Consumer Federation of California

For Immediate Release: December 17, 2024

Contact: mail@consumercal.org

Sacramento, CA – Statement by Consumer Federation of California Executive Director Robert Herrell regarding the Federal Trade Commission’s final rule on junk fees, announced early on Tuesday, December 17, 2024:

“The Consumer Federation of California applauds the Federal Trade Commission, and particularly FTC Chair Lina Khan, for finalizing their Junk Fees Rule, which will provide consumers across the country additional transparent pricing information when they search for tickets or hotel rooms or vacation rentals. This is an important step forward for millions of consumers from Maine to Hawaii. CFC is also encouraged that this final rule got 4 votes on the commission, including from 1 of the Republican members. While we wish that the rule had covered more industries we do appreciate the FTC’s efforts.

This bipartisan final vote for the FTC junk fees rule reflects the bipartisan and nonpartisan nature of extreme consumer frustration with being misled by companies about the actual price of their product. The list of offenders on this issue covered by today’s final FTC rule includes:

• the ticketing monopoly Live Nation/Ticketmaster
• all secondary ticketing companies such as StubHub, Vivid, SeatGeek and others
• all national hotel chains such as Marriott, Hilton, IHG and many others, and
• vacation and home rental services such as AirBnB, VRBO and others.

Now we wait for the ticketing monopoly, currently being sued by the federal DOJ and 39 states plus the District of Columbia, to forum shop and try to find a friendly anti-consumer judge to stay the rule and continue allowing consumers to be harmed.

That’s why California has led the way with strong state action in this area, from our overall junk and hidden fees rule (SB 478 of 2023, which CFC supported) to our strong law in the lodging space (AB 537 of 2023, which CFC sponsored). Both of these laws go significantly beyond the scope of the FTC’s final rule, which means that California again leads the way nationally on consumer protection. CFC has fought all exemptions from this rule (looking at you, restaurant industry!) and will continue to do so.

CFC looks forward to continuing to work with Governor Newsom and the California Legislature on ways to further enhance our work to crack down on junk and hidden fees costing California consumers billions. Our collective work in this area is far from done.

Finally, CFC wishes to thank the Biden Administration and federal entities such as the FTC, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and many others for their work and partnership with CFC to significantly enhance consumer protection these past four years. We hope that this federal work doesn’t stop or go backwards in the next four years, but either way CFC’s work will continue to move forward.”

Disclaimer: Contributions to CFC are not tax deductible.

About the Consumer Federation of California: The Consumer Federation of California is a nonprofit advocacy organization that, since 1960, has been a powerful voice for consumer rights. CFC campaigns for laws and regulations that place consumer protection ahead of corporate profit, either in front of the California Legislature or before state agencies in support of consumer regulations.

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Tags: FTC, FTC Rules, junk fees