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S 3877

Requires the New York city department of buildings to confirm that there are no tenants living at certain properties prior to approving or issuing permits for demolition or substantial alteration

2025 Regular Session Introduced by Jamaal Bailey and 5 co-sponsors

NJ S.3877 makes cancellations easy across all media, bans negative-option tricks, requires clear consent and a simple online cancel link, enforced by the AG.

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Bill Summary · S 3877

Summary — S.3877 (New Jersey) — Subscription cancellation and negative-option protections

Status: Introduced Nov. 18, 2024; committee amendments Dec. 12, 2024; further amendments Feb. 25 and June 30, 2025. Most recent status: Committed to Rules (June 13, 2025). Sponsors: Sen. Brad Hoylman-Sigal (primary) with multiple cosponsors. Companion: A5395.

Purpose / intent

To make it easier for New Jersey consumers to cancel subscription services and to curb abusive “negative option” practices (where silence or inaction is treated as acceptance). The bill replaces a narrower 2023 law that required online cancellation for health-club memberships and extends cancellation and disclosure requirements to subscription services broadly.

Key definitions

  • Subscription service: any service sold for a recurring payment (weekly, monthly, annual, etc.), explicitly including health-club services.
  • Negative option feature: contract language where a consumer’s silence or failure to act is treated as acceptance.
  • Automatic renewal, clear and conspicuous, consumer, and subscription service provider are also defined in the bill.

Major provisions

  • Cancellation in the same medium: Providers must offer consumers the option to cancel or terminate a subscription using the same medium through which it was activated or the medium the consumer normally uses to interact with the provider (in person, phone, mail, email, or online), consistent with billing terms.
  • Online cancellations: If online cancellation is offered, providers must place an easily accessible, prominent direct link or button on their website that lets consumers initiate termination of automatic renewal. That link/button must be immediately accessible via:
    • the customer account/profile on the provider’s website or the user settings on a consumer’s smartphone/tablet; or
    • a formatted “termination” email the consumer can send without providing additional information.
  • Protections for negative-option offers: Providers using negative-option features must not:
    1. misrepresent material facts in marketing;
    2. fail to clearly and conspicuously disclose material terms before obtaining billing information;
    3. fail to obtain express informed consent before charging the consumer for the initial purchase; and
    4. fail to provide a simple mechanism to cancel the negative-option feature.

Enforcement and remedies

  • The Attorney General or the Director of the Division of Consumer Affairs may seek temporary or permanent injunctions and restitution for New Jersey residents who suffered monetary loss due to violations.
  • The bill specifies there is no private right of action for violations of this section, and violations cannot serve as the basis for a private cause of action under other law.
  • The bill repeals section 1 of P.L.2023, c.241 (the prior health-club-specific online cancellation law).

Exemptions

  • Does not apply to services provided by a business (or its affiliate) that is licensed or regulated under State or federal law (examples listed include the Board of Public Utilities, FCC, FERC, Department of Banking and Insurance, and Division of Consumer Affairs).

Effective date

  • The act would take effect on the first day of the fourth month after enactment.

Impact

  • Consumers (New Jersey residents) would gain clearer cancellation paths and stronger disclosure/consent protections for negative-option offers.
  • Subscription service providers selling to NJ consumers will need to implement or revise cancellation mechanisms, notice and consent processes, and online interfaces (e.g., prominent cancellation link/button).
  • Enforcement is centralized with state authorities (AG/Division of Consumer Affairs) rather than individual private suits.

Compiled from official sources — confirm details with the bill’s official record.

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