New York auto-renewal law: reminders and cancellation

New York's automatic renewal law, General Business Law § 527-a, asks subscription businesses to show the renewal terms before asking for consent, get a clear "yes" before the first charge, and let customers cancel at any time as easily as they signed up, through the same medium. It also sets reminder windows: 15 to 45 days before the cancellation deadline for a yearly-or-longer plan, 3 to 21 days before the deadline for a free trial longer than a month, and 5 business days to 30 days before a material change such as a price increase.

Below is what each part covers and a simple way to set it up for a Stripe subscription business. Everything here was read from the official text of § 527-a and § 527 on the NY State Senate's Open Legislation site on 24 October 2026. One thing we could not confirm from that page is the effective date of the most recent amendment; our rules page lists it as 5 November 2025, so please check the current text before relying on dates.

Who it covers

The law applies to any business making an automatic renewal or continuous service offer to a consumer in New York (§ 527-a(1)). Section 527 defines the terms:

• Automatic renewal: a paid subscription that renews at the end of a set term for another term (an annual plan, for example).
• Continuous service: a subscription that continues until the customer cancels (a typical monthly plan).
• Consumer: someone buying for personal, family or household purposes.

Some sectors are exempt under § 527-a(4), including businesses regulated by the Department of Financial Services, banks and credit unions, security alarm operators, franchised services such as cable, and sellers of insurance-law service contracts.

At sign-up: terms, consent and a confirmation

What	What it asks for	Section
Clear terms before consent	Describe what renews, the cost, how often you charge, the deadline to cancel, and how to cancel, shown clearly and right next to the consent request, before you ask for billing details	§ 527-a(1)(a)
Trials and intro prices	If the offer has a free trial or a temporary price, explain how and when the price changes and what it will be	§ 527-a(1)(a)
Affirmative consent	Get the customer's affirmative consent before charging for the first term	§ 527-a(1)(b)
A confirmation they can keep	Promptly after consent, send the terms, the amount, the frequency, the cancel deadline and how to cancel, in a form they can keep (an email works)	§ 527-a(1)(c)

The reminders at a glance

Situation	When to send it	Section
Initial paid term of one year or longer that renews for six months or longer	At least 15 and at most 45 days before the cancellation deadline	§ 527-a(1)(f)
Free gift or trial longer than a month, followed by a charge	At least 3 and at most 21 days before the cancellation deadline for the first paid period	§ 527-a(1)(h)
Material change to the terms, including a price increase	At least 5 business days and at most 30 days before the change	§ 527-a(1)(g)

Two details are worth noticing:

• The windows count back from the cancellation deadline, not the renewal date. If your terms say customers must cancel 7 days before renewal, count from that day. If you have no notice period, the deadline and the renewal date are the same.
• The renewal and trial reminders go out "in the manner selected by the consumer," which the law says can include text, email, app notification or any other channel you offer. Each must include instructions on how to cancel.

Price increases

Separately from the notice, § 527-a(1)(b-1) says that before charging an existing subscriber a higher price than they agreed to, you need one of two things:

1. their affirmative consent to the new price; or
2. a way for them to cancel within at least 14 days after the higher charge, with a pro-rated refund for the rest of the term.

You only need to ask for consent to a given increase once.

Cancellation

New York's cancel rules are short and practical:

• Cancel at any time, as easily as signing up, through the same medium (§ 527-a(1)(d)). If they signed up on your website, they should be able to cancel on your website.
• Cancel through every medium you accept sign-ups in (§ 527-a(1)(d-1)). If you take sign-ups in person, you must also offer cancellation online or by phone.
• No obstruction or delay (§ 527-a(1)(e)). The law lists examples to avoid: hanging up on callers, giving wrong information about how to cancel, misstating the costs or consequences of cancelling, and misstating why a cancellation is delayed.
• Save offers are allowed. When someone asks to cancel, you may show a discount, a retention benefit, or what cancelling means for them, as long as it doesn't block or delay the cancellation.

Two older New York laws you may hear about

• General Obligations Law § 5-903 covers contracts for service, maintenance or repair of real or personal property that renew unless the customer gives notice. The provider must send written notice of the renewal clause, personally or by certified mail, 15 to 30 days before the customer's notice deadline. It doesn't apply when the renewal period is one month or less. If you sell maintenance plans, read it.
• General Obligations Law § 5-901 concerns renewal provisions in leases of personal property. We couldn't load its text on 24 October 2026, so we haven't summarized it here; it's linked in the sources.

New York City adds its own rule

Since 1 October 2026, New York City's Department of Consumer and Worker Protection enforces a "Click to Cancel" rule. According to NYC.gov, businesses must clearly explain subscription terms and customers' rights, offer straightforward cancellation through the same method used to sign up, and tell customers about auto-renewal and changes to their terms. We haven't compared the full rule text with the state law, so if many of your customers are in the city, read it alongside § 527-a.

A simple setup for Stripe subscriptions

1. Sort your plans. Note which bill yearly or longer, which have trials over a month, and any cancel-by deadline.
2. Put the terms next to the button. Price, billing frequency, that it renews, the cancel deadline and how to cancel, right above "Subscribe."
3. Send a confirmation email with the same terms and a cancel link right after checkout.
4. Pick a send day inside each window. For example, 30 days before a yearly deadline and 7 days before a long trial ends.
5. Add price changes to your launch checklist. Schedule the notice 5 business days to 30 days ahead, and decide between asking for consent or offering the 14-day pro-rated cancel.
6. Give customers a self-serve cancel path on the web if they signed up on the web, and keep a record of each request.

Why it's worth doing well

Customers who can see their terms and cancel easily tend to trust the business more. In PlainRenew's cancel-flow dataset (169 subscription sites whose public pages our checker could read, checked 21–22 October 2026), 97 of them (57%) had no cancel or manage-billing link we could find on the pages it read. That's a text match on public pages only, so the link may exist behind a login. Still, a visible cancel path is an easy win.

Quick FAQ

Does New York require a reminder for monthly plans? Not the yearly-term reminder in § 527-a(1)(f). The trial reminder applies if there's a trial longer than a month, and the change notice applies to any plan.

Can the reminder be an email? Yes, if that's the channel the customer chose. The law names text, email and app notifications, and each reminder must explain how to cancel.

Who enforces it? The New York Attorney General can ask a court to stop violations and order restitution (§ 527-a(3)).

Want to see how your public pages read against these rules? Run the free checker at plainrenew.com/check. It takes about a minute.