More discussion on warranty limitations in Washington state.
Back on August 9, I published a short article summarizing the ruling in a recent Washington Court of Appeals case (held before Division II). The case opinion in Mattingly v. Palmer Ridge Homes LLC concerns the disclaimer of home warranties and the effect of third-party warranty limitations.
Alan Middleton, an attorney at Davis Wright Tremaine, writes for Washington Construction Law blog. Alan put together a great summary of this same case, which I very much recommend. You can view his article by following this link.
Alan briefly sums up that that the “as is” limitation, in construction contracts and documents, will not waive express warranties without explicit reference to them. A brief snippet from his article:
Although the Mattinglys’ implied warranty claims were barred, their express warranty claims were not. An “as is” acceptance may bar implied warranties, but will not bar express warranties without explicit reference to them. Accordingly, Palmer Ridge continued to be liable for breach of the express undertakings in its construction contract — e.g., workmanship, compliance with codes, compliance with plans/specifications, systems in good working order. A claim for breach of express warranties nonetheless had to be brought within a year of “completion” or cessation of work.
Thanks to Alan for his great report on this lawsuit. If you want to read our original post, please follow this link.
