Implied Warranties of Habitability on Houses Do Not Apply to Second Buyers If the First Buyers Waived Them

A recent case out of Illinois, Fattah v. Bim, Docket No. 119365 (behind paywall), allowed the court to clarify whether an initial home buyer’s waiver of the implied warranty of the house’s habitability applied to subsequent buyers, or whether the second purchaser of the house could nevertheless assert a breach of warranty claim against the builder of the home. The Supreme Court of Illinois concluded that a waiver of the warranty on the part of the first buyer eliminated the second buyer’s ability to exert such a claim, overturning an appellate court decision that had sent reactionary ripples through the home-building blogosphere.

In 2005, Masterklad built a house that contained a brick patio. In 2007, Masterklad sold the house to Beth Lubeck. The sale of the house included a “Waiver and Disclaimer of Implied Warranty of Habitability” in which Lubeck “knowingly, voluntarily, fully and forever” waived the implied warranty of habitability that the State of Illinois reads into all contracts involving newly constructed houses. In exchange for the waiver of the implied warranty, Masterklad provided Lubeck with an express warranty on the house. The express warranty was limited to a one-year term. There was no allegation in the case that Lubeck’s waiver of the implied warranty wasn’t effective and enforceable, and there were also no allegations that Masterklad hadn’t complied fully with the terms of the express warranty. 

In 2010, a couple of years after the expiration of Masterklad’s express warranty on the house, Lubeck sold the house to John Fattah. The sale of the house stated that it was “as is.” A few months later, the brick patio that Masterklad had installed collapsed. Fattah sued Masterklad, alleging that the patio had had latent defects that violated the implied warranty of habitability. 

At the trial court level, Fattah lost, with the court concluding that the policy that permitted knowing waivers of the implied warranty would be frustrated if subsequent buyers could resurrect the claims. The appellate court, as has been mentioned, reversed, though, finding that Fattah could assert breach of the implied warranty. 

Illinois’ Supreme Court disagreed with the appellate court’s decision. While Illinois has previously determined that the implied warranty extends to subsequent purchasers of a house where the first purchaser has not waived the warranty, this was a different situation: Fattah was seeking to recover damages that the first buyer would not have been entitled to. Allowing Fattah to do this alters Masterklad’s risk exposure in an unfair way. Masterklad sought to manage its level of financial risk by providing an express warranty with a clear termination date, as it was permitted to do under Illinois precedent. It was unfair to switch everything up on Masterklad at this late date. In fact, allowing Fattah to bring this claim would effectively mean that the implied warranty of habitability could never be waived, as it could be resurrected by any subsequent buyer–which was the opposite of what Illinois had decided when it concluded that the implied warranty could be waived. 

The disagreements within the Illinois court system about this come down very explicitly to a policy decision. The appellate court seemed uneasy with waivers of the implied warranty because of public policy concerns, and one can see its point: You like to assume the houses you buy can generally be lived in. But the supreme court’s point here also makes sense: If you buy a house “as is,” you’ve usually gotten some kind of discount. If your gamble doesn’t pay off, the courts are reluctant to revive arguments you bargained away. This might boil down to, much of the time, the maxim that a deal that seems too good to be true might, indeed, be untrue, and wariness should be employed.