Enforcement
We enforce federal competition and consumer protection laws that prevent anticompetitive, deceptive, and unfair business practices.
,
Search or browse
the Legal Library
Find legal resources and guidance to understand your business responsibilities and comply with the law.
,
Take action
- Report an antitrust violation
- File adjudicative documents
- Find banned debt collectors
- View competition guidance
,
Competition Matters,
Henry Liu, Director of the Bureau of Competition,
,
Policy
We work to advance government policies that protect consumers and promote competition.
,
Search or browse
the Legal Library
Find legal resources and guidance to understand your business responsibilities and comply with the law.
,
Take action
,
Technology Blog,
Staff in the Office of Technology,
,
Advice and Guidance
Learn more about your rights as a consumer and how to spot and avoid scams. Find the resources you need to understand how consumer protection law impacts your business.
,
Take action
- Report fraud
- Report identity theft
- Register for Do Not Call
- Sign up for consumer alerts
- Get Business Blog updates
- Get your free credit report
- Find refund cases
- Order bulk publications
,
Consumer Advice
- Shopping and Donating
- Credit, Loans, and Debt
- Jobs and Making Money
- Unwanted Calls, Emails, and Texts
- Identity Theft and Online Security
- Scams
,
Business Guidance
- Advertising and Marketing
- Credit and Finance
- Privacy and Security
- By Industry
- For Small Businesses
- Browse Business Guidance Resources
- Business Blog
,
Servicemembers:
Your tool for financial readiness
,
Get consumer protection basics, plain and simple
,
Learn how the FTC protects free enterprise and consumers
,
Looking for competition guidance?
,
News and Events
,
,
–
,
Follow us on social media
,
About the FTC
Our mission is protecting the public from deceptive or unfair business practices and from unfair methods of competition through law enforcement, advocacy, research, and education.
,
Looking for legal documents or records? Search the Legal Library instead.
,
Looking for legal documents or records? Search the Legal Library instead.
,
For Release,
Letters to eight companies warn about tying warranty to use of branded parts and affixing “warranty void if removed” stickers to their products,
,
Federal Trade Commission staff sent warning letters to eight companies about their warranty practices that may be standing in the way of consumers’ right to repair products they have purchased.
The warning letters inform the companies of FTC staff’s concerns that their practices violate the Magnuson-Moss Warranty Act (MMWA), a law that governs consumer product warranties and is enforced by the FTC.
“These warning letters put companies on notice that restricting consumers’ right to repair violates the law,” said Samuel Levine, Director of the FTC’s Bureau of Consumer Protection. “The Commission will continue our efforts to protect consumers’ right to repair and independent dealers’ right to compete.”
The letters to five of the companies warn that FTC staff has concerns about the companies’ statements that consumers must use specified parts or service providers to keep their warranties intact. Unless warrantors provide the parts or services for free or receive a waiver from the FTC, such statements are generally prohibited by the MMWA. Similarly, such statements may be deceptive under the FTC Act.
These letters were issued to air purifier sellers aeris Health, Blueair, Medify Air, and Oransi, along with treadmill company InMovement.
Letters to three other companies warn against their use of stickers containing “warranty void if removed” or similar language that are placed in locations on products that hinder consumers’ ability to perform routine maintenance and repairs on their products.
These letters were issued to ASRock, Zotac, and Gigabyte, companies that market and sell gaming PCs, graphics chips, motherboards, and other accessories.
FTC staff has urged each company to review its promotional and warranty materials to ensure that such materials do not state or imply that warranty coverage is conditioned on the use of specific parts or services. The letters state that FTC staff will review the companies’ websites after 30 days and that failure to correct any potential violations may result in law enforcement action.
The staff attorneys on this matter are Abdiel T. Lewis and Alyssa Wu of the FTC’s Western Region, San Francisco.
,
The Federal Trade Commission works to promote competition and protect and educate consumers. The FTC will never demand money, make threats, tell you to transfer money, or promise you a prize. Learn more about consumer topics at consumer.ftc.gov, or report fraud, scams, and bad business practices at ReportFraud.ftc.gov. Follow the FTC on social media, read consumer alerts and the business blog, and sign up to get the latest FTC news and alerts.
,
Office of Public Affairs,
202-326-2656,
