Consumer warranty protection: express warranties.

Existing law, the Song-Beverly Consumer Warranty Act, provides a comprehensive set of procedures for the enforcement of express and implied warranties on consumer goods, as defined. Under existing law, every manufacturer making an express warranty with respect to an electronic or appliance product, including televisions, radios, audio or video recording equipment, major home appliances, antennas, and rotators, with a wholesale price to the retailer of not less than $50 nor more than $99.99 is required to make available to service and repair facilities sufficient service literature and functional parts to effect the repair of the product for at least 3 years after the date a product model or type was manufactured, regardless of whether the 3-year period exceeds the warranty period for the product. Existing law also requires every manufacturer making an express warranty with respect to an electronic or appliance product, as described above, with a wholesale price to the retailer of $100 or more, to make available to service and repair facilities sufficient service literature and functional parts to effect the repair of the product for at least 7 years after the date a product model or type was manufactured, regardless of whether the 7-year period exceeds the warranty period for the product. This bill would instead require the manufacturer of an electronic or appliance product, in the above-described circumstances and timeframes, to make available, on fair and reasonable terms, sufficient service literature, at no charge, and prescribed functional parts and tools, including documentation, tools, software and parts needed to disable the lock or function during the course of the diagnosis, maintenance, or repair of a product, to owners of the product, service and repair facilities, and service dealers. The bill would also require a service and repair facility or service dealer that is not an authorized facility or dealer of a manufacturer to provide a written notice containing specified information related to warranties to any customer seeking repair of an electronic or appliance product before the repair facility or service dealer repairs the product. This bill would define terms for its purposes, and would provide that the above-specified provisions do not require a manufacturer to divulge a trade secret, except as may be necessary to provide service literature, documentation, tools, and parts on fair and reasonable terms, and shall not be construed to require the distribution of a product's source code. Existing law authorizes a retail seller of consumer goods or an independent serviceman of consumer goods injured by the willful or repeated violation of the Song-Beverly Consumer Warranty Act to bring a legal action for the recovery of damages. Existing law provides that a court may award 3 times the amount at which actual damages are assessed plus reasonable attorneys fees. This bill would additionally authorize a service dealer, as defined, to bring a legal action pursuant to the above provisions.