An express warranty is a warranty as to the condition, quality, or nature of a good or property intentionally and clearly stated to the other contracting party. The Uniform Commercial Code § 2–313 provides that a seller can create an express warranty in the following ways:
- “any affirmation of fact or promise . . . which relates to the goods and becomes part of the basis of the bargain”;
- “any description of the goods which is made part of the basis of the bargain”; “any sample or model which is made part of the basis of the bargain.”
It further clarifies that “it is not necessary . . . that the seller use formal words such as ‘warranty’ or ‘guarantee’ or that [they] have a specific intention to make a warranty.” To illustrate, the Texas Supreme Court found a breach of express warranty in Medical City Dallas, Ltd. v. Carlisle Corp. where a roofing company issued a twenty year warranty on the membrane on the roof and within months the buyer found leaks in the roof.
See e.g., ASM Capital v. First Nat'l Bank of Waverly, 146 A.D.3d 741, 45 N.Y.S.3d 504 (N.Y. App. Div. 2017).
[Last updated in November of 2022 by the Wex Definitions Team]