HB1224: HB1224 Contracts; termination of certain automatic renewal provisions; reduce applicable period

Georgia law already requires sellers who offer service contracts that automatically renew to warn consumers before the renewal kicks in. This bill rewrites O.C.G.A. § 13-12-3 to change when those stronger protections apply. Under the revised law, any contract of 12 months or more that automatically renews for more than one month still requires a written or electronic notice sent 30 to 60 days before the cancellation deadline, explaining that the contract will renew unless canceled and how to cancel. The bigger change is in subsection (b): contracts that automatically renew for a period of more than 24 months (instead of a longer period under prior law) now trigger extra requirements. For those contracts, the seller must also get the consumer's written acknowledgment of the notice and an affirmative response saying they do not want to cancel, or the renewal is not enforceable. A separate rule in subsection (c) keeps the same protections for contracts renewing for a year or more that raise the price by 50 percent or more. The law would take effect December 31, 2026, and apply only to contracts entered into on or after that date.

• Shortens the contract length that triggers stronger consumer protections for automatic renewals, from a longer period under prior law down to more than 24 months.
• Keeps the basic notice requirement for contracts of 12 months or more that renew automatically for more than one month, sent 30 to 60 days before the cancellation deadline.
• Requires sellers of longer automatically renewing contracts to obtain the consumer's written or electronic acknowledgment of the renewal notice before the renewal is enforceable.
• Requires those sellers to also get an affirmative statement from the consumer that they do not intend to cancel, or the automatic renewal cannot be enforced.
• Sets the same acknowledgment and affirmative-response requirements for contracts of a year or more that raise the price to the consumer by 50 percent or more.
• Sets an effective date of December 31, 2026, applying only to contracts signed on or after that date.

Consumers who sign service contracts that renew automatically, such as subscriptions, memberships, or ongoing service agreements, and the businesses that sell those contracts and must send renewal notices and, for longer contracts, collect written confirmations from customers.

By lowering the contract length that triggers extra safeguards, more automatically renewing contracts would require sellers to get a consumer's written confirmation before locking them into another renewal term, potentially making it harder for businesses to auto-renew long contracts without direct consumer sign-off.

• Section 1 revises O.C.G.A. § 13-12-3(a) to require notice 30 to 60 days before the cancellation deadline for contracts of 12 months or more that auto-renew for more than one month.
• Section 1 revises subsection (b) so contracts auto-renewing for more than 24 months require the seller to get written acknowledgment of the notice and an affirmative response that the consumer does not intend to cancel.
• Section 1 keeps subsection (c), requiring the same acknowledgment and affirmative response for contracts of a year or more that raise the price by 50 percent or more.
• Section 2 sets the effective date as December 31, 2026, applying only to contracts entered into on or after that date.
• Section 3 repeals any conflicting laws.

1. 2026-03-06House Committee Favorably Reported By Substitute (House)
2. 2026-03-04House Withdrawn, Recommitted (House)
3. 2026-03-03House Committee Favorably Reported By Substitute (House)
4. 2026-02-25House Withdrawn, Recommitted (House)
5. 2026-02-24House Committee Favorably Reported By Substitute (House)
6. 2026-02-09House Second Readers (House)
7. 2026-02-06House First Readers (House)
8. 2026-02-05House Hopper (House)

• Carter Barrett (R, HD-024)Primary sponsor
• Chuck Efstration (R, HD-104)
• Houston Gaines (R, HD-120)
• Scott Holcomb (D, HD-101)
• Beth Camp (R, HD-135)
• Jan Jones (R, HD-047)

• consumer protection
• automatic renewal contracts
• service contracts
• contract law