Us Congress 2025-2026 Regular Session

Us Congress House Bill HB1479 Compare Versions

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11 I
22 119THCONGRESS
33 1
44 STSESSION H. R. 1479
55 To prohibit unfair and deceptive advertising of prices for hotel rooms and
66 other places of short-term lodging, and for other purposes.
77 IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
88 FEBRUARY21, 2025
99 Mrs. K
1010 IM(for herself, Ms. CASTORof Florida, Mr. FRY, and Mr. MULLIN)
1111 introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on En-
1212 ergy and Commerce
1313 A BILL
1414 To prohibit unfair and deceptive advertising of prices for
1515 hotel rooms and other places of short-term lodging, and
1616 for other purposes.
1717 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-1
1818 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2
1919 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3
2020 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Hotel Fees Trans-4
2121 parency Act of 2025’’. 5
2222 SEC. 2. PROHIBITION ON UNFAIR AND DECEPTIVE ADVER-6
2323 TISING OF HOTEL ROOMS AND OTHER 7
2424 SHORT-TERM RENTAL PRICES. 8
2525 (a) P
2626 ROHIBITION.— 9
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3030 (1) IN GENERAL.—It shall be unlawful for a 1
3131 covered entity to display, advertise, market, or offer 2
3232 in interstate commerce, including through direct of-3
3333 ferings, third-party distribution, or metasearch refer-4
3434 rals, a price for covered services that does not clear-5
3535 ly, conspicuously, and prominently— 6
3636 (A) display the total services price, if a 7
3737 price is displayed, in any advertisement, mar-8
3838 keting, or price list wherever the covered serv-9
3939 ices are displayed, advertised, marketed, or of-10
4040 fered for sale; 11
4141 (B) disclose to any individual who seeks to 12
4242 purchase covered services the total services 13
4343 price at the time the covered services are first 14
4444 displayed to the individual and anytime there-15
4545 after throughout the covered services pur-16
4646 chasing process; and 17
4747 (C) disclose, prior to the final purchase, 18
4848 any tax, fee, or assessment imposed by any gov-19
4949 ernment entity, quasi-government entity, or 20
5050 government-created special district or program 21
5151 on the sale of covered services. 22
5252 (2) I
5353 NDIVIDUAL COMPONENTS .—Provided that 23
5454 such displays are less prominent than the total serv-24
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5858 ice price required in paragraph (1), nothing in this 1
5959 Act shall be construed to prohibit the display of— 2
6060 (A) individual components of the total 3
6161 price; or 4
6262 (B) details of other items not required by 5
6363 paragraph (1). 6
6464 (3) I
6565 NDEMNIFICATION PROVISIONS .—Nothing 7
6666 in this section shall be construed to prohibit any cov-8
6767 ered entity from entering into a contract with any 9
6868 other covered entity that contains an indemnification 10
6969 provision with respect to price or fee information 11
7070 disclosed, exchanged, or shared between the covered 12
7171 entities that are parties to the contract. 13
7272 (b) E
7373 NFORCEMENT.— 14
7474 (1) E
7575 NFORCEMENT BY THE COMMISSION .— 15
7676 (A) U
7777 NFAIR OR DECEPTIVE ACTS OR PRAC -16
7878 TICES.—A violation of subsection (a) shall be 17
7979 treated as a violation of a rule defining an un-18
8080 fair or deceptive act or practice prescribed 19
8181 under section 18(a)(1)(B) of the Federal Trade 20
8282 Commission Act (15 U.S.C. 57a(a)(1)(B)). 21
8383 (B) P
8484 OWERS OF THE COMMISSION .— 22
8585 (i) I
8686 N GENERAL.—The Commission 23
8787 shall enforce this section in the same man-24
8888 ner, by the same means, and with the 25
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9292 same jurisdiction, powers, and duties as 1
9393 though all applicable terms and provisions 2
9494 of the Federal Trade Commission Act (15 3
9595 U.S.C. 41 et seq.) were incorporated into 4
9696 and made a part of this Act. 5
9797 (ii) P
9898 RIVILEGES AND IMMUNITIES .— 6
9999 Any person who violates this section shall 7
100100 be subject to the penalties and entitled to 8
101101 the privileges and immunities provided in 9
102102 the Federal Trade Commission Act (15 10
103103 U.S.C. 41 et seq.). 11
104104 (iii) A
105105 UTHORITY PRESERVED .—Noth-12
