Legal Question in Consumer Law in Massachusetts

Re: Developer's Implied Warranty on A/C

Massachusetts courts recently ruled that the implied warranty of habitability applies to new construction homes, including condos. So you might have claims under an implied warranty without any additional supporting basis (like applicable waranty/breach of contract).

However, whether you also have more direct claims in express warranty/contract, or for negligence/misrepresentation, depends on what promises the developer made prior to the sale, upon which you relied in deciding to enter the P&S and buy the unit. Misrepresentation claims and breach of warranties in the P&S usually survive the closing/passing of the deed. So, the remainder of you questions depend on what promises/representations are contained within the P&S, warranties, etc. (Builder should have assigned warranties to you at cloaing, and warranties should not have begun to run until you closed -- the materials were not being used prior to the time you purchased the unit, so the developer's statement that the warranties ran from the date of purchase is possibly questionable).

It appears these are small ticket items, so a recommended approach would be to consult with a lawyer, who can send a Chapter 93A demand letter if the facts warrant it, with the goal of settling the claims short of filing suit, in exchange for your dropping the 93A claims.

Also, often where there's smoke there's fire -- keep an eye out for additional defects/broken promises/builder misreps. Often the developer tries to build as inexpensively as possible, and it is not uncommon to learn the quality of the building materials he actually used is inferior to those he may have promised to use, or that you expected to receive. A 93A demand would reserve rights to add newly discovered/latent claims; although a settlement would likely release any such claims arising after the settlement.

I have handled cases just like this recently. Feel free to contact me to talk things over if you're interested.