North Carolina automatic renewal law
North Carolina's automatic-renewal law for subscription businesses: 4 cited requirements (disclosure, consent, acknowledgment, notice windows, cancellation), effective dates and who can sue. Generated from Checkbox's legal catalog; pending attorney review.
At a glance
| Applies to | Consumers in North Carolina, wherever the business is located |
| Laws | North Carolina contracts with automatic renewal clauses |
| Effective | 2016-07-26 (amended; latest change effective 2018-10-01) |
| Status | In force |
| Requirements in the catalog | 4 (2 with a notice window) |
| Private right of action | via general consumer law |
| Last reviewed | 2026-10-29 |
Federal law applies on top of this: see federal subscription law.
The law
North Carolina contracts with automatic renewal clauses
- Citation: N.C. Gen. Stat. § 75-41
- Effective: 2016-07-26
- Status: In force
- Verified: 2026-10-29, official text read in full (confidence: high)
Clear and conspicuous disclosure of the renewal clause and how to cancel; written notice 15-45 days before renewals exceeding 60 days; changed terms in 12-point bold in the notice. Violations void the renewal clause.
Scope: Consumer contracts for products or services. Exempt: insurers, banks and other depository institutions (and affiliates), FCC- or NC Utilities Commission-regulated entities, franchised businesses, and licensed real estate professionals.
| Amendment | Effective | Change |
|---|---|---|
| S.L. 2016-113, § 16(a) | 2016-07-26 | Rewrote § 75-41; added the 15-45 day notice and bold changed-terms disclosure. |
| S.L. 2018-114, § 4(a) | 2018-10-01 | Exemption for licensed real estate professionals. |
Requirements
Each row is one obligation in the catalog, in plain English, with the provision it comes from. "Applies when" lists the conditions under which it applies (otherwise it always applies to covered offers). The ids are stable and match the dataset and Checkbox API results.
At sign-up
| Requirement | Applies when | Effective | Citation |
|---|---|---|---|
Disclose the automatic renewal clause clearly and conspicuously Disclose the automatic renewal clause clearly and conspicuously in the contract or contract offer. US-NC.75-41.a.1 | always | 2016-07-26 | N.C. Gen. Stat. § 75-41(a)(1) |
Disclose clearly and conspicuously how to cancel Disclose clearly and conspicuously how to cancel the contract in the initial contract, the contract offer, or with delivery of the products or services. US-NC.75-41.a.2 | always | 2016-07-26 | N.C. Gen. Stat. § 75-41(a)(2) |
Before charges (notices and reminders)
| Requirement | Applies when | Effective | Citation |
|---|---|---|---|
Written renewal notice 15-45 days before renewals longer than 60 days For any automatic renewal exceeding 60 days, give written notice by personal delivery, email or first-class mail 15 to 45 days before the renewal date, stating the date the contract will renew and that it will renew unless cancelled before then. US-NC.75-41.a.3 | term ≥ 2 months | 2016-07-26 | N.C. Gen. Stat. § 75-41(a)(3) |
Changed terms at renewal must be disclosed in the renewal notice in 12-point bold type If the contract terms will change upon automatic renewal, disclose the changing terms clearly and conspicuously in the renewal notification, in at least 12-point type and in bold print. US-NC.75-41.a.4 | term ≥ 2 months | 2016-07-26 | N.C. Gen. Stat. § 75-41(a)(4) |
Notice windows
When each notice must be sent. A notice outside its window does not count, so schedule sends against the exact dates.
| Notice | When | Applies when | Citation |
|---|---|---|---|
| Written renewal notice 15-45 days before renewals longer than 60 days | 15-45 days before renewal | term ≥ 2 months | N.C. Gen. Stat. § 75-41(a)(3) |
| Changed terms at renewal must be disclosed in the renewal notice in 12-point bold type | 15-45 days before renewal | term ≥ 2 months | N.C. Gen. Stat. § 75-41(a)(4) |
Several states use overlapping windows; one email can often satisfy all of them. See free-trial notices and price increases.
Who can sue, and remedies
Private right of action: Indirectly: private suits go through general consumer-protection law.
The automatic renewal clause is void and unenforceable (§ 75-41(e)); good-faith-error defense with full refund; private enforcement through the state's general consumer-protection (UDAP) statute is inferred, not verified.
Remedy figures come from the cited statutes and from public enforcement records summarized in Checkbox's litigation research; figures from secondary sources are marked "unverified" where they appear.
Check your subscription flow
Checkbox evaluates these requirements automatically: the sign-up page, the emails and the cancellation flow are checked against North Carolina's rules (and every other jurisdiction's) on every check. 6 machine checks cover this page: signup.disclosure.autorenew_language, signup.disclosure.conspicuous, signup.disclosure.cancellation_policy, confirmation.email.cancellation_instructions, reminder.annual_renewal, reminder.price_change.
- Free to start: get test API keys or connect the MCP server at
https://app.checkbox.site/mcpfrom your coding assistant. - Preflight a disclosure, a Stripe Checkout Session or an email before you ship: preflight checks (
--jurisdictions US-NClimits a check to North Carolina's rules). - Start from the subscription compliance checklist.
Data and citation
This page is generated from the open subscription law dataset (catalog 2026.11.01.1, CC BY 4.0), available as JSON and CSV. Cite it as: Checkbox, "North Carolina automatic renewal law", checkbox.site/laws/north-carolina, catalog 2026.11.01.1 (last reviewed 2026-10-29). Report an error: support@checkbox.site.
Checkbox is compliance software, not a law firm; nothing in these docs is legal advice (details). You remain solely responsible for your subscription program, and Checkbox takes on no legal liability for it (Terms). Checkbox is a System1 company; Trust center · Status. For AI agents: every page is available as Markdown at the same URL plus .md; the index is /llms.txt.