106106 ing in this section shall be construed to 13
107107 limit the authority of the Commission 14
108108 under any other provision of law. 15
109109 (2) E
110110 NFORCEMENT BY STATES .— 16
111111 (A) I
112112 N GENERAL.—If the attorney general 17
113113 of a State has reason to believe that an interest 18
114114 of the residents of the State has been or is 19
115115 being threatened or adversely affected by a 20
116116 practice that violates subsection (a), the attor-21
117117 ney general of the State may, as parens patriae, 22
118118 bring a civil action on behalf of the residents of 23
119119 the State in an appropriate district court of the 24
120120 United States to obtain appropriate relief. 25
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124124 (B) RIGHTS OF THE COMMISSION .— 1
125125 (i) N
126126 OTICE TO THE COMMISSION .— 2
127127 (I) I
128128 N GENERAL.—Except as pro-3
129129 vided in subclause (III), the attorney 4
130130 general of a State, before initiating a 5
131131 civil action under subparagraph (A) 6
132132 shall notify the Commission in writing 7
133133 that the attorney general intends to 8
134134 bring such civil action. 9
135135 (II) C
136136 ONTENTS.—The notifica-10
137137 tion required by subclause (I) shall in-11
138138 clude a copy of the complaint to be 12
139139 filed to initiate the civil action. 13
140140 (III) E
141141 XCEPTION.—If it is not 14
142142 feasible for the attorney general of a 15
143143 State to provide the notification re-16
144144 quired by subclause (I) before initi-17
145145 ating a civil action under subpara-18
146146 graph (A), the attorney general shall 19
147147 notify the Commission immediately 20
148148 upon instituting the civil action. 21
149149 (ii) I
150150 NTERVENTION BY THE COMMIS -22
151151 SION.—The Commission may— 23
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155155 (I) intervene in any civil action 1
156156 brought by the attorney general of a 2
157157 State under subparagraph (A); and 3
158158 (II) upon intervening— 4
159159 (aa) be heard on all matters 5
160160 arising in the civil action; and 6
161161 (bb) file petitions for appeal. 7
162162 (C) I
163163 NVESTIGATORY POWERS .—Nothing in 8
164164 this paragraph may be construed to prevent the 9
165165 attorney general of a State from exercising the 10
166166 powers conferred on the attorney general by the 11
167167 laws of the State to conduct investigations, to 12
168168 administer oaths or affirmations, or to compel 13
169169 the attendance of witnesses or the production of 14
170170 documentary or other evidence. 15
171171 (D) A
172172 CTION BY THE COMMISSION .—When-16
173173 ever a civil action has been instituted by or on 17
174174 behalf of the Commission for violation of sub-18
175175 section (a), no attorney general of a State may, 19
176176 during the pendency of that action, institute an 20
177177 action under subparagraph (A) against any de-21
178178 fendant named in the complaint in that action 22
179179 for a violation of subsection (a) alleged in such 23
180180 complaint. 24
181181 (E) V
182182 ENUE; SERVICE OF PROCESS.— 25
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186186 (i) VENUE.—Any action brought 1
187187 under subparagraph (A) may be brought 2
188188 in— 3
189189 (I) the district court of the 4
190190 United States that meets applicable 5
191191 requirements relating to venue under 6
192192 section 1391 of title 28, United States 7
193193 Code; or 8
194194 (II) another court of competent 9
195195 jurisdiction. 10
196196 (ii) S
197197 ERVICE OF PROCESS.—In an ac-11
198198 tion brought under subparagraph (A), 12
199199 process may be served in any district in 13
200200 which— 14
201201 (I) the defendant is an inhab-15
202202 itant, may be found, or transacts 16
203203 business; or 17
204204 (II) venue is proper under section 18
205205 1391 of title 28, United States Code. 19
206206 (F) A
207207 CTIONS BY OTHER STATE OFFI -20
208208 CIALS.— 21
209209 (i) I
210210 N GENERAL.—In addition to civil 22
211211 actions brought by an attorney general 23
212212 under subparagraph (A), any other officer 24
213213 of a State who is authorized by the State 25
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217217 to do so may bring a civil action under 1
218218 subparagraph (A), subject to the same re-2
219219 quirements and limitations that apply 3
