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ARTICLE · 16 MAY 2024

California Issues FAQs On Hidden Fee Law

Kelley Drye & Warren LLP
Kelley Drye & Warren LLP
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Kelley Drye & Warren LLP

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This week, the California AG's office released a set of FAQs on California's law addressing hidden fees. As a reminder, the law states that the following practices...

United StatesConsumer Protection
Gonzalo E. Mon
Gonzalo E. Mon
Beth Bolen Chun
Beth Bolen Chun
Donnelly L. McDowell
Donnelly L. McDowell

This week, the California AG's office released a set of FAQs on California's law addressing hidden fees. As a reminder, the law states that the following practices will be unlawful under the Consumer Legal Remedies Act ("CLRA") starting on July 1, 2024:

Advertising, displaying, or offering a price for a good or service that does not include all mandatory fees or charges other than either of the following: (i) Taxes or fees imposed by a government on the transaction; [or] (ii) Postage or carriage charges that will be reasonably and actually incurred to ship the physical good to the consumer.

The AG notes that the law is "intended to specifically prohibit drip pricing, which involves advertising a price that is less than the actual price that a consumer will have to pay for a good or service" and that doing so "is a form of deceptive advertising that also violates existing state and federal law." Although "drip pricing" hasn't been a big focus for the AG in the

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