## Facts

- In March 1988, Charles Joswick and his wife bought a new mobile home from Chesapeake Mobile Homes, Inc., manufactured by Brigadier Homes of North Carolina, Inc.
- Brigadier provided an express limited warranty stating the home would be free from substantial defects in materials and workmanship for 12 months from delivery.
- The warranty stated the exclusive remedy was the manufacturer’s repair or replacement of defective parts, at its option, if written notice was received within one year and ten days of delivery, and it disclaimed other warranties and consequential/incidental damages.
- In February 1995, the Joswicks discovered roof leaking and related rot; experts attributed it to improper shingle installation at the eaves; estimated repairs were about $4,275.
- It was undisputed that the roofing defect existed at delivery in 1988.
- In June 1997, the Joswicks sued for breach of the express warranty.

## Issues

1. Whether the four-year limitations period in Maryland UCC § 2-725 barred a 1997 express-warranty suit arising from a 1988 delivery.
2. Whether the manufacturer’s limited repair-or-replace warranty “explicitly extends to future performance of the goods,” delaying accrual under § 2-725(2) until discovery of the defect.

## Decision

- The Court of Appeals of Maryland affirmed judgment for the defendants.
- The court held the mobile-home transaction was a sale of goods governed by UCC Article 2, including § 2-725.
- The court held the warranty did not explicitly extend to future performance within the meaning of § 2-725(2).
- The cause of action accrued at tender of delivery in March 1988, not upon discovery in 1995.
- Because suit was filed in June 1997—more than four years after delivery—the claim was time-barred.

## Legal Principles

- Under Maryland UCC § 2-725, breach of warranty generally occurs, and the limitations period begins to run, at tender of delivery, regardless of the buyer’s knowledge.
- The discovery-based accrual exception applies only when a warranty explicitly extends to future performance of the goods and breach cannot be discovered until the time of that performance.
- A limited warranty that primarily promises repair or replacement within a defined period, without an explicit future-performance guarantee of the goods themselves, does not trigger the future-performance exception.

## Conclusion

Maryland applied UCC § 2-725’s delivery-based accrual rule to an express limited repair-or-replace warranty for a mobile home, holding that the warranty did not explicitly extend to future performance and that a suit filed more than four years after delivery was barred even though the defect was latent and discovered later.


Joswick v. Chesapeake Mobile Homes, Inc., 362 Md. 261, 765 A.2d 90 (2001)