Legal Definition and Related Resources of Caveat emptor

Let the buyer beware. At common law, when a buyer of goods had required no warranty he took the risk of quality upon himself, and had no remedy if he had chosen to rely on the bare representation of the vendor, unless he could show that representation to have been fraudulent. But some warranties were implied. See now the Sale of Goods Act, 1893, ss. X2 and 14

noun

• at one’s own risk
• purchase without a guaranty
• purchase without a warranty
• purchased at one’s risk
• unassured purchase
• uncovenanted purchase
• unendorsed purchase
• unguaranteed purchase
• unwarranted purchase

Browse or run a search for Caveat Emptor in the American Encyclopedia of Law, the Asian Encyclopedia of Law, the European Encyclopedia of Law, the UK Encyclopedia of Law or the Latin American and Spanish Encyclopedia of Law.

Caveat Emptor in Historical Law

You might be interested in the historical meaning of this term. Browse or search for Caveat Emptor in Historical Law in the Encyclopedia of Law.

For more information about Historical Law definitions, see Historical Definitions in the Encyclopedia of Law. For more information about Historical Law Books and Legal Documents, see Legal Encyclopedia of Historical Books and Documents and Legal Encyclopedia of Books and Documents of the 20th Century.

Search for legal acronyms and/or abbreviations containing Caveat Emptor in the Legal Abbreviations and Acronyms Dictionary.

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Resources

See Also

Caveat emptor in Law Enforcement

Main Entry: Law Enforcement in the Legal Dictionary. This section provides, in the context of Law Enforcement, a partial definition of caveat emptor.

Resources

See Also

• Law Enforcement Officer
• Police Officer
• Law Enforcement Agency

Further Reading

• caveat emptor in A Dictionary of Law Enforcement (Oxford University Press)
• caveat emptor in the Encyclopedia of Law Enforcement
• A Treatise on the Police of the Metropolis

Definition of Caveat Emptor

In the context of international law, the legal resource A Dictionary of Law, provides a definition of Caveat Emptor : (Latin: let the buyer beware)

A common-law maxim warning a purchaser that he could not claim that his purchases were defective unless he protected himself by obtaining express guarantees from the vendor. The maxim has been modified by statute: under the Sale of Goods Act 1979 (a consolidating statute), contracts for the sale of goods have implied terms requiring the goods to correspond with their description and any sample and, if they are sold in the course of a business, to be of satisfactory quality and fit for any purpose made known to the seller. Each of these implied terms is a condition of the contract. However, in most commercial contracts the implied terms are excluded. This will usually be valid unless the exclusion is unreasonable or unfair under the law relating to unfair contract terms. These statutory conditions do not apply to sales of land, to which the maxim caveat emptor still applies as far as the condition of the property is concerned. However, a term is normally implied that the vendor must convey a good *title to the land, free from encumbrances that were not disclosed to the purchaser before the contract was made.

Concept of Caveat Emptor in the context of Real Property

A short definition of Caveat Emptor: “Let the buyer beware”. Legal maxim stating that the buyer takes the risk regarding quality or condition of the item purchased, unless protected by warranty or there is misrepresentation. Modernly, consumer protection laws have placed more responsibility for disclosure on the seller and broker.

Concept of Caveat Emptor in the context of Real Property

A short definition of Caveat Emptor: “Let the buyer beware”. Legal maxim stating that the buyer takes the risk regarding quality or condition of the item purchased, unless protected by warranty or there is misrepresentation. Modernly, consumer protection laws have placed more responsibility for disclosure on the seller and broker.