15 U.S.C. § 2310
Magnuson-Moss: the federal warranty claim, and why it usually belongs in state court
A claim in United States district courts · Last verified August 26, 2026
The Magnuson-Moss Warranty Act is the federal partner to state lemon laws, and it does one thing that makes otherwise uneconomic cases worth bringing: it pays a prevailing consumer's attorney's fees, based on actual time expended.
It also carries two gates found nowhere else in this batch. If the warrantor established a dispute resolution programme, you may have to use it before suing. And federal court requires $50,000 in controversy — which most consumer warranty claims never approach, so the claim usually lives in state court.
What the claim is
A product you bought failed, and the warrantor will not honour the warranty.
Overwhelmingly this is vehicles — the federal claim pleaded alongside a state lemon law. The rest is appliances, electronics, recreational vehicles, and increasingly electric-vehicle defect litigation.
The Act reaches breaches of written warranties, implied warranties, and service contracts.
Where the right comes from
Express:
a consumer who is damaged by the failure of a supplier, warrantor, or service contractor to comply with any obligation under this chapter, or under a written warranty, implied warranty, or service contract, may bring suit for damages and other legal and equitable relief.
A point of framing worth keeping straight: the Act does not create warranties. It regulates how they are written and disclosed, and it supplies a federal remedy for breaking them. The substance of an implied warranty still comes from state commercial law.
What a plaintiff has to prove
- A consumer product.
- A written warranty, implied warranty, or service contract.
- The warrantor's failure to comply or breach.
- Damage to the consumer.
For implied-warranty claims the content is imported from state law — merchantability and fitness mean what your state's commercial code says they mean. The federal statute supplies the forum, the fees, and limits on disclaimers; it does not supply the warranty.
How long you have to file
No express federal period. Courts borrow the state breach-of-warranty period, commonly four years, and it typically accrues on tender of delivery rather than on discovery of the defect.
That accrual rule catches people. A latent defect that surfaces in year five may be time-barred even though nothing was discoverable earlier — subject to whatever discovery or future-performance exception the state's own law provides.
Verify the borrowing formulation in your circuit; it is not uniform.
What has to happen before you file — two gates
Informal dispute resolution, if the warrantor established one. A warrantor may require a consumer to use a dispute settlement mechanism before pursuing any legal remedy under the Act — provided the mechanism meets federal minimum standards and its decisions are non-binding on the consumer.
Character: a mandatory claim-processing prerequisite where it applies — mandatory, but not jurisdictional.
The critical qualifier: it exists only if the warrantor established one. Most major vehicle manufacturers have. Many other warrantors have not. Read the warranty before assuming either way.
A reasonable opportunity to cure. Suit is generally barred until the warrantor has had a reasonable chance to fix the problem — with a carve-out at the class-certification stage.
And the amount-in-controversy floor. There is no federal jurisdiction below $50,000, exclusive of interest and costs, and a class action requires at least 100 named plaintiffs.
Character: a genuine jurisdictional requirement as to the federal forum only. The claim itself survives below the floor — it belongs in state court. That distinction is the practical answer for most consumers, whose claim is worth a few thousand dollars.
Who can be sued — and who cannot
Warrantors, suppliers, and service contractors.
Manufacturers can be liable to consumers with no privity on written warranties — you did not buy the car from the manufacturer, and that does not matter for the written warranty it issued.
Common defenses
No written warranty, or the item is not a consumer product.
Failure to use a required dispute resolution mechanism.
No reasonable opportunity to cure.
Below the $50,000 federal floor — which is not a defence to the claim, only to the forum.
State commercial-code disclaimers, though the Act limits an implied-warranty disclaimer where a written warranty was given.
The borrowed limitations period.
What the claim pays
Damages tied to the purchase price, and repair, replacement, or refund depending on the warranty and the state law supplying its content.
Mandatory reasonable attorney's fees to a prevailing consumer, based on actual time expended. That provision is the engine of the statute. Without it a $4,000 warranty claim would never be litigated; with it, the fee award routinely exceeds the damages.
No prevailing-defendant fee award — the shift runs one way.
No punitive damages under the federal Act. State law may supply them, which is another reason these claims are usually pleaded in pairs.
What people get wrong
"The Act creates a warranty." It does not. It regulates and enforces warranties whose substance comes from the written document or from state law.
"The $50,000 floor means I can't sue." It bars only the federal forum. The claim is fully available in state court, which is where most of them belong.
"I have to use the manufacturer's arbitration programme." Only if the warrantor established a compliant mechanism and incorporated it into the warranty. And its decision cannot bind you.
"My lawyer's fee comes out of my recovery." For a prevailing consumer, fees are recoverable from the warrantor on top of damages.
"The clock runs from when the defect appeared." Usually from tender of delivery, under the borrowed state warranty period.
"I can get punitive damages." Not under the federal Act.
Where it came from
The Act passed in 1975, in response to a specific and well-documented problem: warranties written so that a consumer could not tell what was covered, loaded with disclaimers that made them nearly worthless. Congress required warranties be titled "full" or "limited," written in readily understood language, and available before purchase — and then backed it with a private action and fee-shifting.
The $50,000 floor and the dispute-resolution provision were the price of that: Congress wanted the substance enforced without moving the entire consumer warranty docket into federal court.
The statute is administered by the Federal Trade Commission, whose rules define what a compliant dispute mechanism must look like.
The current growth area is vehicle defect and electric-vehicle class litigation, along with recurring fights about how manufacturer arbitration programmes interact with the statute's own dispute-resolution provision.
Common questions
Do I have to sue in federal court?
No, and usually you should not. Federal jurisdiction requires $50,000 in controversy, and a class action needs at least 100 named plaintiffs. Below that the claim belongs in state court, where it remains fully available.
Do I have to use the manufacturer's dispute programme first?
Only if the warrantor established a mechanism meeting federal minimum standards and required it in the warranty. Many have; many have not. If one applies, its decision cannot bind you.
Will the warrantor pay my attorney's fees?
If you prevail, yes — reasonable fees based on actual time expended, recoverable on top of your damages. That fee provision is why small warranty claims get litigated at all.
How long do I have to sue?
There is no federal period. Courts borrow the state breach-of-warranty period, commonly four years, usually accruing on delivery rather than on discovery of the defect.
Can I recover punitive damages?
Not under the federal Act. State law claims pleaded alongside it may allow them.