Can I sue a manufacturer directly for breach of warranty even if I bought from a retailer?

What the Law Says

New York law allows consumers to enforce warranties against manufacturers directly — even when they purchased the product from a retailer — because privity of contract is not required.

Under New York law, both express and implied warranties extend to any natural person who is injured or suffers loss while using the product in a reasonably foreseeable way — including buyers, users, and bystanders.

This rule comes from the Uniform Commercial Code (UCC), as adopted in New York, which explicitly eliminates the privity barrier for warranty claims.

The UCC applies to sales of goods, and New York courts consistently hold that manufacturers are liable to remote purchasers for breaches of both express and implied warranties.

Statutory Text

A seller's warranty whether express or implied extends to any natural person who is in the family or household of his buyer or who is a guest in his home if it is reasonable to expect that such person may use, consume or be affected by the goods and who is injured in person by breach of the warranty.

— UCC § 2-318 — Third-party beneficiaries of warranties

What Courts Have Said

New York courts have repeatedly confirmed that consumers need not have bought directly from the manufacturer to bring a warranty claim.

What to Do

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