Tanning memberships and auto-renewal laws: disclosures, consent and cancellation

Is there a federal click-to-cancel rule for tanning memberships?

No. The rule people call "click to cancel" was the Federal Trade Commission's 2024 amendment to its Negative Option Rule, 16 CFR part 425. It was published on November 15, 2024 (89 FR 90476). It added provisions that, in the Eighth Circuit's summary, "bar sellers from misrepresenting material facts and require disclosure of material terms, express consumer consent, and a simple cancellation mechanism."

On July 8, 2025, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit vacated the whole amended rule in Custom Communications, Inc. v. FTC (No. 24-3137). The court held that the Commission had skipped a required procedural step, the preliminary regulatory analysis under section 22 of the FTC Act. It did not rule on whether the rule's substance was sound.

Here is what has happened since:

• February 12, 2026: the FTC put the pre-2024 text of the rule back into the Code of Federal Regulations (91 FR 6507).
• The restored rule "applies only to prenotification plans for the sale of goods," in the words of the FTC's March 2026 notice. That is the old ship-unless-you-decline model, not a monthly tanning membership.
• March 13, 2026: the FTC published an advance notice of proposed rulemaking asking whether the rule should be amended to help consumers cancel recurring payments "without unwarranted obstacles" (91 FR 12318). Comments closed on April 13, 2026. As of September 29, 2026, the Federal Register showed no proposed rule text or final rule following it.

Section 5 of the FTC Act still prohibits unfair or deceptive practices, and the March 2026 notice names the federal laws that already reach recurring billing. Two of them matter most to a salon.

ROSCA: memberships sold online

The Restore Online Shoppers' Confidence Act covers any charge for goods or services "sold in a transaction effected on the Internet through a negative option feature" (15 U.S.C. 8403). If clients can join a membership through your website, a sign-up link or an app, the seller must do three things:

1. Clearly and conspicuously disclose all material terms of the transaction before collecting the client's billing information.
2. Get the client's express informed consent before charging their card or account.
3. Provide "simple mechanisms" for the client to stop recurring charges.

ROSCA does not reach a membership signed on paper at the front desk. The FTC's March 2026 notice describes ROSCA as "limited to seller transactions effected on the internet." State law often does reach the front desk, as the sections below show.

EFT memberships and Regulation E

At a tanning salon, EFT means electronic funds transfer: the monthly membership fee is drafted from the client's account on a schedule. Regulation E calls these recurring drafts "preauthorized electronic fund transfers": transfers "authorized in advance to recur at substantially regular intervals" (12 CFR 1005.2(k)). It covers drafts from a checking, savings or other asset account, including debit card transactions (1005.2(b), 1005.3(b)). A recurring charge to a credit card is not an electronic fund transfer from such an account, so these rules do not reach it; the state laws below still do. For bank and debit drafts, 12 CFR 1005.10 sets three rules that matter to a salon:

• Written authorization. Preauthorized transfers from a consumer's account "may be authorized only by a writing signed or similarly authenticated by the consumer," and whoever obtains the authorization must give the consumer a copy (1005.10(b)).
• The client can stop payment through their bank. A consumer may stop a preauthorized transfer by notifying their bank orally or in writing at least three business days before the scheduled date (1005.10(c)).
• Notice when the amount changes. If a transfer will differ from the previous one or from the authorized amount, the payee or the bank must send written notice of the amount and date at least 10 days before the transfer (1005.10(d)). A price rise is the most common trigger.

State automatic renewal laws: California and Virginia

Most of the detailed rules come from state automatic renewal laws. They apply to offers made to consumers in the state, so check the law in every state where you sell. The FTC's March 2026 notice lists California, Colorado, Vermont and Virginia as examples. This guide covers the California and Virginia texts.

