FINAL BILL REPORT

SSB 5509

C 346 L 09

Synopsis as Enacted

Brief Description: Clarifying rental car company charges, surcharges, and fees to be included in rental car agreements.

Sponsors: Senate Committee on Transportation (originally sponsored by Senators Marr, Kauffman and Shin).

Senate Committee on Transportation

House Committee on Transportation

Background: Under current law, rental car companies are not required, nor are they prevented from, separately identifying fees or surcharges that are imposed in addition to the rental rate and applicable rental car taxes.

Summary: Rental car companies may include separately stated surcharges or fees in their rental agreements.

If a rental car company does include a separate vehicle license cost recovery fee in a transaction, the fee must represent the company's good faith estimate of the average daily charge to recover actual, total annual titling, registration, plating, and inspection costs.

If the vehicle cost recovery fee imposed is found to exceed the actual costs for that calendar year, the rental car company can retain that amount but must adjust the 'vehicle cost recovery fee' for the following calendar year by the corresponding amount.

Rental car businesses may include a child restraint system rental fee as a separately stated charge in a rental transaction, in which case 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.

Rental car customers who reserve a child restraint system are allowed to cancel the reservation for the vehicle without penalty and receive a full refund if the child restraint system is not provided in a timely manner, as determined by the customer, but in no case less than one hour of the customer's arrival at the location where the customer expects to receive the vehicle.

Votes on Final Passage: