Georgia's Automatic Renewal Laws: What Subscribers Should Know

Georgia has two automatic-renewal laws, not one. The newer is the Georgia Online Automatic Renewal Transparency Act, enacted by House Bill 528 in 2023 and added as Part 8 of Article 15 of Chapter 1 of Title 10, the article dealing with deceptive or unfair trade practices. It runs from O.C.G.A. section 10-1-439.5 through section 10-1-439.13, took effect January 1, 2024, and applies to any automatic renewal or continuous service plan entered into on or after that date.

The online act reaches any business that lets a consumer accept an automatic renewal or continuous service offer online. A "consumer" is a natural person residing in Georgia who enters into a transaction primarily for personal, family, or household purposes, so business accounts fall outside it. One limit matters up front: section 10-1-439.7 defines both "automatic renewal" and "continuous service" as plans with a definite term of more than 31 days that renew for a subsequent definite term of more than 31 days. A plan billed on a 30-day monthly cycle sits outside those definitions, leaving the act aimed mainly at quarterly and annual subscriptions.

The second law is Chapter 12 of Title 13, titled "Automatic Renewal Provisions," enacted by House Bill 234 in 2013. It took effect July 1, 2013 and applies only to contracts entered into on or after that date. It covers "service contracts," meaning written contracts for the performance of services for a specified period, and it reaches an "automatic renewal provision" only where the contract renews for a specified period of more than one month and the renewal puts the contract in effect more than six months after it started. Its idea of a consumer is broader in one way, covering a natural person or a 501(c)(3) nonprofit receiving service, maintenance, or repair benefits, but it excludes anyone contracting for a business or government entity. This page is general information about Georgia law, not legal advice.

Under O.C.G.A. section 10-1-439.9 it is unlawful to fail to present the offer terms in a clear and conspicuous manner before the subscription or purchasing agreement is fulfilled, in visual proximity to the request for your consent, or in temporal proximity if the offer is conveyed by voice. Section 10-1-439.7 says what those terms must contain: a description of the cancellation policy, the recurring charges and the amount of any known future change to them, the length of the renewal term or an indication that the service is continuous unless you chose the length, and any minimum purchase obligation.

The business also may not charge your credit card, debit card, or third-party payment account without first obtaining your consent to the agreement containing those terms, and it must provide an acknowledgment that includes the offer terms in a form you can easily retain. Under section 10-1-439.8(c) that acknowledgment must also carry the cancellation policy and information on how to cancel. Section 10-1-439.10 gives the consent rule teeth: goods sent under an automatic renewal without your consent are deemed an unconditional gift, which you may use or dispose of as you see fit without obligation to the business, including for return shipping.

The heart of the 2023 act is O.C.G.A. section 10-1-439.8: if a business let you accept the offer online, it must let you cancel online. The required method may be a clear and conspicuous link to a website or other online cancellation service, or a cancellation email formatted and provided by the business that you can send without additional information. It may require you to enter account information or otherwise authenticate online first if you have an account, but a consumer unwilling or unable to authenticate online may not be precluded from cancelling offline by an alternate method.

Subsection (c) requires every covered business to provide a toll-free telephone number, an email address, a postal address where the seller directly bills you, or another cost-effective, timely, and easy-to-use cancellation mechanism, described in the acknowledgment it sends you. The General Assembly wrote its aim into section 10-1-439.6: to stop the practice of creating unnecessary barriers for customers who wish to cancel online, with the part to be liberally construed and applied to promote that purpose.

Neither Georgia law works like a California-style periodic renewal notice. Under O.C.G.A. section 10-1-439.9(b), an online business must provide a notice prior to or within three days after charging your card or third-party payment account, provided you have not opted out of receiving it. It must state clearly and conspicuously that the plan automatically renews unless you cancel, the length and any additional terms of the renewal period, and contact information for the business; if sent electronically it must include a link or another reasonably accessible electronic method directing you to the cancellation process. Subsection (c) requires a further clear and conspicuous notice, with information on how to cancel and in a form you can easily retain, whenever there is a material change in the terms.

