UtahS.B. 382026 General SessionSenateWALLET

Consumer Protection Modifications

How does this bill affect your finances?

Personalize government policy and PRIA will tell you what this bill means for your household, plus every other piece of legislation we track. PRIA reads each provision against your financial profile to show you exactly what matters to your wallet.

Free to download

Bill Overview

Analyzed Economic Effects

71 provisions identified: 36 benefits, 22 costs, 13 mixed.

Special investigators lose public safety pensions

Beginning May 6, 2026, certain specialized investigators are ineligible for Public Safety Employee’s Retirement System benefits. The restriction applies to investigators hired for investigations requiring expertise beyond what division staff normally need. It applies when the director designates the investigator as a special function officer.

Immigration consultants face security and fees

Beginning May 6, 2026, immigration consultants must maintain $50,000 in approved security through an authorized surety bond or eligible deposit. Applicants must pay an application fee and criminal background-check costs; the law does not state those amounts. Registration lasts one year, and renewal applications are due at least 30 days before expiration. Consultants must update application information within 30 days after it becomes incorrect or incomplete. The division may charge a $300 reinstatement fee when a consultant’s negligence causes security to be canceled.

Broader safeguards for credit service customers

Beginning May 6, 2026, credit-services coverage includes qualifying paid debt professionals, credit counselors, and debt-reduction or debt-management plans. Covered organizations must maintain a $100,000 surety bond or certificate of deposit in a state-approved manner; statutory exemptions remain. A letter of credit is no longer accepted. Organizations and covered workers cannot claim state endorsement, omit required material filing facts, submit facts they know or should know are misleading, or try to make buyers waive legal rights. When providing a credit report, organizations must name the reporting agency and score model and disclose its lowest and highest possible scores.

Court relief for qualifying blockchain transfers

Beginning May 6, 2026, people can ask courts to reverse qualifying fraudulent or mistaken transfers on reversible blockchains. Fraud claims require reasonable reliance on deception, a material omission, or a false or stolen identity, plus resulting injury. Mistake claims require a wrong recipient or amount, and refusal to return assets that unjustly enriches the recipient. Users must accept identity checks, reversal through a sheriff node, and Utah court jurisdiction; administrators must verify identities against government-issued identification databases and retain records for at least five years. Once the court finds a qualifying transfer, it must order Utah’s Attorney General to reverse it.

Credit service buyers gain recovery safeguards

Beginning May 6, 2026, credit services organizations must give buyers their completed contract and every required document signed with it. They must keep an exact copy of the required information statement for two years, personally signed by the buyer. The division may claim an organization’s bond or deposit for buyers harmed by violations of the chapter. Buyers recover actual damages before the division takes listed penalties, fees, or collection costs from that security. Recovery depends on covered losses and available security; no payment amount is guaranteed.

Fitness centers must protect prepaid members

Beginning May 6, 2026, nonexempt fitness facilities must provide a bond or certificate of deposit before offering services; letters of credit no longer qualify. Security is based on unexpired primary-location contracts: $5,000 for up to 100; $10,000 for 101–250; $15,000 for 251–500; $35,000 for 501–1,500; $50,000 for 1,501–3,000; and $75,000 for 3,001 or more. New facilities without contracts use their expected first-year count; security can cover consumer losses from violations or closure and specified state enforcement costs. Centers must register again after ownership changes, relocation, or reopening after permanent closure, and notify the state at least 45 days before closing permanently or moving. Former owners remain liable under prior security unless replacement security covers affected members or all unearned payments are refunded; each day of unregistered operation is a separate violation.

Phone-sale buyers get longer cancellation protections

Beginning May 6, 2026, sellers must orally give their legal name, phone number, full mailing address, and email before soliciting consumers. Buyers can cancel by 11:59 p.m. on the third business day after receiving merchandise or a promotional gift, whichever arrives later. If the seller fails to explain cancellation rights, the period extends to 90 days. If it fails to give its legal name, phone number, or complete address, buyers can cancel at any time. Cancellation notices can go to a provided email address; when required information was missing, canceled goods need not be returned, but otherwise buyers must reasonably attempt a return within seven business days.

Stronger safeguards for debt plan money

Beginning May 6, 2026, debt-management providers must deposit money meant for creditors into trust accounts within two business days. They must check each account monthly against clients’ balances. Undistributed money belongs to clients, not providers or their delegates, and their creditors cannot claim it. If a provider determines a plan failed, it must promptly return undistributed money, minus legally payable fees. If a surety ends the provider’s bond, the provider must immediately replace it with a $100,000 bond—not a per-client payment.

