Can a subscription renew without reminding me first?
In most states, yes — California is the clear exception, and it changed this rule recently.
In most US states, yes — a subscription can legally renew automatically without any reminder, as long as you agreed to auto-renewal when you signed up. California is the clear exception and it's a strong one: since July 1, 2025, its Automatic Renewal Law requires businesses to send an annual reminder for every auto-renewing or continuous-service plan sold to California consumers, regardless of the plan's term length — not just the long-term contracts other states sometimes cover.
California's reminder requirement, in full
This is more comprehensive than most people realize, and it stacks two separate requirements depending on the plan:
| Plan type | Reminder required |
|---|---|
| Any auto-renewal or continuous-service plan (any length) | An annual reminder — even for plans that aren't up for renewal that specific year — identifying the product, the charge amount and frequency, and how to cancel |
| Plans with an initial term of one year or longer | An additional notice 15 to 45 days before that specific renewal date |
| Free trials, gifts, or discount periods longer than 31 days | A notice 3 to 21 days before the promotional period expires and converts to paid |
| Any fee change on an existing plan | Notice 7 to 30 days before the new price takes effect |
Every one of these notices must be delivered through the same medium you used to sign up, or the one you normally use to interact with the business — a buried in-app banner that vanishes doesn't satisfy this on its own; it needs to be in a form you can retain, like email.
What other states require
Outside California, reminder requirements are much thinner. Some states (Illinois, Minnesota, Oregon, South Carolina, Tennessee, Utah, Vermont, Virginia) have their own narrower auto-renewal disclosure rules, but none currently match California's combination of an annual reminder for every plan plus term-specific advance notices. Most states have no reminder requirement at all — the default assumption is that you agreed to auto-renewal once, at sign-up, and that's sufficient going forward.
What to do if you're surprised by a renewal
- Check whether you're a California resident and whether the plan should have triggered an annual reminder or a 15-45 day notice (for one-year-plus terms) — if so, and you got neither, that's a specific violation to cite.
- Search your email (including spam/promotions) for any notice you might have missed before assuming none was sent.
- Outside California, check the specific state disclosure laws if your state is one of the eight listed above.
- If no legally-required reminder applies to your situation, your strongest path is a direct, good-faith refund request to the company rather than a legal dispute.
- If a legally-required reminder genuinely wasn't sent, contact the company citing the specific rule, and escalate to your card issuer if they don't resolve it.
Related questions
Official sources
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