SB 348

Bill Subjects

Abstract

Existing law, effective May 21, 2009, requires a passenger vehicle rental company to only advertise a rental rate that includes the entire amount, except taxes, the increased vehicle license fee, any customer facility charge, and any mileage charge, that a renter must pay to hire or lease the vehicle for the period of time to which the rental rate applies. Existing law authorizes the rental company, when imposing charges for a rental, to separately state the rental rate, taxes, increased vehicle license fee, customer facility charge, if any, airport concession fee, if any, tourism commission assessment, if any, and a mileage charge, if any. Existing law, effective May 21, 2009, also requires the rental company, if customer facility charges, airport concession fees, or tourism commission assessments are imposed, to provide the person receiving the quote with a good faith estimate of the rental rate and certain taxes and charges, including the increased vehicle license fee, when the quote is given, to clearly and conspicuously disclose in the rental contract the total rate and certain taxes and charges, including the increased vehicle license fee, when the rental commences, and to provide each person, other than those persons within the rental company, offering quotes to actual or prospective customers access to information about certain taxes and charges, including the increased vehicle license fee. Existing law, effective May 21, 2009, defines the increased vehicle license fee as the amount of the fee increase in the vehicle license fee above 0.65% of the value of the vehicle. Existing law requires that fee to be separately charged, clearly stated, and prorated at 1365 of the fee increase in the annual vehicle license fee actually paid on the particular vehicle being rented for each full or partial 24-hour rental day that the vehicle is rented. Existing law prohibits the total of all increased vehicle license fees charged to renters from exceeding the fee increase in the annual vehicle license fee actually paid for the particular vehicle rented. This bill would define "increased vehicle license recovery fee" as a charge that seeks to recover the amount of increased vehicle license fees actually paid by a rental company for the particular class of vehicle being rented. The bill would require a rental company to calculate every 3 months the daily increased vehicle license recovery fee by prorating at 1365 of the average increased vehicle license fee for vehicles in each particular class of vehicle being rented, based on the increase in the annual vehicle license fee actually paid during the preceding 12 months for each class of vehicle being rented. The bill would require the rental companies to reconcile the amount of increased vehicle license fees actually paid by the rental company for each class of vehicle and the amount of increased vehicle license recovery fees charged to customers for rental of vehicles in those classes, and to post that information on its Internet Web site, as specified. The bill would prohibit the total of all increased vehicle license fees charged to customers by the rental company for each class of vehicle from exceeding the total of increased vehicle license recovery fees actually paid for vehicles in those classes on an annual basis. The bill would make other related, technical changes. This bill would declare that it is to take effect immediately as an urgency statute.