Stronger safeguards for immigration consultant clients

Beginning May 6, 2026, immigration consultants cannot register or renew with a felony conviction or a state consumer-sales-law violation. Theft, fraud, or dishonesty misdemeanors within the past 10 years also bar registration. Consultants cannot withdraw their bond or deposit during the one-year registration period or while revocation proceedings are pending. The Division of Consumer Protection can claim this security for client damages, and revocation can trigger forfeiture. Clients must recover full damages before remaining security pays state fines, penalties, investigation costs, attorney fees, or collection costs.

Stronger state remedies for harmed consumers

Beginning May 6, 2026, covered consumer-law violations carry administrative fines up to $2,500 and court fines up to $2,500. These tools cover credit services, telemarketing, immigration consulting, and residential vocational and life-skills programs; several caps apply per violation. Courts can order illegally received money paid to harmed consumers and grant other relief, including injunctions where authorized. Telemarketing order violations carry civil penalties up to $5,000 per violation; successful state telemarketing cases require attorney fees, court costs, and investigative fees. For covered order violations, the Division brings civil penalty cases directly instead of the Attorney General acting for it; consumer recovery is not guaranteed.

Vehicle recovery fund claims framework ends

Beginning May 6, 2026, Utah repeals the Transportation Network Vehicle Recovery Fund’s legal framework. This includes the fund’s creation, claim payments, legislative reporting, and state-liability disclaimer. The repeal removes a possible source of claim payments. The supplied text does not explain how existing or pending claims are handled.

Lawyer referral clients gain financial safeguards

Beginning May 6, 2026, lawyer referral consultants can offer only nonlegal help or advice when providing referrals. Consultants must provide a $50,000 approved bond or deposit from an authorized surety or eligible financial institution. Security cannot be withdrawn during the one-year registration period or while registration-revocation proceedings are pending. The division may use it for a consumer’s actual damages from chapter violations, before taking listed enforcement and collection costs. A consultant’s negligent cancellation of security can trigger a $300 reinstatement fee.

Broader protections against misleading phone sellers

Beginning May 6, 2026, telephone-sales rules cover people who make or cause unsolicited calls, including automated calls. Website-only sales without a phone call are excluded. The publication-sales exemption no longer lists subscriptions or supplement and series plans, narrowing that exemption. Sellers and their callers cannot claim state endorsement. They also cannot omit required material facts or file material facts they know, or should know, are misleading.

Businesses cannot claim Utah endorses them

Beginning May 6, 2026, solar retailers, fitness centers, debt-management providers, and sellers covered by these rules cannot claim state endorsement. They cannot claim that Utah’s Division of Consumer Protection endorses them either. Solar retailers, fitness centers, and covered sellers also cannot leave required important facts out of state filings. They cannot include important facts they knew, or should have known, were false, deceptive, inaccurate, or misleading.

Clearer immigration consultant contracts and ads

Beginning May 6, 2026, immigration consultants must provide disclosures in the client's native language before service, with a signed acknowledgment. These must explain services, financial security, any deposit number, non-attorney status, and the ban on referral fees for services not provided. Written contracts must follow state rules and put attorney-status and cancellation statements on the first page in bold, 12-point type. Ads must clearly say the consultant is not an attorney, using the ad's language. Nonlawyers federally authorized to represent people before immigration bodies must also disclose that authorization.

Debt management customers gain service safeguards

Beginning May 6, 2026, debt-management providers must translate required disclosures and documents into the non-English language mainly used with a customer. Providers denied renewal must keep serving existing customers while an appeal is pending. If denial stands, service continues, subject to the division’s order, until an approved transfer or return of all controlled, unspent money. Providers must include required material facts in state filings. They cannot file material statements they or their principals know, or should know, are false or misleading.

Debt-plan customers get records and notices

Beginning May 6, 2026, debt-management providers must explain your right to request written copies of required materials. Requests within 90 days after an agreement ends must be free and filled within three business days, limited to once per calendar month. Later requests must be filled within a reasonable time; providers can refuse requests they reasonably believe are meant to harass them. Before ending an agreement because you withdrew consent to electronic messages, providers must give notice and 30 days after receipt to consent again; renewed consent limits termination to what Utah law allows. Providers must also report a creditor’s final plan rejection or withdrawal within five business days after the creditor learns of it, naming the creditor and explaining your right to change or end the agreement.

