Believe it or not, Congress passed a law. That law impacts how you, Automotive Industry Company, are providing your warranties (hopefully, limited warranties with limited remedies – but that is a topic for another post). The E-Warranty Act of 2015 now permits disclosure of consumer warranty terms via the “manufacturer’s” website. That is right Automotive Industry, the Magnuson-Moss Warranty Act has been amended.

Should be straightforward right? Not exactly. No one can really know yet because the FTC has one year to harmonize its existing Pre-Sale Availability Rule with this new amendment. Regardless, two things are clear: first, if a consumer requests warranty text in any way, it must be provided. Second, at the “point-of-purchase”, the warrantor must provide a way to see the warranty. Therefore, if the warranty is on a webpage, the warrantor must have a means available – computer, tablet, phone, paper, etc. – that can quickly pull up the warranty upon request.

Did things change? Maybe. Will they change more? Probably. Regardless, we can all be excited that Congress passed legislation, and the President signed it. That alone may be news.