Bill would set response deadlines for home warranty providers after consumers reported multi‑week air‑conditioning delays

Assembly Bill 231, presented May 13 by Assemblymember Linda Hunt, would impose specified duties and timelines on providers of home warranty service contracts (commonly called home warranties). The bill aims to require prompt repairs for essential systems such as air conditioners and furnaces and to require per‑diem lodging if providers fail to restore service within a narrow timeframe.

Assemblymember Hunt told the committee she introduced the bill after constituents reported long delays in emergency weather conditions. Hunt showed a news item about an elderly family who waited weeks for repairs to their air conditioner and said the bill would “hold home warranty companies and their primary contractors accountable.”

Taylor Altman of Legal Aid Center of Southern Nevada described the conceptual amendment that was before the committee. Under the amendment: section 1(g)(1) would require providers to “restore” goods described in a home warranty within a specified period after notice; for air conditioners, heaters and furnaces the amendment required restoration within a short period (the sponsor's conceptual amendment amended 5 business days to 3 calendar days for essential climate control systems). If a repaired good becomes defective again within a short window, the provider would have to restore it faster on subsequent notices; the sponsor’s amendment increased that subsequent window from 14 to 30 business days. The amendment also requires a per‑diem lodging allowance set at the federal per‑diem rate when providers fail to timely restore essential climate controls.

Representatives of industry groups — including the National Home Service Contract Association, the Service Contract Industry Council, the American Property Casualty Insurance Association, Fidelity Home Warranty and other warranty and insurer stakeholders — testified in opposition or expressed reservations. Their concerns included: - The bill’s firm timelines (3 calendar days for AC/heating) are unrealistic given current supply‑chain constraints and workforce shortages. - Providers typically rely on third‑party contractors they do not directly employ and cannot fully control. - A mandatory lodging requirement could raise prices across the board if providers must include that cost in every contract; industry proposed making lodging an optional contract feature instead.

The Nevada Division of Insurance testified neutral and said an existing NAC regulation requires repairs to commence within 24 hours and be completed within three calendar days for goods essential to health and safety, and insurers must notify the Division if repairs cannot be completed within the three‑day period. The division said it receives reports under that regulation (8,539 initial reports in calendar year 2024) but has limited explicit enforcement tools tied to the regulation.

Consumer advocates and labor representatives spoke in support, describing cases of prolonged outages that affected elderly or medically fragile households and urging the committee to adopt firm timelines. The sponsor said she would continue to work with stakeholders on language but urged support for the bill as a consumer‑protection measure.

No committee vote is recorded in the transcript; the hearing record shows extensive stakeholder discussion and the bill remained under consideration.