The District of Columbia's Automatic Renewal Law: What Subscribers Should Know

The District's rules occupy their own chapter of the D.C. Code: Title 28A, Chapter 2, "Automatic Renewal Protections." Subchapter I carries the substance at sections 28A-201 through 28A-204, and Subchapter II adds a single applicability provision at section 28A-221. Section 28A-201 gives the chapter its short title, the Automatic Renewal Protections Act of 2018. It was enacted as D.C. Law 22-235, effective March 13, 2019.

The chapter had a delayed start still visible in the code's notes. As passed, the creation of section 28A-203 was subject to the inclusion of the law's fiscal effect in an approved budget and financial plan. Section 3022(b) of D.C. Law 23-16, effective September 11, 2019, amended section 301 of D.C. Law 22-235 to remove that unfunded applicability, so the provision has been implemented; the same law also amended section 28A-203 itself. Section 28A-221 fixes the chapter's reach backward in time: Subchapter I does not apply to a contract entered into or automatically renewed before March 13, 2019, but it does apply to automatic renewals of such contracts that renew on or after that date.

Section 28A-202 supplies only two definitions, and one is unusually wide. A "consumer" is any person who seeks or acquires, by purchase or lease, any goods or services, which, unlike many state automatic-renewal laws, is not limited to purchases for personal, family, or household purposes. "Clearly and conspicuously" means in larger type than the surrounding text, in contrasting type, font, or color to surrounding text of the same size, or set off from that text by symbols or other marks, in a manner that calls attention to the language and is visually proximate to any request for the consumer's consent.

Section 28A-204 exempts four categories: insurers regulated by the Department of Insurance, Securities, and Banking; banks, trust companies, savings and loan associations, savings banks, credit unions, licensed foreign bank branches or agencies, and their subsidiaries and affiliates; persons providing a service regulated by the Public Service Commission, the FCC, or the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission; and service contracts as defined in D.C. Code section 31-2351.01(10). This page is general information about the statute, not legal advice.

Section 28A-203(a) states the core duty. A person who sells a good or service to a consumer pursuant to a contract that will automatically renew at the end of a definite term must disclose the automatic renewal provision and the cancellation procedure clearly and conspicuously in the contract.

Two things follow. The disclosure has to be in the contract itself, not merely somewhere on the website, and the cancellation procedure is part of what must be disclosed, so a contract that announces the renewal but says nothing about how to get out of it does not satisfy the section.

The same subsection adds a rule for introductory offers. If a covered offer also includes a free gift or trial, it must include a clear and conspicuous explanation of the price that will be charged after the trial ends, or the manner in which the subscription or purchasing price will change upon conclusion of the trial.

Here the District's law is narrower than several other jurisdictions', and it is worth being precise. Chapter 2 of Title 28A requires the cancellation procedure to be disclosed and requires cancellation information in the renewal and free-trial notices described below. It does not impose a general duty to make cancellation as easy as sign-up, and it contains no one-step or click-to-cancel mandate.

The one place the chapter puts a cancellation tool directly in front of you is in the renewal notice. Under section 28A-203(b)(2)(C), a required renewal notice provided by email must include active weblinks to allow the consumer to cancel the automatic renewal. The notice must also disclose the methods by which you may obtain details of the automatic renewal provision and cancellation procedures, including by contacting the seller at a specified telephone number, e-mail address, or another easily accessible form of communication such as within a mobile phone application.

For free trials, subsection (c)(2) gives you something stronger: notwithstanding your consent to the free trial itself, the seller must obtain your affirmative consent to the automatic renewal before charging you for it, so a covered trial should not roll into a paid subscription on silence alone. Because the chapter does not otherwise mandate an easy cancellation channel, a subscriber facing a difficult cancellation flow may need to rely on the broader Consumer Protection Procedures Act instead.

Section 28A-203(b) sets the reminder rule, and it is keyed to longer contracts: it applies where a good or service is sold under a contract with an initial term of 12 months or more that will automatically renew for a term of one month or more unless the consumer cancels. For those contracts, the seller must notify the consumer of the first automatic renewal and annually thereafter.

The notice must go out by first-class mail, by email, or by another easily accessible form such as text message or a mobile phone application, the last of which is available only if the consumer specifically authorizes notice in that form. Timing is fixed: no fewer than 30 and no more than 60 days before the cancellation deadline for the first automatic renewal, and no fewer than 30 and no more than 60 days before each year after that.

Content is prescribed as well: the notice must clearly and conspicuously disclose that unless the consumer cancels, the contract will automatically renew; the cost of the goods or services for the term of the renewal; the deadline by which the consumer must cancel to prevent automatic renewal; and the methods for obtaining details of the renewal provision and cancellation procedures.

Free trials get their own timetable. Under subsection (c)(1), a seller of a free trial of a good or service with a term of one month or more that automatically renews at the end of the trial must notify the consumer of the automatic renewal at least 15 and no more than 30 days before the free trial period expires. A monthly plan with no free trial and no 12-month initial term triggers neither schedule.

The operative text in 2026 is the 2019 version. The code's history line for section 28A-203 records two entries: D.C. Law 22-235, effective March 13, 2019, and D.C. Law 23-16, section 3022(a), effective September 11, 2019. No later amendment appears in the section's history.

That 2019 activity was mostly about switching the law on rather than changing its substance. Section 3022(b) of D.C. Law 23-16 amended section 301 of D.C. Law 22-235 to strip out the funding condition, which is why the code's applicability note for section 28A-203 now states the provision has been implemented; older printings marking the section unfunded reflect the pre-2019 position.

The practical takeaway for 2026 is that the District has not followed the wave of newer state laws adding one-step online cancellation, retention-offer rules, or reminders for short monthly plans. Its requirements remain the 2018 Act's disclosure duty, the 30-to-60-day annual reminder for contracts of 12 months or more, and the free-trial notice and consent rules.

Section 28A-203(d) carries an unusual remedy. A violation of the chapter renders an automatic renewal provision void and terminates the contract at the end of the term in which the violation occurred, and it also constitutes a violation of Chapter 39 of Title 28, the Consumer Protection Procedures Act.

That double consequence is subject to a safe harbor. A seller avoids it by demonstrating that it established and implemented written procedures to comply with the chapter, that any failure to comply was the result of a good-faith mistake, and that it provided the consumer with a credit for all amounts billed or a refund for all amounts paid because of the mistaken renewal.

Because a violation is also a Consumer Protection Procedures Act violation, that Act's remedies come into play. D.C. Code section 28-3905(k)(1)(A) lets a consumer bring an action seeking relief from the use of a trade practice in violation of a law of the District, and section 28-3905(k)(2) provides that any claim under that chapter shall be brought in the Superior Court of the District of Columbia, with remedies including treble damages or $1,500 per violation, whichever is greater, plus reasonable attorney's fees, punitive damages, and an injunction.

The Office of the Attorney General runs an Office of Consumer Protection and offers a free, voluntary Consumer & Tenant Response program that contacts businesses on a consumer's behalf to try to resolve disputes outside court; it can be reached at 202-442-9828 or consumer.protection@dc.gov, and complaints can be submitted online. Save your sign-up screenshots, renewal emails, and billing records first. This page is general information about District law as of 2026 and is not legal advice; consult the statute or a licensed D.C. attorney about a specific dispute.