does anyone know the laws of Successor's Liability (when purchasing a compan....

[raf]

i bought something in 1984 and recently the motor burnt out, The company advertises on their website that e/t is a lifetime warranty, so i called them up and they claim lifetime warranty started in 1986  i claimed that they dont have any exception noted ......to no avail. i contacted local attorney general and the company responded that they purchased the company in 1986 and have NO LIABILITY before then ..... when you buy a company and retain the name you do have liabiity "Successor's Liability" anyone have information to the extent of their liability?

[henche]

My guess is they do have liability for contracts of the first company.
But, you are trying to get them to honor a warranty, so unless there was a warranty from the first company when you bought it, it won't be covered.

[MC]

I don't know how the laws differ in various states, but in the state of California a successor has liability if:
(1) the successor expressly or impliedly agrees to assume the subject liabilities,
(2) the transaction amounts to a consolidation or merger of the successor and the predecessor,
(3) the successor is a mere continuation of the predecessor, or
(4) the transfer of assets to the successor is for the fraudulent purpose of escaping liability for the predecessor's debts.

You can try to sue in small claims court for damages. While a small claims court judge may award you damages (I believe small claims runs up to $10,000), he/she has no authority to force the company to honor the warranty.

From your description, the question here is whether or not the lifetime warranty policy truly was in place in '84, or whether it did, as they claim, only begin in '86. You may need to do a little more digging into the company's history for that one.

Hope this helps!

[Ergel]

My guess is they do have liability for contracts of the first company.
But, you are trying to get them to honor a warranty, so unless there was a warranty from the first company when you bought it, it won't be covered.

+1
Why would they be forced to give youa warranty which wasn't included in your purchase?

[Bostener]

Shop around for class-action attorneys. See what they tell you.

[raf]

I don't know how the laws differ in various states, but in the state of California a successor has liability if:
(1) the successor expressly or impliedly agrees to assume the subject liabilities,
(2) the transaction amounts to a consolidation or merger of the successor and the predecessor,
(3) the successor is a mere continuation of the predecessor, or
(4) the transfer of assets to the successor is for the fraudulent purpose of escaping liability for the predecessor's debts.

You can try to sue in small claims court for damages. While a small claims court judge may award you damages (I believe small claims runs up to $10,000), he/she has no authority to force the company to honor the warranty.

From your description, the question here is whether or not the lifetime warranty policy truly was in place in '84, or whether it did, as they claim, only begin in '86. You may need to do a little more digging into the company's history for that one.

Hope this helps!

](3) the successor is a mere continuation of the predecessor how do i verifyif its a continuation (i think it is) as when it retains the name i believe its a continuation

My guess is they do have liability for contracts of the first company.
But, you are trying to get them to honor a warranty, so unless there was a warranty from the first company when you bought it, it won't be covered.

i am not claiming that it was warratied then i am claiming that they advertise that ALL their products are warrantied for life (it does not have any exclusions

[henche]

]i am not claiming that it was warratied then i am claiming that they advertise that ALL their products are warrantied for life (it does not have any exclusions

The pashut pshat in that is they are advertising to new buyers, not to previous buyers. And even if they were advertising to you, there would be no consideration for that promise.

Sorry to bear bad tidings, but I think it's pretty unlikely that you will win.