California's definitions matter for month-to-month plans. "Continuous service" means an arrangement that "continues until the consumer cancels the service" (17601(a)(5)). That describes most monthly memberships. The offer terms must state the following (17601(a)(2)):

• that the membership continues until the client cancels
• the cancellation policy
• the recurring charge, and the amount it will change to if known
• the length of the term
• any minimum purchase obligation

The 2024 amendments (AB 2863) apply to contracts entered into, amended or extended on or after July 1, 2025. They added the express consent to the renewal terms, the proof-of-consent period, the same-medium cancellation rule, the fee-change notice and the annual reminder shown in the table, plus rules on save offers and phone cancellations. Other rules in section 17602 are worth knowing too:

• Online sign-ups must be cancellable online, through a prominent link or button or a ready-made termination email (17602(d)). This rule was already law before AB 2863.
• A salon may make a save offer, but only as the statute allows. On the phone, the client must first be told they can say "cancel" at any time. Online, a "click to cancel" button must stay on screen beside the offer (17602(e)).
• A salon that offers cancellation by toll-free number must answer promptly during normal business hours, and a voicemail asking to cancel must be processed, or returned, within one business day (17602(c)(2)).
• If a free trial, or a promotional or discounted price, lasts more than 31 days, the client gets a notice 3 to 21 days before it ends (17602(b)(1)). A contract not made electronically is exempt when the salon holds no email address, phone number or other electronic contact for the client.

Virginia bars requiring a client to deal with a live or virtual agent to cancel, unless the seller only takes sign-ups through an agent (B.4). For a membership started in person, B.6 requires a simple way to cancel through a website, an app or a phone call, and B.7 bars charging for a cancellation call. See our California tanning laws page for that state's salon rules.

Health club laws: check whether yours reaches tanning

Some states also have health club or health spa contract laws, with cooling-off periods and set contract terms. Neither of the two below names tanning:

• Massachusetts: a "contract for health club services" covers the use of a health club's facilities or instruction in "physical fitness, conditioning or well-being," and the health clubs it lists include health spas, figure salons and health studios (General Laws chapter 93, section 78). Where it applies, the contract must allow cancellation within three business days, carry a set notice in at least ten point bold type, and refund all money within fifteen business days (section 81).
• Texas: the Health Spa Act covers memberships that provide "instruction in or the use of facilities for a physical exercise program" (Occupations Code 702.003(4)). The facilities it lists include gymnasiums, running tracks, swimming pools, saunas and exercise equipment (702.003(3)).

If your salon also sells gym, fitness-class, sauna or exercise-equipment access, ask a lawyer whether your state's health club law covers the membership. The statute text alone does not settle it for a tanning-only salon.

What a salon owner should do

1. Write the membership terms in one place: that it renews until cancelled, the monthly amount, any setup fee, any minimum number of payments, how to cancel and how much notice you need. Put them in larger or contrasting type right beside the signature line or the Join button.
2. Get a signature or an online authentication for the recurring draft itself, not just the tanning waiver. Keep the membership terms separate from the tanning waiver.
3. Give every member a copy they can keep: paper at the desk, or an email for online sign-ups.
4. Keep the signed agreement and proof of consent. California requires at least three years, or one year after the contract ends if that is longer. Our recordkeeping guide covers storage.
5. Offer a way to cancel that matches how members joined. That means online for online sign-ups; in California, the same medium the member used to join, which can mean the counter, plus a phone, email, postal or other easy route named in the acknowledgment. In Virginia, members who joined in person also need a web, app or phone route.
6. Before a price change, send a written notice with the new amount, the date and how to cancel. Send it at least 10 days ahead for bank drafts, and 7 to 30 days ahead in California, so 10 to 30 days for a California member paying by bank draft.
7. Train staff on save offers. Staff may present a discount, but a member who says "cancel" gets cancelled.

Renewal and price-change notices sent by text have their own consent rules; see text message rules for tanning salons. For setting the monthly price in the first place, see how to price tanning memberships.

How TanVision fits

In TanVision, a membership's terms are locked in at the moment of sale, and any later correction records who made it and why. That gives you a clear record of what each member bought. A monthly package can also bill on auto-pay through TanVision's built-in card processing, under the terms set on the package: a setup fee, the number of payments, a minimum and whether the member may cancel. The member saves a card on the card processor's secure page, and TanVision charges it each period with the tax and never sees or stores the card number. The disclosures and consent this guide describes are still yours to give and keep. See memberships and packages.