Vermont has enacted a new law that arguably requires marketers to do even more than ROSCA and California when signing up consumers to an automatically renewing agreement.  Vermont's new statute applies only to contracts with an initial term of one year or longer that renew for a subsequent term longer than one month.  Such contracts shall not automatically renew unless the contract clearly and conspicuously states the terms of the automatic renewal provision in "plain, unambiguous language in bold-face type" and, in addition to accepting the contract, the consumer takes an "affirmative action to opt-in to the automatic renewal provision."  In practice, this will mean that sellers of annual subscription services will need Vermont consumers to click twice: once on an order button and once to specifically accept the auto-renew provision.

Once the consumer has opted in to the automatic renewal provision, the seller must provide a written or electronic notice to the consumer not less than thirty days and not more than sixty days before the earliest of (i) the automatic renewal date; (ii) the termination date; or (iii) the date by which the consumer must provide notice of her desire to cancel.  The seller's notice must include the contract's termination date and "a clear statement" that the contract will automatically renew unless the consumer cancels on or before the termination date; the length and other terms of the renewal period; at least one method of cancellation; and the seller's contact information.

Violation of the law constitutes an unfair and deceptive act and the law is enforceable by the Vermont Attorney General.  Note too that "consumers" under Vermont's consumer protection law include persons buying goods and services for their own benefit or for the benefit of their business (other than for resale).  

The law's auto-renew provisions go into effect on July 1, 2019.

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