Bill > HB1431

This bill modifies existing Washington state law regarding rental car company agreements, specifically addressing how rental car companies can charge fees and represent their costs to customers. The bill prohibits rental car companies from separately stating a vehicle license cost recovery fee in rental agreements and prevents them from implying that the state of Washington imposes such a fee on customers. Instead, rental car companies are now allowed to describe their actual costs for licensing, titling, registering, and inspecting rental cars, but must include a clear disclaimer that these costs are exclusively imposed on the rental car company and not on the customer. The bill also maintains provisions around child restraint system rental fees, specifying that these fees must represent the company's good faith estimate of providing such systems, and if a child restraint system is not available in a timely manner (within one hour of customer arrival), the customer can cancel their reservation without penalty and receive a full refund. The legislation provides definitions for key terms like "rental car," "rental car company," and "vehicle license cost recovery fee" to ensure clarity and consistent interpretation.

Business and Industry

https://app.leg.wa.gov/billsummary?BillNumber=1431&Year=2025&Initiative=false