Home Warranty Consumer Protection by State
Which U.S. states give home-warranty buyers the strongest recourse, ranked by whether warranties are regulated and whether providers must be licensed.
8 states regulate home warranties, 34 regulate them partially, and 9 have no warranty-specific rules. Where a warranty is regulated, and especially where providers must be licensed, buyers have the strongest recourse if a claim is wrongly denied.
8
Regulated
34
Partial
9
Not regulated
Strongly-regulated states (licensing required)
Companies available in each, among states that require provider licensing
States ranked by protection
| State | Regulation | Companies |
|---|---|---|
| Arizona | Regulated | 19 |
| Texas | Regulated | 19 |
| Florida | Regulated | 17 |
| Nevada | Regulated | 17 |
| California | Regulated | 16 |
| New York | Regulated | 13 |
| Wisconsin | Regulated | 11 |
| Washington | Regulated | 9 |
| Oregon | Partial | 19 |
| Utah | Partial | 19 |
| Colorado | Partial | 18 |
| Illinois | Partial | 18 |
| Indiana | Partial | 18 |
| Minnesota | Partial | 18 |
| Missouri | Partial | 18 |
| New Mexico | Partial | 18 |
| Ohio | Partial | 18 |
| Georgia | Partial | 17 |
| Kansas | Partial | 17 |
| Maryland | Partial | 17 |
| Nebraska | Partial | 17 |
| North Carolina | Partial | 17 |
| Oklahoma | Partial | 17 |
| Tennessee | Partial | 17 |
| Virginia | Partial | 17 |
| Connecticut | Partial | 16 |
| Iowa | Partial | 16 |
| Kentucky | Partial | 16 |
| Michigan | Partial | 16 |
| New Jersey | Partial | 16 |
| Pennsylvania | Partial | 16 |
| South Carolina | Partial | 16 |
| Alabama | Partial | 15 |
| Arkansas | Partial | 15 |
| Delaware | Partial | 15 |
| Louisiana | Partial | 15 |
| Massachusetts | Partial | 15 |
| New Hampshire | Partial | 15 |
| Rhode Island | Partial | 15 |
| West Virginia | Partial | 15 |
| District of Columbia | Partial | 15 |
| Hawaii | Partial | 6 |
| Idaho | Not regulated | 19 |
| Wyoming | Not regulated | 18 |
| Montana | Not regulated | 17 |
| South Dakota | Not regulated | 17 |
| Maine | Not regulated | 15 |
| Mississippi | Not regulated | 15 |
| North Dakota | Not regulated | 15 |
| Vermont | Not regulated | 15 |
| Alaska | Not regulated | 3 |
What "regulated" actually buys you
In states that regulate home warranties as insurance, an unresolved dispute can be escalated to a state regulator with the power to investigate, levy fines, and revoke a provider's license, generally the strongest recourse a buyer has. 8 states go further and require providers to be licensed. In partially-regulated states, complaints typically run through the Attorney General's consumer-protection division; in unregulated states, recourse leans on general consumer-protection law and small-claims court.
The practical takeaway: the same contract can offer very different protection depending on where you live. Check your state's regulation status and complaint-filing channel before buying, and weigh it alongside the company's reliability.
Across the 51 states we track, 8 regulate home warranties as insurance and 8 of those additionally require providers to be licensed, according to each state's Department of Insurance. See our methodology for how regulation status, licensing requirements, and company availability are determined for each state.
Source: State Departments of Insurance and Attorneys General Home-warranty regulation and licensing by state · 2026 Company availability per state from published service areas.
Related
Every figure on PlainWarranty is rendered directly from BBB, Trustpilot, and state regulatory data, no number is typed in by an editor. This page draws directly on State Department of Insurance and Attorney General data, no figure is typed in by an editor. See our editorial standards & corrections policy, the methodology behind these numbers, or report a data error.