220220 under this paragraph to civil actions 4
221221 brought by attorneys general. 5
222222 (ii) S
223223 AVINGS PROVISION.—Nothing in 6
224224 this paragraph may be construed to pro-7
225225 hibit an authorized official of a State from 8
226226 initiating or continuing any proceeding in 9
227227 a court of the State for a violation of any 10
228228 civil or criminal law of the State. 11
229229 (3) A
230230 FFIRMATIVE DEFENSE .—In any action 12
231231 pursuant to paragraph (1) or (2), an intermediary 13
232232 or third-party online seller may assert an affirmative 14
233233 defense if such intermediary or third-party online 15
234234 seller— 16
235235 (A) established procedures to receive up-to- 17
236236 date price information from hotels or short- 18
237237 term rentals, or agents acting on behalf of a 19
238238 hotel or short-term rental; 20
239239 (B) relied in good faith on information 21
240240 provided to the intermediary or third-party on-22
241241 line seller by a hotel or short-term rental, or 23
242242 agent acting on behalf of such hotel or short- 24
243243 term rental, and such information was inac-25
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247247 curate at the time it was provided to the inter-1
248248 mediary or third-party online seller; and 2
249249 (C) took prompt action to remove or cor-3
250250 rect any false or inaccurate information about 4
251251 the total services price after receiving notice 5
252252 that such information was false or inaccurate. 6
253253 (c) P
254254 REEMPTION.— 7
255255 (1) I
256256 N GENERAL.—A State, or political subdivi-8
257257 sion of a State, may not maintain, enforce, pre-9
258258 scribe, or continue in effect any law, rule, regulation, 10
259259 requirement, standard, or other provision having the 11
260260 force and effect of law of the State, or political sub-12
261261 division of the State, that prohibits a covered entity 13
262262 from advertising, displaying, marketing, or otherwise 14
263263 offering, or otherwise affects the manner in which a 15
264264 covered entity may advertise, display, market, or 16
265265 otherwise offer, for sale in interstate commerce, in-17
266266 cluding through a direct offering, third-party dis-18
267267 tribution, or metasearch referral, a price of a res-19
268268 ervation for a covered service, and that requires fee 20
269269 disclosure, unless such provision requires the total 21
270270 services price to include each service fee in accord-22
271271 ance with subsection (a)(1). 23
272272 (2) R
273273 ULE OF CONSTRUCTION .—This section 24
274274 may not be construed to— 25
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278278 (A) preempt any law of a State or political 1
279279 subdivision of a State relating to contracts or 2
280280 torts; or 3
281281 (B) preempt any law of a State or political 4
282282 subdivision of a State to the extent that such 5
283283 law relates to an act of fraud, unauthorized ac-6
284284 cess to personal information, or notification of 7
285285 unauthorized access to personal information. 8
286286 (d) D
287287 EFINITIONS.—In this Act: 9
288288 (1) B
289289 ASE SERVICES PRICE.—The term ‘‘base 10
290290 services price’’— 11
291291 (A) means, with respect to the covered 12
292292 services provided by a hotel or short-term rent-13
293293 al, the price in order to obtain the covered serv-14
294294 ices of the hotel or short-term rental; and 15
295295 (B) does not include— 16
296296 (i) any service fee; 17
297297 (ii) any taxes or fees imposed by a 18
298298 government or quasi-government entity; 19
299299 (iii) assessment fees of a government- 20
300300 created special district or program; or 21
301301 (iv) any charges or fees for an op-22
302302 tional product or service associated with 23
303303 the covered services that may be selected 24
304304 by a purchaser of covered services. 25
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308308 (2) COMMISSION.—The term ‘‘Commission’’ 1
309309 means the Federal Trade Commission. 2
310310 (3) C
311311 OVERED ENTITY.—The term ‘‘covered en-3
312312 tity’’ means a person, partnership, or corporation 4
313313 with respect to whom the Commission has jurisdic-5
314314 tion under section 5(a)(2) of the Federal Trade 6
315315 Commission Act (15 U.S.C. 45(a)(2)), including— 7
316316 (A) a hotel or short-term rental; 8
