New bill would make it easier for Tennesseans to cancel automatic renewals

NASHVILLE – Tennesseans could find it easier to unsubscribe from some types of automatic renewals on paid online subscription-based products and services under a bill requiring businesses and other entities to provide the option.

Sponsored by Rep. Dan Howell, R-Georgetown, House Bill 1652 requires many businesses and other entities to put cancellation functions on their websites. The bill is headed for a House floor vote Thursday after the House Commerce Committee approved it last week on a voice vote.

Howell said he introduced the bill after hearing from an unhappy constituent who “expressed frustration about being subscribed unknowingly to situations and [having] no way to unsubscribe.

“What this simply says is if they are subscribed unknowingly, unwittingly or even knowingly on a recurring renewal basis, that if they subscribe online, they shall be able to unsubscribe online,” Howell told House Commerce Committee members Tuesday.

In a Times Free Press phone interview Thursday, Howell said, “I don’t have a problem with auto-renewal” itself, calling it “fine.” However, said Howell, who is Transportation Committee chairman, it’s not fine “when you decide you no longer want to auto-renew, [and] there’s no way to unsubscribe – you can subscribe online but you can’t unsubscribe online.”

That would change under the bill for businesses and other entities not already regulated by the state or federal government.

Howell said he wound up in a similar situation himself when he sought to unsubscribe from a satellite radio service that had substantially increased his fees. There was no way to cancel online, Howell said. So he wound up on the phone with someone whose English he found difficult to follow while also trying to “down-sell” him on less expensive packages, the lawmaker noted.

“You can hardly understand and you get frustrated and you hang up, and it’s apparently part of their business plan,” Howell said.

After his constituent raised similar concerns, that was enough to convince Howell he wasn’t alone.

“It’s just infuriating, and the more I talk about this in the legislature, everybody I talk to says, ‘Oh man, I love that bill,'” Howell said.

The legislation drew praise Tuesday from House Commerce chair Kevin Vaughan, R-Collierville, who described the Bradley County lawmaker as “Chairman Dan Howell, soon to be considered a prince among men by many subscribers who are unwittingly trapped with no way of contacting people who are withdrawing money out of either their checking or credit card account.”

The amended bill excludes a number of entities who had raised concerns and argued they are already answerable to federal or state watchdogs. The list includes banking institutions insured by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. as well as the National Credit Union Administration and groups regulated by public utilities commissions, the Federal Communications Commission and the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission.

Also excluded from the bill’s provisions are insurance agencies listed under the Tennessee Code’s Title 56.

“I have no desire to play in that sandbox with those folks because they’re not bad actors and they have plenty of regulation already,” Howell told panel members in explaining his willingness to exclude them from the would-be statute.

Sen. Kerry Roberts, R-Springfield, has put the companion Senate Bill 2279 bill on notice to be heard Tuesday in the Senate Commerce and Labor Committee.

“When the bill was brought to my attention, I immediately thought of family and friends who have expressed their frustration over ambiguous websites that lock in charges to their credit cards without any apparent way of canceling,” Roberts said Saturday in a text to the Times Free Press. “What ought to be extremely simple turns into an investigative challenge that can consume hours and ultimately lead to collection activity and/or negative reporting on a credit report.”

Roberts added that “the bill puts into law what ought to be common sense. Any consumer-friendly business that cares about their customers ought to already be doing this, but bad actors create the need for a law.”

If the legislation passes and becomes law, it would become part of the Tennessee Consumer Protection Act, which seeks to protect consumers and businesses from those engaging in unfair or deceptive business practices. Tennessee Attorney General Herbert Slatery’s Division of Consumer Affairs office handles such complaints.

According to a legislative fiscal note, violations of the Tennessee Consumer Protection Act carry penalties of up to six months in jail and $500 in fines. Slatery’s office states on its website that its enforcement actions are brought in the name of the state of Tennessee. While the attorney general may seek restitution for consumers who have suffered “ascertainable losses,” the office does not represent individual consumers.

Contact Andy Sher at asher@timesfreepress.com or 615-255-0550. Follow him on Twitter @AndySher1.