Fitness members get three-day cancellation rights

Beginning May 6, 2026, you can cancel a fitness-center contract by sending written notice by email or mail within three business days. If your primary location is not fully open and available, the clock starts when it becomes available. Cancellation takes effect when the center receives your notice. Your refund can exclude only the reasonable value of services received, not contract preparation or processing costs. In a state enforcement case, the center must prove that any amount kept is reasonable.

Harmed charity donors gain recovery option

Beginning May 6, 2026, courts hearing charitable-solicitation cases may direct recovered money to an injured consumer. The money must have been received in violation of the charitable-solicitation chapter. The consumer must have suffered an injury. Payment depends on a court order, and no fixed amount is guaranteed.

Immigration clients gain safeguards against deception

Beginning May 6, 2026, immigration consultants cannot claim that Utah or its consumer protection division endorses them. They cannot omit required material facts from state filings. They also cannot file material facts they or their principals know, or should know, are false or misleading. Consultants cannot translate documents or information in ways that falsely suggest they are attorneys.

Immigration clients get receipts and documents

Beginning May 6, 2026, immigration consultants must give signed receipts for every payment, including payments made on a client's behalf. Receipts must be typed or computer-generated on the consultant's letterhead. Clients must receive copies of documents completed for them, and delivered documents must show the consultant's name and address. Consultants must return originals immediately after copying unless immigration authorities require the original.

Lawyer-referral clients get clearer cancellation rights

Beginning May 6, 2026, lawyer-referral client protections cover people who agree to receive services, as well as those already receiving them. Before services begin, consultants must provide a contract in English and the client’s native language. It must include a 12-point bold consultant-status disclosure and a bold cancellation notice on the first page. Clients can cancel by midnight of the third business day after signing, excluding weekends and state and federal holidays. Before any service, clients must also receive and sign for a native-language disclosure listing the consultant, Utah legal-notice agent, bond or deposit compliance, and each service’s current and total fee.

Lawyer-referral clients get honest payment records

Beginning May 6, 2026, lawyer-referral consultants’ account statements must show payments made by or for clients. Statements must also show individual charges and total charges. The ban on false or misleading claims covers prospective clients during sales pitches, as well as existing clients. Guarantees and promises must be written and have a factual basis; unsupported oral or contract promises are barred.

Legal-funding law reaches out-of-state cases

Beginning May 6, 2026, Utah residents with pending or possible cases outside Utah qualify under the state’s legal-funding chapter. This expands the chapter’s coverage without setting funding amounts or changing a particular agreement’s terms. Registered providers must file reports by April 1 each year, covering the previous calendar year in a state-approved form. The chief financial officer or principal must provide an unsworn accuracy statement, replacing the former oath requirement.

Ride-app drivers get insurance gap warnings

Beginning May 6, 2026, ride-app companies must warn drivers that company automobile insurance may not cover waiting periods or prearranged rides. This disclosure does not require the company to provide coverage. Companies also cannot claim endorsement or approval by Utah or its consumer protection division. They cannot omit required material filing facts or submit material information they or their principals know, or should know, is false or misleading.

Solar protections cover prospective household customers

Beginning May 6, 2026, Utah’s solar law covers qualifying prospective customers before they complete a deal. This includes people solicited to buy or lease a residential solar system. It also includes people solicited to buy electricity through a power purchase agreement. The purpose must be mainly personal, family, or household use.

Stronger safeguards for lawyer referral clients

Beginning May 6, 2026, lawyer referral consultants cannot claim endorsement or approval by Utah or its consumer protection division. They cannot omit required material filing information or include information they know, or should know, is false or misleading. Translations cannot falsely suggest that the consultant is a lawyer. The Division of Consumer Protection can bring court actions to enforce these rules. The law removes the attorney general's specified duty to advise and represent the Division in this role.

Stronger school safeguards for college students

Beginning May 6, 2026, covered postsecondary schools must maintain a surety bond or certificate of deposit to protect student losses. Letters of credit are no longer allowed, and bond issuers and deposit-holding institutions must meet legal authorization requirements. The Division of Consumer Protection sets security amounts and rules for starting or canceling that security. It can deny, suspend, or revoke school approval when a listed ground applies and action serves the public interest. Schools, operators, agents, and principals must follow reasonable certificate conditions imposed to protect students when listed school problems apply.

Fitness centers get limited security exemptions

Beginning May 6, 2026, fitness centers can avoid specified bond or deposit duties by offering only listed payment options. These include qualifying classes or sessions, defined packages holding no more than $150 in unused credit, and monthly memberships or passes paid no more than two months ahead. Qualifying installment contracts must spread all charges, including down payments and fees, equally across every month of the contract. They must excuse further payments if the center closes the customer's primary location or changes it unlawfully. Qualifying contracts are excluded from security calculations, and centers must prove eligibility to the Division.

Charities gain control over donated money

Beginning May 6, 2026, professional fundraisers must deposit donations they control within 10 days of receipt. Deposits must go into a federally insured account in the charity’s name, administered by the charity with sole withdrawal control. The state can start proceedings to deny, suspend, or revoke fundraiser or consultant registrations when public interest and a listed ground support action. Grounds include materially incomplete or misleading information, specified violations, orders or convictions, misrepresentation, withheld requested information, and unpaid fines or fees.

Legal funding providers must register annually

Beginning May 6, 2026, legal funding providers must register with Utah’s consumer protection division and pay applicable fees. Registration lasts one year; renewal applications are due at least 30 days before expiration. Providers must correct inaccurate or incomplete registration information within 30 days. Utah can start proceedings to deny, suspend, or revoke registration when this serves the public interest and a listed ground applies. Grounds include false information, legal violations, certain convictions, withheld information, and unpaid fines or application fees.

Providers must report child filtering compliance

Beginning May 6, 2026, service providers must report how they comply with consumer-requested filtering of material harmful to minors. Reports are due to Utah’s consumer protection division by July 1 of each even-numbered year. The division must publish a compilation and update it by July 1 of each odd-numbered year.

Ride company violations face state enforcement

Beginning May 6, 2026, Utah can impose administrative fines up to $2,500 per transportation network company violation. The consumer protection division can also sue to enforce the law. Courts can order violations stopped, unlawful gains surrendered, consumer payments, or fines up to $2,500 per violation. If the division wins judgment or an injunction, the court must award its reasonable attorney fees, court costs, and investigative fees. Consumer compensation is not guaranteed.

Stronger state oversight of fitness centers

Beginning May 6, 2026, the director can start proceedings to deny, suspend, or revoke a fitness center’s registration. The action must serve the public interest, and a listed legal ground must apply. Grounds include rule violations, misleading information, certain dishonesty convictions, unpaid fines or fees, and missing financial security. Stopping fitness services is also a ground for action.

Utah assigns enforcement for digital protections

Beginning May 6, 2026, Utah’s Division of Consumer Protection administers and enforces the generative artificial intelligence disclosure chapter. Beginning July 1, 2026, it also administers and enforces the Utah Digital Choice Act. These provisions assign enforcement responsibility; they do not themselves establish household payments or new disclosure details.

Utah can bar noncompliant immigration consultants

Beginning May 6, 2026, Utah can start proceedings to deny, suspend, or revoke an immigration consultant’s registration. The state must find that action serves the public interest and that a listed legal ground applies. Grounds include incomplete or false filings, certain fraud findings or convictions, legal violations, misrepresentations, withheld information, and unpaid fines or application fees.

Utah can block noncompliant sellers

Beginning May 6, 2026, Utah can start proceedings against telemarketing registrations and sellers’ proof-of-disclosure or proof-of-notice receipts. It can deny, suspend, or revoke them only when this serves the public interest and a listed ground applies. Grounds include false or incomplete filings, specified violations or convictions, withheld information, and unpaid required fines or fees.

Utah can enforce lawyer referral rules

Beginning May 6, 2026, Utah’s consumer protection division can sue to enforce lawyer referral consultant rules. Courts can impose civil penalties authorized by that chapter. This provision does not itself set a penalty amount or create a direct payment to clients.

Debt services face broader conflict checks

Beginning May 6, 2026, debt-management affiliates include recipients of more than $25,000 for services in the current or prior year. The definition also covers their employees, directors, and owners holding more than 10%. A nonprofit or tax-exempt applicant's board is not independent when more than one-fourth of members meet listed affiliation tests. One test covers employment or board ties during the 10 years before first becoming a director to recipients of more than $25,000 from the applicant in the current or prior year. Business referrals, shared customer names, and routed customer communications count as lead generation. Registration applicants must also list each Utah service location or state that they have none.

More agencies can check school leaders

Beginning May 6, 2026, more agencies can conduct required criminal background checks on postsecondary school principals. The Division can use Utah's Bureau of Criminal Identification or another state or federal agency that performs these checks. Principals must still submit fingerprints and consent when the Division requires a check.

