Landau's 'click to cancel' bill would make subscriptions as easy to quit as to start

If you have ever signed up for a gym, streaming service or meal kit online and then had to call, wait on hold or show up in person to quit, a new City Council bill is aimed at you. At-large Councilmember Rue Landau introduced Bill 260925 on Oct. 29. It would add a new chapter to the Philadelphia Code, "Cancellation of Re-Occurring Memberships," setting rules for businesses that sell automatically renewing subscriptions to Philadelphia customers.

The bill would bar automatic renewals without a customer's explicit consent and require reminders when a free trial turns into a paid plan, the Inquirer reported.

What the bill would require

According to Broad and Market's summary of the bill and Landau's fact sheet, businesses would have to:

• show the subscription's terms clearly before charging;
• get the customer's affirmative consent before an automatic renewal;
• send renewal reminders and notices before a free trial converts to a paid plan;
• let customers cancel as easily as they signed up, at any time, without a fee;
• not require customers to cancel in person.

Customers would also get recourse for unauthorized charges. Landau's fact sheet says sellers can make "signing up extremely easy while making cancelling extremely difficult," Broad and Market reported. The same summary says New York City and Washington, D.C., have similar rules.

Why a city bill

The Federal Trade Commission adopted a national "click to cancel" rule in 2024, but a federal appeals court threw it out in July 2025, WQLN reported. The Pennsylvania House passed two state bills on subscription cancellations that same month, the Bradford Era reported. We found no record of either becoming law.

What our records add

Sponsors. Bill 260925 lists eight members: Landau plus Anthony Phillips, Jamie Gauthier, Jim Harrity, Kendra Brooks, Mark Squilla, Nicolas O'Rourke and Quetcy Lozada. Nine votes pass a bill in the 17-member Council.

No committee yet. Our record shows the bill "In Council" with no committee assigned. It cannot get a final vote until a committee holds a hearing and reports it out.

Landau's fee bill shows how long that can take. Her earlier consumer bill, Bill 260640, would limit "convenience" or processing fees charged through online payment portals. It was introduced and referred to the Committee on Commerce and Economic Development on June 11, with Brooks, O'Rourke and Lozada as co-sponsors. It is now on the agenda for that committee's Nov. 23 hearing at 11 a.m. (meeting page), 165 days after it was introduced. If it is approved there, the earliest it could get a final vote is at one of Council's two December sessions.

What's next

• The click-to-cancel bill needs a committee assignment and a hearing date. We will update its matter page when that happens.
• The fee bill's hearing is Nov. 23. Council's remaining 2026 stated meetings are Nov. 12, Nov. 19, Dec. 3 and Dec. 10.