Chapter 12 holds the closer thing to a true advance reminder. Under section 13-12-3(a), a seller of a service contract for a specified period of 12 months or more that automatically renews for a specified period of more than one month must provide written or electronic notification between 30 and 60 days before the cancellation deadline set by the renewal provision. That notification must disclose clearly and conspicuously that the contract will automatically renew unless you cancel, and the methods by which you may obtain details of the renewal provision and the cancellation procedure.

Longer contracts get more. Section 13-12-3(b) provides that where a contract automatically renews for a specified period of more than 24 months, the seller must also obtain your written or electronic acknowledgment that you received the subsection (a) notification, plus an affirmative written or electronic response that you do not intend to terminate the contract. Without both, the renewal provision is not enforceable. Section 13-12-2 separately requires the seller to disclose the automatic renewal provision clearly and conspicuously in the contract or contract offer.

Neither law changed in 2025 or 2026. Two bills would have expanded Georgia's rules and neither reached the Governor. House Bill 529 would have rewritten both statutes at once: it would have revised Chapter 12 of Title 13 and also revised Part 8 of Title 10, most significantly by replacing the "more than 31 days" threshold in the online act's definitions with "one month or more," which would have pulled ordinary monthly subscriptions inside the law. It passed the House 169-2 on March 6, 2025 and was read and referred in the Senate on March 10, 2025, but went no further.

Senate Bill 127 would have rewritten Chapter 12 so its disclosure and 30-to-60-day notification duties applied to service contracts with small businesses, defined as businesses that are independently owned and operated, not dominant in their field, and employing fewer than 200 employees, while exempting contracts requiring the small business to pay more than $200.00 a month. It was favorably reported by substitute in February 2025, was recommitted on January 12, 2026, and never received a floor vote. Both bills expired when the two-year term ended at sine die on April 2, 2026.

So the 2026 framework is the one above, and its gaps persist: Chapter 12 still protects only consumers and 501(c)(3) nonprofits, and the online act still leaves short monthly cycles outside its definitions. Section 10-1-439.12 exempts several categories from the online act altogether, including services from a business or affiliate doing business as a franchise issued by a political subdivision of the state, services from a business or affiliate regulated by the Georgia Public Service Commission, the Georgia Department of Agriculture, the FCC, or FERC, entities regulated by the Office of Insurance and Safety Fire Commissioner, financial institutions and bank holding companies and their subsidiaries and affiliates, and foreign banks with a licensed branch or agency. Section 13-12-4 carries Chapter 12's own list, covering financial institutions and depository institutions, foreign banks, their subsidiaries and affiliates, electric utilities under Chapter 3 of Title 46, entities regulated under Chapter 45 of Title 43, and counties, municipalities, authorities, and other local governments.

Enforcement of the online act sits with the state. O.C.G.A. section 10-1-439.13 authorizes the Attorney General to bring an action for a temporary or permanent injunction against a method, act, or practice violating the part, and to obtain restitution for Georgia residents who incurred a loss of money or property as the direct result of a violation. A business that complies in good faith is not subject to civil penalty or damages. The section also states plainly that there is no private right of action for a violation, and that a violation cannot serve as the basis for a private right of action under any other provision of law.

Chapter 12's remedy is defensive rather than governmental: section 13-12-5 provides that a violation of the chapter renders the automatic renewal provision of a contract void and unenforceable, which matters most when a seller tries to hold you to a renewed term after skipping the required notification or acknowledgment. Consumers can contact the Georgia Attorney General's Consumer Protection Division, which runs an online complaint form and lists a consumer complaints line at (404) 651-8600, toll-free in Georgia at (800) 869-1123. Screenshots of the sign-up and cancellation screens, the acknowledgment email, and card statements help document what happened. This page describes Georgia law as of 2026 and is general information, not legal advice; statutes change, so check the primary sources below or speak with a licensed Georgia attorney.