California's new consumer protection laws go into effect July 1
Lawmakers also tweaked one of Gov. Gavin Newsom's most prized mental health projects, to keep loved ones notified when their mentally-ill kin are traveling through the court system. And some cities in the Bay Area will see minimum wage increases.
Auto-renew protections
Consumer advocates have long argued that companies take advantage of consumers with subscriptions that automatically renew - a $1.5 trillion industry, according to state lawmakers. In 2023, the U.S. Federal Trade Commission accused Amazon of automatically enrolling millions of customers in Amazon Prime - a paid subscription - and then making it hard to cancel. Then, this spring, the agency took rideshare giant Uber to court over what it said were "unfair and deceptive practices" about its auto-renew subscription service.
AB 2863, sponsored by Los Angeles area Assemblymember Pilar Schiavo, a Democrat, requires companies to get explicit approval from customers to auto-renew their subscription. Companies must send customers an annual reminder of their subscription and instructions on how to cancel, and they'll have to make it easier for customers to cancel.
"As it stands currently, many subscriptions are almost impossible to cancel without undertaking a Kafkaesque process that frustrates consumers to no end, and does so to the direct financial benefit of corporations," the Consumer Federation of California wrote in a bill analysis last fall.
The federation and district attorneys supported the bill. It was opposed by the California Chamber of Commerce and the California Retailers Association..
Vacation rental cleaning fees
Guests at short-term rentals hosted by Airbnb, Vrbo and the like will also enjoy added protections on July 1.
Existing law, as of July 2024, required those companies to alert customers about all fees and tacked-on charges before they book their stay, or face a fine of up to $10,000. On July 1, it'll also be illegal for hosts to charge guests for failing to perform cleaning duties without advance notice. Hosts must disclose all fees up-front in advertisements - not just on their profiles.
Those additions are part of AB 2202, sponsored by former Assembly Speaker Anthony Rendon, a Democrat from Los Angeles. Airbnb, Expedia and the Travel Technology Association opposed the bill, while consumer groups supported it.
Hot items in online marketplaces
Also related to online marketplaces, SB 1144 is another attempt to crack down on the sale of stolen goods online. The law forces online sites like Facebook Marketplace to write policies banning the sale of stolen goods on that platform and to notify law enforcement when that happens.
The law already required high-volume online sellers to submit their names, bank account information, phone numbers and email addresses to online marketplace platforms. This new law was spearheaded by former East Bay state Sen. Nancy Skinner, a Democrat. Cities and district attorneys supported the bill, while the Chamber of Progress, a tech trade group, opposed it.
Tracking state mental health treatment
Lawmakers also made tweaks to one of Newsom's prized mental health initiatives. The CARE Act, passed in 2022, set up new mental health courts aimed at getting those with serious psychiatric disorders into treatment and housing - not incarceration, or a life on the street.
CARE courts work by empowering family members, close friends, first responders, behavioral health providers and others to refer people with severe, untreated psychiatric issues to the program. If someone is eligible, a judge helps to facilitate a treatment plan, which may include medication, drug counseling and a bed in supportive housing or a residential care facility. In Silicon Valley and the East Bay started their CARE Court programs last year.
SB 42, which goes into effect Tuesday, gives a mentally ill person's friends and family the right to be updated about the court's work, as well as others who referred them to the court. It is also intended to streamline the legal process by reducing the court's obligation to inform the patient of their rights. Families Advocating for the Seriously Mentally Ill and California Professional Firefighters advocated for the bill.
The ACLU's action wing opposed it, as did Disability Rights California and Mental Health America of California. Those groups contended the law violates patients' privacy.
New wage rates kick in
In the Bay Area, workers will also get a pay boost when laws already approved in past years in these cities raise their minimum wage on July 1:
-City of Alameda, from $17/hour to $17.46/hour
-Berkeley, from $18.67/hour to $19.18/hour
-Emeryville, from $19.36/hour to $19.90/hour
-Fremont, from $17.30/hour to $17.75/hour
-Milpitas, from $17.70/hour to $18.20/hour
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