United States — state automatic-renewal statutes (excluding California)

The clocks it starts

• State consumer-protection act limitation (commonly 3-4 years)Limitation periods under state consumer-protection acts commonly run three or four years from the practice or from discovery, but they vary — a few are as short as one year. Check your state before assuming a claim is dead, and note that continuing charges usually restart the clock.Limitation period
• Card dispute deadline (60 days from the statement)The genuinely urgent deadline is the card one: 60 days from the statement for a Regulation Z or Regulation E notice, and roughly 120 days for a network chargeback. Do that first.Notice period

What it entitles you to, beyond money

• Immediate cancellation and no further chargesSend a dated written cancellation and keep proof. State expressly that any further charge is unauthorised — that sentence is what converts the next debit into a card-dispute matter.Around twenty states impose disclosure, affirmative-consent, renewal-reminder and easy-cancellation obligations on automatic renewals. Requirements and section numbers vary and are amended frequently.
• Your state consumer-protection act does the heavy liftingEvery state has an unfair-and-deceptive-practices statute, and most give a private right of action with statutory or multiplied damages and attorney's fees. That is usually the vehicle for an automatic-renewal claim, and the fee-shifting is what makes a small claim worth a lawyer's attention.Around twenty states impose disclosure, affirmative-consent, renewal-reminder and easy-cancellation obligations on automatic renewals. Requirements and section numbers vary and are amended frequently.
• Revoke the payment authority with your bankDo not rely on the merchant to stop billing. On a debit card, 12 CFR § 1005.10(c) gives a stop-payment right on three business days' notice; on a credit card, ask the issuer to revoke the recurring authority.

What the other side will say

Each of these is a refusal this regime lets a counterparty attempt, paired with the answer to it. Reading them before you write is worth more than any amount of polish on the letter itself.

Where to take it next

1. 01Written cancellation and refund demandCite your state's automatic-renewal statute and its unfair-and-deceptive-practices act. Demand cancellation and refund of every charge taken under the non-compliant arrangement.Claim direct·typically 14 days
2. 02Card dispute for the post-cancellation chargesA charge taken after authority was withdrawn is unauthorised. Use 12 CFR § 1026.13 on a credit card or 12 CFR § 1005.11 on a debit card, and ask for the recurring authority to be cancelled at the same time.Claim direct·typically 30 days
3. 03State attorney general consumer divisionState AGs enforce both the automatic-renewal statute and the consumer-protection act, and they also have ROSCA enforcement power under 15 U.S.C. § 8404(d). Complaints are free, take minutes, and consumer divisions routinely obtain refunds by informal mediation.Regulator·typically 60 days
4. 04Federal Trade CommissionReportFraud.ftc.gov. Individual reports build the pattern the Commission needs and put your transaction inside any future redress fund. The FTC has continued to bring ROSCA cases since the negative-option rule was vacated.Regulator·official page
5. 05Small claims courtLimits run from about $5,000 to $25,000 depending on the state, with no lawyers and a filing fee usually under $100. Where the state consumer-protection act provides statutory damages and fee-shifting, a subscription claim is well worth bringing.Small claims·typically 120 days