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Obama Signs E-Warranty Act of 2015 Into Law Amending Magnuson-Moss Act
Practical Law Legal Update w-000-6183 (Approx. 4 pages)
Obama Signs E-Warranty Act of 2015 Into Law Amending Magnuson-Moss Act
by Practical Law Commercial Transactions
| Published on 29 Sep 2015 • USA (National/Federal) |
President Obama has signed into law the E-Warranty Act of 2015 (E-Warranty Act). The E-Warranty Act amends the Magnuson-Moss Warranty-Federal Trade Commission Improvement Act (Magnuson-Moss Act) by, among other things, permitting manufacturers to make the terms of a consumer product's warranty available exclusively on its website.
On September 24, 2015, President Obama signed into law the E-Warranty Act of 2015 (E-Warranty Act) (PL 114-51). This legislation amends the Magnuson-Moss Warranty-Federal Trade Commission Improvement Act (Magnuson-Moss Act) by, among other things, permitting manufacturers to make the terms of a product's warranty exclusively available on its website.
The E-Warranty Act is not self-executing as it requires the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) to revise its Magnuson-Moss Act regulations that concern the availability of written warranties on consumer products. Before the E-Warranty Act, the FTC's Magnuson-Moss rules were unclear as to whether businesses could satisfy their written warranty requirements by making the warranty's terms electronically accessible. The FTC's rules, as amended, must:
- Allow manufacturers to satisfy the written warranty requirements by making their written warranties accessible in a digital format on the manufacturers' websites.
- Require that a manufacturer that chooses the website-warranty option to display on the product, packaging or manual:
- the full website where the warranty terms can be obtained; and
- a reasonable non-internet based means of contacting the manufacturer to obtain and review the warranty's terms, such as the manufacturer's phone number or mailing address.
The E-Warranty Act does not change manufacturers' obligation, under the Magnuson-Moss Act and the FTC's enacting rules, to make the terms of consumer product warranty available before a sale:
- At any physical retail location.
- During all in-home sales.
- In any catalogues offering the product for sale.
For an overview of the Magnuson-Moss Act, see Practice Note, The Magnuson-Moss Warranty Act for Consumer Goods.