wa-law.org > bill > 2025-26 > HB 1431 > Original Bill

HB 1431 - Rental car agreements

Source

Section 1

  1. Except as provided in subsection (2) of this section, a rental car company may include separately stated surcharges, fees, or charges in a rental agreement, which may include, but may not be in any way limited to, child restraint system rental fees, airport-related recovery fees, and all applicable taxes and government surcharges that are directly imposed on a rental car customer by a federal, state, or local government agency, unit, or department.

2.

A rental car company may not separately state a vehicle license cost recovery fee in a rental agreement.

  1. A rental car company may not state or imply to a rental car customer that the state of Washington imposes any vehicle license cost recovery fee on a rental car customer as part of a rental agreement.

  2. [Empty]

    1. A rental car company may describe in a rental agreement the rental car company's actual costs in the state of Washington to license, title, register, and plate rental cars and to have such rental cars inspected for that calendar year.

    2. A rental car company electing to describe the costs identified in (a) of this subsection in a rental agreement shall include a disclaimer with that information informing the rental car customer that all of the costs described are imposed exclusively on the rental car company and not imposed on the rental car customer by any governmental agency, unit, or department.

  3. The following definitions apply to this section unless the context clearly requires otherwise:

    1. "Child restraint system rental fee" means a charge that may be separately stated and charged on the rental contract in a car rental transaction originating in Washington state to recover the costs associated with providing child restraint systems;

    2. "Rental car" has the same meaning as defined in RCW 48.115.005;

    3. "Rental car company" has the same meaning as defined in RCW 48.115.005; and

    4. "Vehicle license cost recovery fee" means any charge for a rental car transaction originating in Washington state to recover costs incurred in the state of Washington by a rental car company to license, title, register, plate, and inspect rental cars.

  4. [Empty]

    1. If a rental car company includes a child restraint system rental fee as a separately stated charge in a rental transaction, the amount of the fee must represent no more than the rental car company's good faith estimate of the rental car company's costs to provide a child restraint system.

    2. If a rental car customer pays a child restraint system rental fee and the child restraint system is not available in a timely manner, as determined by the rental car customer, but in no case less than one hour after the arrival of the customer at the location where the customer receives the vehicle or vehicles, (i) the customer may cancel any reservation or other agreement for the rental of the vehicle or vehicles, (ii) any costs or penalties associated with the cancellation are void, and (iii) the customer is entitled to a full refund of any costs associated with the rental of the vehicle or vehicles.

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