Privity; Property Damage; and Personal Injuries . . . A Re-appraisal

The responsibility of a vendor of personal property to persons other than his immediate vendee has troubled courts throughout our legal history. The primary purpose of this comment is to analyze this liability for personal injuries or property damage in an action for breach of warranty. The inquiry is strictly limited to those obligations which arise incidentally to a sale or contract to sell personal property. It does not extend to sales of realty or to those transactions which are not sales, such as service contracts and contracts of bailment. The discussion is further limited to the vendor\u27s liability for personal injuries and property damage and does not include liability for the invasion of intangible economic interests. The comment is not concerned with causes of action other than breaches of warranty, such as causes of action sounding in negligence or fraudulent misrepresentations. The discussion will be devoted to the existing law in Washington, and a summary with emphasis of possible future developments