Utah's Automatic Renewal Contracts Act: What Subscribers Should Know

Utah's Automatic Renewal Contracts Act is Title 13, Chapter 70 of the Utah Code, made up of three sections: 13-70-101 (definitions), 13-70-201 (notice duties and exceptions), and 13-70-301 (enforcement). It was enacted by House Bill 174 in the 2024 General Session, Laws of Utah 2024, Chapter 132, and took effect January 1, 2025.

The threshold definition is the most important thing to understand. Section 13-70-101 defines an "automatic renewal provision" as a provision under a contract that is automatically renewed at the end of a definite, paid term for a subsequent, paid term "that is longer than 45 days." A monthly subscription renewing for another month does not clear that bar, so it sits outside the chapter; in practice the Act is aimed at annual and other longer renewal terms. The chapter also defines a "trial period offer" as an offer to sample or use a product or service without payment.

Section 13-70-201(3) lists the exceptions. The notice duties do not apply to individuals or entities regulated under Title 31A, the Insurance Code, or their affiliates; to a person providing a service contract as defined in section 31A-6a-101; to a financial institution or affiliate regulated under Title V of the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act; to a public utility as defined in section 54-2-1; to entities providing services regulated by the FCC, FERC, or the Federal Professional Services Council; to a rental agreement; or to a property management agreement as defined in section 61-2f-102. This page is general information about the statute, not legal advice.

Utah took a narrower route here than most states: Chapter 70 imposes no sign-up disclosure requirement at all. There is no provision requiring a business to present the renewal terms clearly and conspicuously at checkout, no defined list of "offer terms," and no affirmative-consent rule of the kind California, Minnesota, Oregon, and Tennessee use. That narrowness is itself the useful information: a Utah subscriber's statutory protection is about being reminded, not about how the sale was presented.

What the Act does define is how a required disclosure must look once it is made. "Clearly and conspicuously disclose" means, in print, in larger font than the surrounding text, in contrasting type, font, or color to the surrounding text of the same size, or set off from surrounding text of the same size by symbols or other marks that clearly call attention to the language; for audio, in a volume and cadence sufficient to be readily audible and understandable. That standard governs the renewal and trial notices.

A separate and much older Utah statute is sometimes mistaken for this one. The Service Contracts Act, Title 15, Chapter 10, requires written notice before the automatic renewal of a "service contract" (section 15-10-201), and where that notice is not given, section 15-10-202 makes the automatic renewal provision void and renews the contract month to month. But section 15-10-102 defines a service contract as one for service, maintenance, or repair in connection with real property, or that provides a benefit to the real property. It does not reach ordinary consumer subscriptions.

Chapter 70 does not tell businesses how cancellation must work. There is no online-cancellation mandate, no requirement that cancelling be as easy as signing up, no toll-free number rule, and no restriction on retention offers. What the Act requires is that the renewal notice disclose "options for cancellation of the contract."

The chapter's remedy runs against the renewal itself. Section 13-70-201(4) states plainly that an automatic renewal provision that violates the section is void. If a business skipped a required notice, the provision that would have rolled your contract into another term has no force under the statute.

Because cancellation mechanics are unregulated by this chapter, the practical protections come from elsewhere: the terms of the contract you signed, your card issuer's or bank's dispute processes, and any other law that applies to that business. Keep the renewal notice you received, or a note that none arrived, along with your dated cancellation request.

This is the heart of Utah's Act. Section 13-70-201(1) requires a person who provides an individual a product or service under a contract with an automatic renewal provision to give the individual a notice at least 30 but not more than 60 days before the day on which the automatic renewal provision renews. The notice must clearly and conspicuously disclose the renewal date, the total renewal cost, and options for cancellation of the contract.

The window has both a floor and a ceiling, which is unusual: a notice sent twenty days ahead is too late under the statute, and one sent ninety days ahead is too early. Disclosing the total renewal cost, rather than just the fact of a renewal, is what makes the notice useful, because it tells you the number about to hit your card.

Trial periods get their own, much shorter rule. Section 13-70-201(2) requires a person who provides an individual a trial period offer to give notice at least three days before the day the trial period expires, clearly and conspicuously disclosing the trial period offer expiration date, the price to be charged or any further purchase obligations imposed after that date, and options for cancellation of the contract.

Chapter 70 has been in force since January 1, 2025. House Bill 174 set that date in a single effective-date section and added no separate clause limiting the chapter to contracts formed afterward.

Two of the chapter's three sections were amended in 2026. According to the history notes published with the Utah Code, sections 13-70-101 and 13-70-301 were amended by Chapter 95 of the 2026 General Session, which is Senate Bill 38, "Consumer Protection Modifications," a broad cleanup bill amending many sections across Title 13 that took effect May 6, 2026. Section 13-70-201, which carries the notice duties, was not amended; its history note still reads as enacted by Chapter 132 of the 2024 General Session.

The 45-day threshold survived that amendment and remains the chapter's defining limit. If you are working out whether Utah's Act covers a particular subscription, the question to ask is how long the renewal term is, not how the company describes the plan or how often it bills.

Section 13-70-301 assigns administration and enforcement to the Division of Consumer Protection, the agency established in section 13-2-102, acting in accordance with Chapter 2 of Title 13. Utah routes this law through a state agency rather than through a general deceptive-practices statute, which is a structural difference from Tennessee's approach.

The division's tools are set out in the same section. Its director may impose an administrative fine of up to $2,500 for each violation, and the division may bring a civil action in which a court may declare a violation, issue an injunction, order disgorgement, order disgorged money paid to an injured individual, impose a civil penalty of up to $2,500 per violation, or award other relief it deems reasonable. Violating an order under the chapter carries a civil penalty of no more than $5,000 for each violation.

Note what the statute does and does not say. It describes enforcement brought by the division, including a court's power to order disgorged money paid to an injured individual, and it does not itself set out a consumer's own cause of action. Consumers can report a missed renewal or trial notice to the Utah Division of Consumer Protection. This page is general information about Utah law as of 2026 and is not legal advice; review the primary sources below or consult a licensed Utah attorney.