Virginia's Automatic Renewal Law: What Subscribers Should Know

Virginia's automatic-renewal rules live in Chapter 17.8 of Title 59.1 of the Code of Virginia, "Automatic Renewal Offers and Continuous Service Offers," running from section 59.1-207.45 (definitions) through section 59.1-207.49 (enforcement). The chapter was enacted in 2018 and has been amended several times since.

The definitions draw a line that matters for ordinary subscribers. An "automatic renewal" is a plan in which a paid subscription or purchasing agreement is automatically renewed at the end of a definite term for a subsequent term of more than one month. A "continuous service" is defined separately as a plan that continues until the consumer cancels. In plain terms, a plan renewing for a term longer than a month is an automatic renewal, and an open-ended plan that runs until you cancel is a continuous service. The chapter's duties apply to both, so most everyday recurring-billing arrangements fall under one label or the other.

A "consumer" is an individual buying goods, services, money, or credit for personal, family, or household purposes, and also a small business buying for business purposes. Section 59.1-207.45 defines a small business as one that is at least 51 percent independently owned and controlled by one or more individuals who are U.S. citizens or legal resident aliens and that, together with its affiliates, has 250 or fewer employees or annual gross receipts of $10 million or less averaged over the previous three years. Section 59.1-207.48 exempts franchised utilities and public service companies; sellers regulated by the State Corporation Commission, the FCC, or FERC; banks, credit unions, and other licensed financial institutions; and insurers regulated under Title 38.2. This page is general information about the statute, not legal advice.

Under section 59.1-207.46(A), before you become obligated a seller must present the automatic renewal or continuous service offer terms clearly and conspicuously, in visual proximity to the request for your consent, or in temporal proximity for an offer made by voice. Those terms are defined in section 59.1-207.45, which itemizes six required disclosures: that the plan continues until you cancel; the cancellation policy, including how to find the cancellation mechanism; the recurring charges, whether the amount may change, and the new amount if known; each deadline by which you must act to stop the charges; the length of the renewal term or that the service is continuous; and any minimum purchase obligation.

The 2026 amendments wrote a detailed definition of "clear and conspicuous" into the law: readily noticeable and readily understandable by ordinary consumers, meaning larger, contrasting, or set-off type for visual disclosures and audible volume and cadence for audio. Most significantly, on a website, mobile app, or other interactive electronic platform the disclosure must be unavoidable by the consumer, use diction and syntax ordinary consumers understand, and appear in each language the seller would reasonably expect its customers to use. A disclosure also cannot be contradicted or watered down by anything else in the communication.

Two further duties apply at sign-up. A seller may not charge your card or third-party payment account without first obtaining your affirmative consent to the agreement containing the renewal terms. And it must give you an acknowledgment, in a form you can retain, that includes the offer terms, the cancellation policy, and how to cancel, plus how to cancel a free trial before you become obligated to pay. Section 59.1-207.47 backs this up: goods sent without your affirmative consent are deemed an unconditional gift, with no obligation on your part, including no obligation to ship them back.

Subsection B of section 59.1-207.46 is the heart of the 2026 update. A seller must provide a cancellation mechanism that is cost-effective, timely, and easy to use, that meets the clear-and-conspicuous standard in whatever medium it appears, and that is easy for consumers to find. That mechanism must be at least as easy to use as the one you used to sign up, and it must be offered through, at a minimum, each method by which a consumer can enroll, except for offers initiated in person, which subdivision 6 handles separately.

The subsection adds specifics. You cannot be required to interact with a live or virtual agent to cancel unless the seller only signs people up that way. Phone cancellations must be processed promptly through a number that is answered or records messages, available during normal business hours, no more costly than the sign-up method, and free to the consumer. If you signed up in person, or subscribed to a print publication in person, by pamphlet, or by mail, the seller must still offer cancellation through a website or mobile app or by telephone. The statute also states that complying with the federal rules at 16 C.F.R. sections 425.4(a)(4) and 425.6 does not discharge a seller's obligations under this chapter.

Separately, subsection C requires that if the terms of your renewing offer materially change, the seller must give you clear and conspicuous notice before the change takes effect, along with retainable information on how to cancel.

Virginia's reminder requirement is narrower than its disclosure rules, and the narrowness is the useful part. Section 59.1-207.46(E) requires a pre-renewal notice only for offers that renew after a period of more than 30 days and that extend the arrangement for more than 12 months. For those, the seller must notify you of your option to cancel no less than 30 and no more than 60 days before the cancellation deadline or the end of the current term, disclosing that the plan will renew unless you cancel, the date by which you must cancel, the method of cancelling, and a copy of the offer provisions.

Because of how that trigger is written, a routine month-to-month plan does not generate a statutory reminder before each billing cycle. There is a separate free-trial rule: under subsection D, a seller offering a free trial lasting more than 30 days must, within 30 days of the end of the trial, notify you of your option to cancel before the trial ends so you avoid an obligation to pay. Every disclosure the chapter requires must independently meet the clear-and-conspicuous standard.

Chapter 17.8 was created in 2018 and amended in 2022, 2023, 2024, and most recently in 2026 by chapters 931 and 932 of the Acts of Assembly, which were House Bill 1022 and Senate Bill 493, identical bills carrying the same title. All five sections of the chapter appear on the Code of Virginia's official 2026 Updates list, which states that the sections it lists took effect on July 1, 2026 unless otherwise noted. That list flags individually any section with a later or earlier date, and none of the Chapter 17.8 sections carries such a flag, so the amended chapter is the operative law.

The 2026 changes replaced the older "supplier" terminology with a standalone definition of "seller," wrote the detailed "clear and conspicuous" definition into the statute, and built out subsection B into the cancellation-symmetry regime described above. Section 59.1-207.49 was amended as well; as it now reads it contains no allowance for a seller that made a good-faith effort to comply, and any violation of the chapter is simply a prohibited practice.

Section 59.1-207.49 states that any violation of Chapter 17.8 constitutes a prohibited practice under section 59.1-200 and is subject to the enforcement provisions of the Virginia Consumer Protection Act, section 59.1-196 and following. The automatic-renewal rules are folded into Virginia's main consumer-protection statute rather than carrying a separate penalty scheme.

That matters because the Act includes both public and private enforcement. On the public side, section 59.1-203 provides that the Attorney General, any attorney for the Commonwealth, or the attorney for any city, county, or town may bring an action to enjoin a violation of section 59.1-200, and that in such an action it is not necessary that damages be proved. Section 59.1-204 also provides an individual action: a person who suffers loss as a result of a violation may seek actual damages or $500, whichever is greater, rising to as much as three times actual damages or $1,000 if the trier of fact finds the violation willful, with reasonable attorney fees and court costs available in addition.

Consumers who believe a seller hid renewal terms, charged without consent, or made cancellation harder than sign-up can file a consumer complaint against a business with the Virginia Office of the Attorney General, which the Commonwealth's official portal lists among that office's services for the public. Screenshots of the sign-up and cancellation screens, the acknowledgment email, and dated billing statements help document what happened. This page is general information about Virginia law as of 2026, not legal advice; review the primary sources below or consult a licensed Virginia attorney about a specific dispute.