Warranty
From Chswiki
In business and legal transactions, a warranty is an assurance by one party to the other party that specific facts or conditions are true or will happen; the other party is permitted to rely on that assurance and seek some type of remedy if it is not true or followed. In real estate transactions, a general warranty deed is an agreement that the buyer's title to a parcel of land will be defended. A limited warranty deed, on the other hand, is a promise that the title will be defended against a limited set of claims which is usually claims arising from incumberances executed by the grantor. Thus, a general warranty deed binds the grantor to defend the title against all claims even those arising from previous owners; whereas, a limited warranty deed typically only binds the grantor to defend the title against claims arising from when the grantor held title to the property. A limited warranty deed is the deed of choice for banks when selling foreclosed properties. A warranty may be express or implied, depending on the product.
Implied warranty: An implied warranty is one that arises from the nature of the transaction, and the inherent understanding by the buyer, rather than from the express representations of the seller.
The warranty of merchantability is implied, unless expressly disclaimed by name, or the sale is identified with the phrase "as is" or "with all faults." To be "merchantable", the goods must reasonably conform to an ordinary buyer's expectations, i.e., they are what they say they are. For example, a fruit that looks and smells good but has hidden defects would violate the implied warranty of merchantability if its quality does not meet the standards for such fruit "as passes ordinarily in the trade". In Massachusetts consumer protection law, it is illegal to disclaim this warranty on household goods sold to consumers etc.
The warranty of fitness for a particular purpose is implied when a buyer relies upon the seller to select the goods to fit a specific request. For example, this warranty is violated when a buyer asks a mechanic to provide snow tires and receives tires that are unsafe to use in snow. This implied warranty can also be expressly disclaimed by name, thereby shifting the risk of unfitness back to the buyer.
Legal aspects of warranties and disclaimers: In the United States, the rights and remedies of buyers and sellers of goods are governed by the Article 2 of Uniform Commercial Code (UCC) as it has been adopted with variations from state to state. The UCC governs both express and implied warranties. It also covers the extent to which sellers may disclaim certain types of warranties (e.g., warranty of merchantability or fitness for a particular purpose, or even disclaim all warranties in the case of goods sold "as is." Whereas in the U.S. warranties are generally provided in writing subject to control of the laws, in other countries warranties may be governed by specific statutes. For example, a country's law may provide that goods are assured by the seller for a period of 12 months and may provide other specific rights and remedies in the event of a product failure. However, even in the U.S. there are specific laws that may provide warranties or warranty-like assurances to buyers. For example, many states have statutory warranties on new home construction, and many have so-called "lemon laws" governing new motor vehicles with repeated defects. To find an attorney please check the largest attorney directory online or to find an child support attorney please check the largest child support attorney directory online or to find an traffic attorney please check the largest traffic attorney directory online or to find an attorney for disability please check the largest attorney for disability directory online.
Lifetime warranty: A lifetime warranty is usually a guarantee on the lifetime of the product on the market rather than the lifetime of the consumer (the exact meaning should be defined in the actual warranty documentation). If a product has been discontinued and is no longer available, the warranty may last a limited period longer. For example:
• the Cisco Limited Lifetime Warranty currently lasts for five years after the product has been discontinued.
• HP Networking products lifetime warranties for as long as you own the product.
Second-hand Product Warranty: The importance of the used/second-hand product market as a fraction of the total market (new + second-hand) has been growing significantly since the beginning of the twenty-first century. Second-hand products include products that have previously been used by an end user/consumer. Users change their products even if they are still in good condition. Some products such as computers and mobile phones have a short lifetime and technologies of these products are released to the market every day. As a result, the sale of new products is often tied to a trade-in, resulting in a market for second-hand products. For instance, in France, used car unit sales increased from 4.7 million to 5.4 million between 1990 and 2005, at the same time as new car sales declined from 2.3 million to 2.07 million units.
Breach of warranty: A warranty is violated when the promise is broken; when goods are not as should be expected, at the time the sale occurs, whether or not the defect is apparent. The seller should honor the warranty by making a timely refund or a replacement. The date of delivery starts the time under the statute of limitations for starting a court complaint for breach of warranty if the seller refuses to honor the warranty. This period is often overlooked where there is an "extended warranty" in which a seller or manufacturer contracts to provide the additional service of replacing or repairing goods that fail within the extended period. However, if the goods were defective at the time of sale, and the relevant statute of limitations has not expired, then existence or duration of any "extended warranty" is secondary: there was a breach of a primary warranty for which the seller may be liable. It could be an unfair and deceptive business practice (a statutory type of fraud) to attempt to avoid liability for breach of a primary warranty by claiming expiration of the irrelevant extended warranty. A statute of limitations on a contract claim may be shorter (or longer) than that of a tort claim, and some breach of warranty cases are filed late and are characterized as a fraud or other related tort.
