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Consumer Warranty Law: 1.1.1 Overview

This treatise on consumer warranty law addresses the rights of consumers when personal property they have purchased or leased does not meet their expectations. The book focuses on defective new and used cars, manufactured homes, automobile repairs, home improvements, and wheelchairs and other assistive devices. It also analyzes common law and statutory warranties that arise in the sale of a new house or condominium. The treatise only indirectly touches on warranty rights concerning other real property transactions or personal property purchased for business purposes.

Consumer Warranty Law: 1.1.3 This Chapter Contains Important Substantive Information

This chapter provides introductory material concerning this treatise: a description of its digital edition; a brief summary of the contents of its other chapters, and appendices, and also the pleadings and other companion material available online; conventions and caveats for use of this treatise; and a listing of other NCLC treatises with related content.

Of even greater significance, this chapter covers a number of important substantive topics, provides an overview of warranty law, and an automobile litigation checklist. The substantive topics include:

Consumer Warranty Law: 1.1.5 The Appendices and Indices

The appendices reprint or summarize key warranty laws and contain various practice aids. The Magnuson-Moss Warranty Act, the Federal Trade Commission’s Magnuson-Moss rules, relevant sections of the federal National Manufactured Housing Construction and Safety Standards Act, and the Federal Trade Commission’s Used Car Rule are reprinted in Appendices A–D, infra, respectively.

Consumer Warranty Law: 1.1.6 Additional Pleadings, Primary Sources, and Practice Tools

The treatise’s digital edition also includes pleadings and discovery, practice tools, and primary sources that can easily be downloaded, emailed, and cut and pasted into documents. They are listed at the bottom of the digital table of contents found in the website’s left pane and are fully searchable. Search filters allow users to search only for pleadings, only for primary sources, or only for practice tools. Searching for pleadings is recommended using the Advanced Pleadings Search tool, found above the Search box.

Consumer Warranty Law: 1.2.1 Magnuson-Moss Warranty Act

The federal Magnuson-Moss Warranty Act17 is central to most consumer warranty cases. The Act substantively regulates consumer warranty terms and remedies, and specifies disclosure requirements. A key concept in the Act is the term “written warranty,” which refers to those express warranties that are in writing and that meet certain standards specified by the Act. The Act also has important applications to claims based on breaches of implied warranties and service contracts.

Consumer Class Actions: Committee Notes on Rules—2003 Amendment

Subdivision (c). Subdivision (c) is amended in several respects. The requirement that the court determine whether to certify a class “as soon as practicable after commencement of an action” is replaced by requiring determination “at an early practicable time.” The notice provisions are substantially revised.

Consumer Class Actions: 6.1 Introduction

This chapter examines the steps consumer lawyers can take to protect the class efficiently and effectively throughout the different stages of litigation. The steps can be divided into three timeframes: before the complaint is filed, after the complaint is filed but before the class has been certified, and after the class is certified. With that framework in mind, this chapter discusses: