You have a sale on the table, and the house comes with a service contract someone bought earlier. Before you count it as part of the deal, read the transfer terms. A service contract is a contract, and it usually says who may hold it and what happens when the holder changes.
Start with the holder line. Some contracts are written to the homeowner by name. Others are written to the property. Some let the contract move to a new owner on request. Some end when the title changes. Find the sentence that says which kind you have.
Next, ask whether transfer is allowed at all. If it is, look for the steps. Find out who starts it, the seller or the buyer. Check whether it must be requested in writing and what window it has to happen in around closing. Ask whether a charge applies and who pays it. Get these answers in writing from the provider, not from someone at the table.
Check the waiting period. A waiting period is the stretch after a contract starts, or after it changes hands, before certain claims are accepted. Ask whether a transferred contract gets a new waiting period, keeps the old one, or gets none. If the buyer may need repairs in the first weeks, this line matters more than the headline coverage.
Read the covered list against the house you are buying. A transferred contract covers what the contract says and nothing more. Note any system the contract covers that the house does not have, and any system in the house that is not on the list. Ask whether the provider needs an inspection to confirm condition before transfer, and what it does if a system is found outside its terms.
Ask about the unused term. If the seller has paid for a term that runs past closing, find out whether the unused part is refunded, credited, or lost, and whether it goes to the seller or the buyer. Do not assume. This is the same question you would ask about an early cancellation, and the answer sits on the same page.
Put the paper in the file. At closing you want a copy of the contract, the transfer confirmation, the provider contact, and the claim steps. Keep them with the house records. The seller's copy does not move to you by itself.
Read the install year alongside the transfer terms. A contract can change hands while a system is early in its life or near the end of it, and the install year tells you which. The gas furnace guide turns an install year into a planning date, and the tables on this site hold the published figures. Put that planning date next to what the contract says, so you know when a replacement will need planning whether or not the paper covers it.
This page does not say what any particular contract covers, costs, or requires. Your contract is the only source for that. Use this page to find the parts to look for and the questions to put to the provider in writing.