Sponsors (7)
The bill increases upfront price transparency for hotel and short-term rental consumers and gives states more enforcement tools, but it imposes compliance and litigation costs on businesses and may limit some stronger state-level advertising protections.
Travelers and short-term rental renters see the full total price (including taxes and mandatory fees) up front, reducing surprise charges at checkout and making it easier to compare options.
Consumers are explicitly informed of government-imposed taxes and fees before purchase, improving price transparency and informed decision-making.
State attorneys general can bring enforcement actions on behalf of residents, increasing legal avenues to deter or correct deceptive pricing practices.
Hotels, short-term rental hosts, and intermediaries must incur compliance costs to change pricing displays and booking processes, costs that may be passed on to consumers or squeeze small businesses.
Sellers and intermediary platforms face increased litigation risk from FTC enforcement and state parens patriae actions, potentially raising legal expenses and business uncertainty.
Preemption of state advertising rules could limit some jurisdictions' ability to maintain or adopt stricter consumer-protection advertising standards, reducing local regulatory flexibility.
Based on analysis of 2 sections of legislative text.
Requires hotels and short-term rental sellers to prominently display the total price and disclose government taxes/fees before purchase; violations are enforced under the FTC Act.
Official title: To prohibit unfair and deceptive advertising of prices for hotel rooms and other places of short-term lodging, and for other purposes.
Introduced February 21, 2025 by Young Kim · Last progress April 29, 2025
Requires hotels and short-term rental sellers to display the total price for rooms and related services whenever a price is advertised or shown, and to disclose any government-imposed taxes or fees before final purchase. It lets sellers still show itemized components but only if the total price is more prominent, and permits contract allocation of fee information among intermediaries. Makes violations an unfair or deceptive practice enforceable under the Federal Trade Commission Act, gives the FTC its usual enforcement powers and remedies, and creates a parens patriae enforcement route for state attorneys general with notice and intervention rules to coordinate with the FTC.