HB 529: Georgia Online Automatic Renewal Transparency Act; enact

Georgia already regulates automatic renewal clauses in service contracts (O.C.G.A. Title 13, Chapter 12) and online subscription renewals (the Georgia Online Automatic Renewal Transparency Act in Title 10). This bill rewrites both. For service contracts, sellers who include an automatic renewal clause must now offer consumers the option to let the contract simply end instead of renewing, and that choice must be put in writing at the seller's expense. Contracts running 12 months or longer must still get advance notice of the renewal, and the threshold for needing extra written confirmation from the consumer drops from contracts renewing more than 24 months to those renewing more than one year. For online subscriptions, businesses must let customers cancel online at least as easily as they signed up, offering both a public cancellation webpage and a ready-made cancellation email. The bill also expands the list of businesses exempt from these rules, covering utilities regulated by state and federal agencies, insurance entities, and franchises run by local governments. The changes take effect December 31, 2025, and apply only to contracts made on or after that date.

• Requires sellers offering service contracts with an automatic renewal clause to also give consumers the option to let the contract end instead of renewing, memorialized in writing at the seller's cost.
• Lowers the threshold for requiring extra written consumer confirmation on long contracts, from renewals longer than 24 months to renewals longer than one year.
• Requires businesses that let consumers sign up for online automatic renewals or continuous service to also let them cancel online, through both a public cancellation link and a pre-formatted cancellation email.
• Expands the list of businesses exempt from both the service-contract and online-renewal rules, adding entities regulated by the Public Service Commission, the Department of Agriculture, and the insurance commissioner, plus franchises of local governments.
• Clarifies that if the online-renewal law and the service-contract chapter conflict, the service-contract chapter (Title 13, Chapter 12) controls.
• Sets the effective date as December 31, 2025, applying only to contracts entered into on or after that date.

Businesses that sell subscriptions or service contracts with automatic renewal terms, including gyms, streaming services, and other online sellers; Georgia consumers who sign up for these services; and regulated industries such as utilities, insurers, and banks that are named as exemptions from the rules.

Georgians who sign up for subscriptions or long-term service contracts would gain a clearer, legally required way to stop automatic renewals, including an online cancellation option that matches how they signed up. Businesses would face new disclosure and cancellation-method requirements, enforced by the Attorney General rather than through private lawsuits.

• Section 1-1 rewrites O.C.G.A. Chapter 12 of Title 13 so sellers must offer consumers an option to end a service contract instead of auto-renewing it, memorialized in writing (new Code Section 13-12-2).
• Code Section 13-12-3 keeps the requirement that contracts of 12 months or more give 30-to-60-day advance notice of auto-renewal, and lowers the extra-confirmation threshold from renewals over 24 months to renewals over one year.
• Code Section 13-12-4 revises the list of exempt entities, including financial institutions, bank holding companies, electric suppliers, businesses regulated by the Public Service Commission or federal agencies, insurance entities, and local franchises.
• Section 2-1 rewrites Title 10's Georgia Online Automatic Renewal Transparency Act, requiring online cancellation methods to include both a public website link and a formatted cancellation email under Code Section 10-1-439.8.
• New Code Section 10-1-439.14 states that if the online-renewal law conflicts with the service-contract chapter, the service-contract chapter controls.
• Code Section 10-1-439.13 keeps enforcement solely with the Attorney General and bars any private right of action for violations.
• Section 3-1 sets the effective date as December 31, 2025, applying only to contracts entered into on or after that date.

1. 2025-03-10Senate Read and Referred (Senado)
2. 2025-03-06House Passed/Adopted By Substitute (Cámara de Representantes)
3. 2025-03-06House Withdrawn, Recommitted (Cámara de Representantes)
4. 2025-03-06House Third Readers (Cámara de Representantes)
5. 2025-03-03House Committee Favorably Reported By Substitute (Cámara de Representantes)
6. 2025-02-28House Withdrawn, Recommitted (Cámara de Representantes)
7. 2025-02-27House Committee Favorably Reported By Substitute (Cámara de Representantes)
8. 2025-02-21House Second Readers (Cámara de Representantes)

• Carter Barrett (R, HD-024)Patrocinador principal
• Chuck Efstration (R, HD-104)
• Scott Holcomb (D, HD-101)
• Houston Gaines (R, HD-120)
• Beth Camp (R, HD-135)
• Emory Dunahoo (R, HD-031)

1. AprobadaVotación: Cámara de Representantes6 de marzo de 2025

   169 a favor, 2 en contra (2 sin votar, 7 ausentes)

   Passage: House Vote #265

• automatic renewal contracts
• consumer protection
• online subscriptions
• cancellation rights
• Georgia consumer law