Caveat emptor Caveat emptor Caveat emptor (, ) is Latin for "Let the buyer beware" (from "caveat", "may he beware", a subjunctive form of "cavēre", "to beware" + "ēmptor", "buyer"). Generally, "caveat emptor" is the contract law principle that controls the sale of real property after the date of closing, but may also apply to sales of other goods. The phrase "caveat emptor" and its use as a disclaimer of warranties arise from the fact that buyers typically have less information about the good or service they are purchasing, while the seller has more information. The quality of this situation is known
Caveat emptor defects or otherwise made material misrepresentations amounting to fraud. Before statutory law, the buyer had no express warranty ensuring the quality of goods. In the UK, common law requires that goods must be "fit for the particular purpose" and of "merchantable quality", per Section 15 of the Sale of Goods Act but this implied warranty can be difficult to enforce and may not apply to all products. Hence, buyers are still advised to be cautious. The modern trend in the U.S. is that the implied warranty of fitness for a particular purpose applies in the real-estate context to only the