US Right-to-Repair Laws: What They Mean for Buying Electronics

What to take away

The US right to repair laws electronics buyers hear about are mostly state laws sitting on top of a federal floor. The Magnuson-Moss Warranty Act governs warranty claims nationwide, while state right-to-repair laws add separate documentation and parts duties for electronics makers.

Federal warranty floor

The FTC's Businessperson's Guide to Federal Warranty Law explains that a warranty cannot condition coverage on using original parts or an authorized service provider. The only exception is when the manufacturer provides those parts or services without charge or receives a waiver. This means an independent repair shop using aftermarket parts does not automatically void your warranty.

The federal law is about warranty terms, not a general obligation to sell parts to consumers. It still matters because many electronics makers write warranty language that the FTC would treat as illegal. The FTC's own Nixing the Fix report and its policy statement on repair restrictions point the same way, and federal right-to-repair bills such as the Fair Repair Act have been introduced in Congress without becoming law.

New York Digital Fair Repair Act

New York's law covers digital electronic equipment such as phones, laptops, and tablets sold after July 1, 2023. Manufacturers must make documentation, parts, and tools available to independent repair providers and consumers on fair and reasonable terms. The law names the New York Attorney General as the enforcer.

A compliant manufacturer will post service manuals, parts identifiers, and diagnostic software for covered models. Use this law as a check before you buy: if the maker does not publish a service manual for the exact model, you may face a parts wall later.

Parts listings are the real test, not the marketing page. A phone repair shop that uses OEM parts can tell you whether your model appears in a real parts catalog.

Minnesota right to repair law

Minnesota's right-to-repair statute covers consumer electronics and certain appliances, and it reaches both independent repair providers and owners. It was signed in May 2023, takes effect on July 1, 2024, and applies to equipment sold or used in the state on or after that date.

Unlike New York, Minnesota law applies to more product categories and has a broader scope for documentation access. The Minnesota Attorney General can bring enforcement actions.

Minnesota's law also interacts with federal Magnuson-Moss because a warranty that still tries to void coverage for independent repair in Minnesota can draw two layers of trouble.

California's disclosure angle

California's SB 244 was signed in October 2023 and took effect on January 1, 2024. It covers products sold or used in the state on or after July 1, 2021, the cutoff that decides whether your model is in scope. Covered products are defined by product type and wholesale price.

The disclosure duty runs for seven years after the last date of manufacture for covered products with a wholesale price of $100 or more, and the statute sets shorter duty periods for lower-priced covered products. The California Attorney General can enforce a violation.

The key buying signal is a public repair portal. If the manufacturer hides its service manual behind a dealer login or regional restriction, that is a red flag: an unrepairable model usually shows up later as repair costs rather than as a parts order.

Oregon, Colorado, and parts pairing

Oregon's Right to Repair Act, SB 1596, was signed in 2024. It is the first state law to ban parts pairing — software or firmware that ties a replacement part to a specific device, so the device rejects the part or drops features after a repair. Colorado passed its own electronics right-to-repair law in 2024, covering digital electronic equipment, and it joins New York, Minnesota, and California in requiring parts, tools, and documentation. Parts pairing is the practical limit on all of that. A manufacturer can publish manuals and sell parts and still make a swapped-in display, battery, or camera misbehave, which is why Oregon's ban matters to buyers in every state. Massachusetts and Maine also have right-to-repair laws on the books, but those are vehicle laws covering cars and vehicle data access, not consumer electronics.

What a compliant disclosure contains

A state-compliant manufacturer disclosure is not a marketing claim. It is a set of technical materials that a competent repair shop or owner can actually use.

Four items make up the package:

The materials have to match the model, not the product family, and each statute defines what fair and reasonable terms means. Apple's Self Service Repair program, which publishes manuals and sells parts and tools for many iPhone and Mac models, is one public example.

Buyers should keep purchase receipts, serial numbers, and any warranty documents, because a state enforcement complaint may need those records to establish coverage.

What happens if you do not comply

A manufacturer that ignores New York's Digital Fair Repair Act can face a civil enforcement action by the New York Attorney General. A court can order the manufacturer to stop selling noncompliant devices in New York until it provides the required documentation, parts, and tools. That is a concrete business interruption, not a warning letter.

Civil penalties and injunctions come on top. Minnesota and California attorneys general can seek a stop-sale order plus penalties under state consumer protection law.

Those penalties are set per violation, typically in the low thousands of dollars and up to about $25,000 under the steeper schedules. The total depends on how many models and how many days the violation covers.

For a buyer, the consequence becomes an advantage: a noncompliant brand may lose access to a state market, which pushes it to publish manuals and stock parts. Parts access also decides many buy-versus-repair calls, since a battery replacement that a manufacturer blocks can push an otherwise working device toward early replacement.

Exclusions decide whether your device is covered. Motor vehicles and medical devices are common carve-outs, and each state adds its own: California, for example, excludes items such as video game consoles, while Oregon and Colorado define their own covered equipment.

Recycling sits outside these repair laws. End-of-life duties on producers are a separate question from the parts-access duties these statutes place on manufacturers, and when a device cannot be repaired, the next step is how to recycle old electronics safely.

Common questions