317317 (B) a third-party online seller; or 9
318318 (C) an intermediary. 10
319319 (4) C
320320 OVERED SERVICES.—The term ‘‘covered 11
321321 services’’— 12
322322 (A) means the temporary provision of a 13
323323 room, building, or other lodging facility; and 14
324324 (B) does not include the provision of a 15
325325 meeting room, banquet services, or catering 16
326326 services. 17
327327 (5) H
328328 OTEL.—The term ‘‘hotel’’ means an es-18
329329 tablishment that is— 19
330330 (A) primarily engaged in providing a cov-20
331331 ered service to the general public; and 21
332332 (B) promoted, advertised, or marketed in 22
333333 interstate commerce or for which such estab-23
334334 lishment’s services are sold in interstate com-24
335335 merce. 25
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339339 (6) INTERMEDIARY.—The term ‘‘intermediary’’ 1
340340 means an entity that operates either as a business- 2
341341 to-business platform, consumer-facing platform, or 3
342342 both, that displays, including through direct offer-4
343343 ings, third-party distribution, or metasearch referral, 5
344344 a price for covered services or price comparison tools 6
345345 for consumers seeking covered services. 7
346346 (7) O
347347 PTIONAL PRODUCT OR SERVICE .—The 8
348348 term ‘‘optional product or service’’ means a product 9
349349 or service that an individual does not need to pur-10
350350 chase to use or obtain covered services. 11
351351 (8) S
352352 ERVICE FEE.—The term ‘‘service fee’’— 12
353353 (A) means a charge imposed by a covered 13
354354 entity that must be paid in order to obtain cov-14
355355 ered services; and 15
356356 (B) does not include— 16
357357 (i) any taxes or fees imposed by a 17
358358 government or quasi-government entity; 18
359359 (ii) any assessment fees of a govern-19
360360 ment-created special district or program; 20
361361 or 21
362362 (iii) any charges or fees for an op-22
363363 tional product or service associated with 23
364364 the covered services that may be selected 24
365365 by a purchaser of covered services. 25
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369369 (9) SHORT-TERM RENTAL.—The term ‘‘short- 1
370370 term rental’’ means a property, including a single- 2
371371 family dwelling or a unit in a condominium, coopera-3
372372 tive, or time-share, that provides covered services 4
373373 (either with respect to the entire property or a part 5
374374 of the property) to the general public— 6
375375 (A) in exchange for a fee; 7
376376 (B) for periods shorter than 30 consecutive 8
377377 days; and 9
378378 (C) is promoted, advertised, or marketed in 10
379379 interstate commerce or for which such prop-11
380380 erty’s services are sold in interstate commerce. 12
381381 (10) S
382382 TATE.—The term ‘‘State’’ means each of 13
383383 the 50 States, the District of Columbia, and any ter-14
384384 ritory or possession of the United States. 15
385385 (11) T
386386 HIRD-PARTY ONLINE SELLER .—The term 16
387387 ‘‘third-party online seller’’ means any person other 17
388388 than a hotel or short-term rental that sells covered 18
389389 services or offers for sale covered services with re-19
390390 spect to a hotel or short-term rental in a transaction 20
391391 facilitated on the internet. 21
392392 (12) T
393393 OTAL SERVICES PRICE.—The term ‘‘total 22
394394 services’’— 23
395395 (A) means, with respect to covered serv-24
396396 ices, the total cost of the covered services, in-25
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400400 cluding the base services price and any service 1
401401 fees; and 2
402402 (B) does not include— 3
403403 (i) any taxes or fees imposed by a 4
404404 government or quasi-government entity; 5
405405 (ii) any assessment fees of a govern-6
406406 ment-created special district or program; 7
407407 or 8
408408 (iii) any charges or fees for an op-9
409409 tional product or service associated with 10
410410 the covered services that may be selected 11
411411 by a purchaser of covered services. 12
412412 (e) E
413413 FFECTIVEDATE.—The prohibition under sub-13
414414 section (a) shall take effect 450 days after the date of 14
415415 the enactment of this Act and shall apply to advertise-15
416416 ments, displays, marketing, and offers of covered services 16
417417 of a covered entity made on or after such date. 17
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