Your subscription cancellation rights in Massachusetts
No standalone statute — something stronger: AG regulations under Chapter 93A, in force since September 2025, with renewal reminders, same-medium cancellation and multiple-damages exposure.
The short answer
Massachusetts took a different route to one of the toughest regimes in the country: instead of a standalone statute, the Attorney General’s 940 CMR 38.00 regulations — in force since September 2, 2025 — make non-compliant subscription practices an unfair act under Chapter 93A. The duties: cancellation at least as easy as sign-up and in the same medium, a written renewal reminder 5 to 30 days before the cancellation deadline for terms over thirty-one days, and calendar-date clarity on when a trial converts. The enforcement edge: 93A supports consumer suits with multiple damages and fees.
Leutrim Miftaraj
Founder, SubTracker · Updated September 9, 2026
What the rules say
Massachusetts regulates subscriptions through Attorney-General regulations rather than a standalone statute: 940 CMR 38.00, in effect since September 2, 2025 under the Chapter 93A unfair-practices law, requires cancellation to be at least as easy as sign-up and available through the same medium, a written renewal reminder five to thirty days before the cancellation deadline for terms longer than thirty-one days, calendar-date disclosure of when a trial converts, and exposes violations to Chapter 93A remedies including multiple damages.
The construction matters: because the duties live inside the Chapter 93A unfair-practices framework, a violation is not a technical foot-fault — it is the kind of conduct that exposes a business to the Commonwealth’s strongest consumer remedies, including double or treble damages in a consumer action where the violation was knowing or wilful.
The three duties that decide most disputes
Same-medium, same-ease cancellation. Signed up online in a minute? The exit must be online and comparably easy, and recurring charges must stop promptly on cancellation.
The renewal reminder. For terms longer than thirty-one days, a written reminder must arrive 5 to 30 days before the cancellation deadline. For shorter cycles, the key disclosures must recur at least as often as the billing does.
Calendar-date trial clarity. A trial offer must state the actual date by which you must cancel to avoid the charge — not a formula, a date. Our trial playbook covers what to do when the charge lands anyway.
Using the regime
1. Document the asymmetry or the silence. A harder exit than entrance, a missing reminder before a covered renewal, a trial with no stated conversion date — each is a concrete, citable defect.
2. Demand in writing, name the rule. A refund demand that cites 940 CMR 38.00 and Chapter 93A reads differently to a legal team than a complaint about fairness — the 93A demand letter is a formal step Massachusetts consumers specifically have.
3. Escalate. The Massachusetts Attorney General’s office wrote these rules and enforces them; complaints with dates, screenshots and the written demand attached are the ones that move.
This page gives general information, not legal advice. Statutes are summarised; the wording that binds is the current text of the law itself. For a contested case, a consumer-protection office or a licensed attorney in your state is the right address.
Source: 940 CMR 38.00, Massachusetts Attorney General, checked September 9, 2026. · How we verify legal content
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Start freeFrequently asked questions
Does Massachusetts have an automatic renewal law?+
Not a standalone statute — the Attorney General’s 940 CMR 38.00 regulations, in force since September 2, 2025, regulate auto-renewals and trial offers under the Chapter 93A unfair-practices law. In practice the duties are among the strictest in the country, and violations carry 93A remedies including multiple damages.
Must a Massachusetts subscription remind me before it renews?+
For terms longer than thirty-one days, yes: a written reminder 5 to 30 days before the cancellation deadline. For monthly and shorter cycles, the key disclosures must recur at least as often as billing occurs.
How easy must cancellation be in Massachusetts?+
At least as easy as sign-up, and available through the same medium you used to start. Recurring charges must stop promptly once you cancel — an obstructive exit is itself the violation, not merely bad service.
What makes Chapter 93A different from other states’ laws?+
Its remedies. Chapter 93A supports consumer actions with double or treble damages and attorney’s fees for knowing or wilful violations, and it comes with a formal demand-letter procedure. Naming the rule in a written demand changes how seriously it is handled.
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