a supplier gives one on a consumer product. Three duties follow immediately: designate it, disclose its terms in one document, and make that document available to the buyer before the sale.
Consumer products and written warranties
The Act reaches consumer products, defined at 15 U.S.C. 2301 as tangible personal property normally used for personal, family or household purposes. Normal use governs, so a product commonly used domestically remains covered when sold to a business buyer. Services are outside the definition, though a service performed on a covered product can fall within a warranty on that product.
A written warranty is a written affirmation that the material or workmanship is defect free or will meet a specified level of performance over a specified period, or a written undertaking to repair, replace or refund if the product fails to meet specifications. Both branches require a writing and a connection to the sale. A statement of product performance in an advertisement is a claim requiring substantiation, not a warranty, and it is assessed under the prior substantiation requirement.
Full and limited, and what full requires
A written warranty on a consumer product costing more than the designation threshold must be conspicuously designated as either a full warranty or a limited warranty. The label is not decorative: it tells the buyer which set of statutory minimums applies.
A full warranty must remedy the defect within a reasonable time and without charge, must not impose any limitation on the duration of implied warranties, must not exclude or limit consequential damages unless the exclusion appears conspicuously on the face of the warranty, and must allow the consumer to elect a refund or replacement after a reasonable number of unsuccessful repair attempts. It must also be available to anyone who owns the product during the warranty period, not only the original purchaser.
Anything that fails one of those conditions is a limited warranty and must be designated as one. A warranty that covers parts but not labor, that runs only to the first purchaser, or that caps the duration of implied warranties is limited. Using the word full on such a warranty is itself a violation.
| Feature | Full warranty | Limited warranty | No written warranty |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cost of remedy | Free of charge, including labor and removal | May allocate cost, if disclosed | Governed by state law only |
| Implied warranty duration | May not be limited at all | May be limited to the written warranty's duration | May be disclaimed where state law allows |
| Who may claim | Any owner during the warranty period | May be limited to the original purchaser | Determined by state privity rules |
| Refund or replacement | Consumer may elect after reasonable repair attempts | Remedy is whatever the document provides | Remedy is whatever state law supplies |
| Consequential damages | Excludable only by conspicuous face disclosure | Excludable, subject to state law limits | Governed by state law |
The bar on disclaiming implied warranties
Section 2308 states the rule plainly. A supplier that makes a written warranty on a consumer product, or that enters into a service contract with the consumer within a set period after sale, may not disclaim or modify any implied warranty on that product. The implied warranties of merchantability and fitness for a particular purpose arise under state law and survive the written document.
One narrowing is permitted. A limited warranty may restrict the duration of implied warranties to the duration of the written warranty, provided the limitation is reasonable, conscionable, and set out in clear and unmistakable language displayed conspicuously on the face of the warranty. A full warranty may not do even that. Disclaimers made in violation of the section are ineffective for purposes of the Act and of state law.
Suppliers who sell no written warranty but do sell an extended service contract sometimes assume they remain free to disclaim implied warranties. Section 2308 removes that freedom where the service contract is entered into within the statutory window after sale. Companies that separate the warranty decision from the service contract program frequently discover the two are linked only after a claim is filed.
Disclosure content and the presale availability rule
Part 701 requires the warranty terms to appear in a single document in simple and readily understood language. The document must identify who is covered, what is covered and what is excluded, what the warrantor will do and for how long, what the consumer must do to obtain performance, and where to go. It must state any limitation on implied warranty duration and any exclusion of consequential damages, each with the required legal-rights notice.
Part 702 addresses display. A seller offering a covered product for sale must make the text available to the prospective buyer before the sale, using one of the prescribed methods: displaying the document in close proximity to the product, or posting signs in the department indicating the text is available on request and where. Catalog and mail order sellers must print the text in the catalog or state where it may be obtained. Online sellers face the same practical duty, which is met by placing the full text on the product page rather than behind a request form.
Dispute mechanisms and what enforcement looks like
A warrantor may require the consumer to use an informal dispute settlement mechanism before filing suit, but only if the mechanism meets Part 703: independence from the warrantor, no fee to the consumer, defined time limits for decision, records kept and audited, and a decision that is not binding on the consumer. A mechanism that fails any of those conditions cannot be made a prerequisite, and a suit filed without using it proceeds.
Enforcement runs on two tracks. The Commission treats a violation of the Act or its rules as a violation of Section 5, with the remedies available under that section. Consumers sue directly under 15 U.S.C. 2310, and the fee-shifting provision drives most of the private litigation in this area. A retailer that fails the presale display duty has independent exposure even where the manufacturer's document is fully compliant.
Coordination between the warranty document and marketing copy is where most avoidable exposure sits. A lifetime claim in an advertisement that the document contradicts creates both a warranty problem and a deception problem, and the impression a buyer takes from the two together is assessed as described under the net impression standard. Where warranty terms are shown only at checkout, the placement analysis under the clear and conspicuous factors applies, and where an extended service plan renews automatically, the duties under negative option consent and cancellation attach as well.
Points to carry away
- A written warranty on a product over the designation threshold must be labeled full or limited.
- A full warranty requires remedy without charge, no unreasonable duty on the consumer, and no time limit on implied warranties.
- A supplier giving a written warranty may not disclaim implied warranties on that product.
- A limited warranty may restrict implied warranty duration to the written warranty's duration, if conspicuously disclosed.
- Part 702 requires the text to be available to the buyer before the sale, by one of the prescribed methods.
- A designated informal dispute settlement procedure under Part 703 may be a prerequisite to suit.
Questions readers ask
Does the Act require a warranty to be given at all?
No. Magnuson-Moss imposes no duty to warrant anything. It regulates warranties that a supplier chooses to give, by controlling how they are designated, disclosed, and displayed, and by limiting what they may do to implied warranties. A supplier that gives no written warranty may still disclaim implied warranties under state law where that state permits it. The Act's obligations attach the moment a written warranty is offered on a consumer product.
Can a warranty require the use of branded parts or service?
Generally not without authorization. The Act prohibits conditioning warranty coverage on the consumer's use of an article or service identified by brand name, unless it is provided without charge or the Commission has granted a waiver. A supplier may still decline to cover damage actually caused by an unsuitable part or by improper service, but that is a causation question decided case by case rather than a blanket condition written into the warranty.
What remedies does a consumer have for breach?
The Act creates a federal cause of action for a consumer damaged by a supplier's failure to comply with the Act or with a written or implied warranty obligation. A prevailing consumer may recover costs and reasonable attorney fees based on actual time expended, which is what makes small warranty claims economically viable. Federal jurisdiction carries amount thresholds, so many claims proceed in state court, and state warranty statutes frequently supply parallel relief.
Sources
- Cornell Legal Information Institute — 15 U.S.C. 2301, DefinitionsThe definitions of consumer product, written warranty, implied warranty and supplier.
- Cornell Legal Information Institute — 15 U.S.C. 2302, Rules Governing Contents of WarrantiesThe disclosure rulemaking authority and the presale availability requirement.
- Cornell Legal Information Institute — 15 U.S.C. 2308, Implied WarrantiesThe bar on disclaiming implied warranties where a written warranty is given.
- eCFR — 16 CFR Part 701, Disclosure of Written Consumer Product Warranty Terms and ConditionsThe items that must appear in the warranty document and the single-document rule.
- eCFR — 16 CFR Part 702, Pre-Sale Availability of Written Warranty TermsThe methods by which a seller must make warranty terms available before purchase.
- eCFR — 16 CFR Part 703, Informal Dispute Settlement ProceduresThe standards a mechanism must meet to be a prerequisite to a warranty suit.
- Federal Trade Commission — Businessperson's Guide to Federal Warranty LawThe Commission's applied guidance on designation, disclosure and display.
Lawwise is a publication, not a law firm. This article states general rules and cites its sources; it is not advice about any particular case, and the law differs by state and changes over time.
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