Massachusetts

in effect 5 checks relate to this framework

Rule summary last reviewed: 2026-08-03 Due again 2026-11-01.

Covers this jurisdiction's citation, effective date, scope and requirement summaries. The 5 checks below carry their own dates, the oldest of which is 2026-08-03. Nobody qualified to practise law has reviewed any of it — see about.

Statute: 940 CMR 38.05 — an Attorney General regulation made under the Massachusetts consumer protection act, not a statute. The automatic-renewal content sits at 38.05 within 940 CMR 38.00. [medium confidence — flagged for counsel]
Official text: https://www.mass.gov/regulations/940-CMR-3800-unfair-and-deceptive-fees
Effective: The regulation states that it applies to acts committed or practices in force as of September 2, 2025. That is an applicability date rather than a promulgation date. [medium confidence — flagged for counsel]
Applies to: Any person whose advertising, marketing or offer of sale is targeted to or results in a sale in Massachusetts, where the product — including memberships and subscriptions — is for personal, family or household use.

What it is summarized as requiring

Before purchase, a clear and conspicuous written disclosure that the consumer will be charged, or that charges increase after a trial, and that charges recur unless the consumer acts.
A cancellation mechanism at least as easy to access and use as the method used to enrol, available through the same medium — for an internet signup, through the same website.
For a recurring feature longer than 31 days, written notice between 30 and 5 days before the cancellation deadline.
For a recurring feature of 31 days or less, either that notice or a disclosure, at least as often as the consumer is charged, of the amount and how to cancel.

What no outside scan can observe here

The recurring and pre-deadline notices, which reach an existing subscriber.

Worth knowing

This regulation uses the phrase “negative option feature” rather than “automatic renewal”. It also carries a separate total-price disclosure duty at 940 CMR 38.04 that this scanner does not check.

Checks that relate to this framework

Detected automatically

Check	Severity	Detected by
Automatic-renewal terms were not detected in the visible text presented alongside the consent action. These frameworks are summarized as requiring the automatic-renewal terms to be presented clearly and conspicuously before the consumer agrees, in visual proximity to the request for consent. `ARL-DISCLOSURE-AT-CONSENT` Rule summary last reviewed: 2026-08-03 Due again 2026-11-01. Drafted from 9 sources: leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/…/codes_displayText.xhtml · content.leg.colorado.gov/…/2025a_sl_368.pdf · www.cga.ct.gov/…/chap_742d.htm · www.ilga.gov/…/Articles · www.mass.gov/…/940-CMR-3800-unfair-and-dece · legislature.maine.gov/…/title10sec1210-C.html · www.revisor.mn.gov/…/325G.57 · www.nysenate.gov/…/527-A · law.lis.virginia.gov/…/section59.1-207.46	High consent moment absence	automatic `proximityToConsentAction` `renewalTermsProminence` `renewalTextOnlyInLinkedTerms` Includes a signal from the visual pass, which caps this check at medium severity.
Trial or promotional pricing was detected without accompanying visible text describing the charge that follows it. These frameworks are summarized as covering offers that begin free or discounted and convert to a paid term, with the terms of that conversion disclosed before the consumer agrees. `ARL-TRIAL-CONVERSION` Rule summary last reviewed: 2026-08-03 Due again 2026-11-01. Drafted from 5 sources: leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/…/codes_displayText.xhtml · content.leg.colorado.gov/…/2025a_sl_368.pdf · www.cga.ct.gov/…/chap_742d.htm · www.mass.gov/…/940-CMR-3800-unfair-and-dece · www.nysenate.gov/…/527-A	High consent moment absence	automatic `trialConversionTerms` `trialLanguage`
No link or control matching an online cancellation route was found on the pages this scan could reach. These frameworks are summarized as requiring a subscription entered into online to be cancellable through the same online medium, without additional obstruction. `ARL-CANCEL-ONLINE-ROUTE` Rule summary last reviewed: 2026-08-03 Due again 2026-11-01. Drafted from 9 sources: leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/…/codes_displayText.xhtml · content.leg.colorado.gov/…/2025a_sl_368.pdf · www.cga.ct.gov/…/chap_742d.htm · www.ilga.gov/…/Articles · www.mass.gov/…/940-CMR-3800-unfair-and-dece · legislature.maine.gov/…/title10sec1210-C.html · www.revisor.mn.gov/…/325G.57 · www.nysenate.gov/…/527-A · law.lis.virginia.gov/…/section59.1-207.46	Medium non appearance	automatic `onlineCancelPath`
The fetched terms text describes cancelling by telephone. Where a subscription was entered into online, these frameworks are summarized as requiring an online route to cancel, so a route available only by telephone is described as not meeting that requirement on its own. `ARL-CANCEL-TELEPHONE-ONLY` Rule summary last reviewed: 2026-08-03 Due again 2026-11-01. Drafted from 9 sources: leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/…/codes_displayText.xhtml · content.leg.colorado.gov/…/2025a_sl_368.pdf · www.cga.ct.gov/…/chap_742d.htm · www.ilga.gov/…/Articles · www.mass.gov/…/940-CMR-3800-unfair-and-dece · legislature.maine.gov/…/title10sec1210-C.html · www.revisor.mn.gov/…/325G.57 · www.nysenate.gov/…/527-A · law.lis.virginia.gov/…/section59.1-207.46	High consent moment absence	automatic `phoneOnlyCancel`

Manual verification only

These relate to this framework but sit outside anything an outside scan can reach. They appear in every report as manual checks and are never counted as findings.

Check	Severity	Detected by
Not observable from a checkout flow. These frameworks are summarized as requiring notice ahead of a renewal in defined circumstances — in Virginia, where a renewal term runs longer than 30 days and extends the contract beyond 12 months. `ARL-RENEWAL-NOTICE` Rule summary last reviewed: 2026-08-03 Due again 2026-11-01. Drafted from 10 sources: www.cga.ct.gov/…/chap_742d.htm · code.dccouncil.gov/…/2 · delcode.delaware.gov/…/index.html · data.capitol.hawaii.gov/…/HRS_0481-0009_0005.htm · www.ilga.gov/…/Articles · www.mass.gov/…/940-CMR-3800-unfair-and-dece · ndlegis.gov/…/t51c37.pdf · www.nysenate.gov/…/527-A · law.lis.virginia.gov/…/section59.1-207.46 · legislature.vermont.gov/…/02454a	Manual check outside flow	manual verification only No signal can reach this. It is listed in every report and never counted as a finding.

Other frameworks these checks relate to

A single observation frequently relates to several states at once. These are the other jurisdictions named by the same checks.

Every rule in the matrix · What this scanner cannot see · Run a scan scoped to Massachusetts