Consultant victims lose one repayment remedy

Beginning May 6, 2026, the law removes one express court repayment remedy for losses caused by covered consultant violations. The former rule allowed restitution after final judgment in cases brought by the Attorney General or district or county attorneys. A harmed person had to prove a loss caused by the violation. This repeal does not describe its effect on other recovery rights.

Credit-rights waiver enforcement becomes narrower

Beginning May 6, 2026, trying to get a buyer to waive credit-services rights is no longer expressly listed as a violation. This removes that specific enforcement basis against credit services organizations. Any buyer waiver of those rights remains void and has no legal effect.

Fewer posted notices for immigration clients

Beginning May 6, 2026, immigration consultants no longer have to display the specified office notice. They also no longer have to post a sign explaining the ban on referral fees for services they cannot or will not provide. These changes remove office-display duties, not the underlying referral-fee ban.

Lawyer referral offices drop posted notices

Beginning May 6, 2026, lawyer referral consultants no longer have to display the specified office notice. The repealed rule required a conspicuous notice measuring at least 12 by 20 inches. Separate written contracts and pre-service disclosures remain required.

Some debt services lose chapter coverage

Beginning May 6, 2026, governments, public corporations, and government agencies fall outside debt-management rules applying to a 'person.' The chapter also excludes services when the provider has no reason to know the customer lives in Utah when agreeing to serve them. Another exception applies to debt-management services receiving no compensation from or on behalf of customers or their creditors. These exceptions limit which services receive the chapter's protections.

Weight-control services lose fitness-law coverage

Beginning May 6, 2026, weight control is no longer a qualifying activity under Utah’s fitness-center law. The change also removes weight control from the definition of personal training services. Services consisting only of weight control may fall outside the law’s protections. Exercise and athletics remain qualifying activities.

Fitness centers must register each location

Beginning May 6, 2026, fitness centers must register every Utah facility before operating it. Initial and renewal applications require a state-set fee, registered-agent contact details, and proof of liability insurance in effect when filing. Applicants must also provide information required by rule. Registration lasts one year after approval, and renewal applications are due at least 30 days before expiration.

Franchise sellers face filings without fee cap

Beginning May 6, 2026, seller rules cover people offering, selling, or leasing franchises or business opportunities. Applicants for a seller disclosure receipt must file disclosures, pay a fee, and provide information required by Division rules. Anyone offering or selling a franchise located in Utah or to a Utah resident must file a notice. They must follow the Division's filing method and provide information required by rule. The former $100 cap on the franchise proof-of-notice receipt fee is removed; the Division sets the fee without a replacement amount stated in this law.

Lawyer referral consultants face stricter screening

Beginning May 6, 2026, lawyer referral applicants and renewing consultants must pay registration and screening costs, submit fingerprints, and consent to checks. They must name a Utah agent; any felony, a theft, fraud, or dishonesty misdemeanor within 10 years, or a Consumer Sales Practices Act violation disqualifies applicants. Registration lasts one year; renewals are due at least 30 days before expiration, and incorrect or incomplete information requires updates within 30 days. The division can start denial, suspension, or revocation proceedings when action serves the public interest and a listed ground applies. Grounds include misleading filings, legal violations, qualifying orders or dishonesty convictions, registration misrepresentations, withheld requested information, and unpaid fines or fees.

Paid fundraisers face annual disclosure checks

Beginning May 6, 2026, professional fundraisers and fundraising consultants must disclose more information when applying or renewing. This includes compensation, projected contributions available to charity, and specified orders and convictions. Fundraisers must report prior-calendar-year contributions and their use; consultants must report net fees and their use. Registrations expire one year after issuance. Renewal requires meeting the original requirements and applying at least 30 days before expiration.

Court fines for charity violations capped

Beginning May 6, 2026, court fines for charitable solicitation violations are capped at $2,500 per violation. The cap limits the penalty imposed on people or organizations that violate the chapter. It does not create a payment to donors or other households.

Debt provider delegates face state reviews

Beginning May 6, 2026, Utah can examine people carrying out a debt-management provider’s duties. Reviews can cover their activities, books, accounts, and records to check compliance. The consumer protection division can charge the examined person its reasonable examination expenses. The law sets no dollar amount and does not make clients responsible for that charge.

Fitness centers pay late renewal fees

Beginning May 6, 2026, fitness centers owe $25 for each month or partial month a complete renewal application is late. The fee runs from facility registration expiration until the center submits a complete application. It is added to the regular renewal fee.

Phone sellers face registration and security

Beginning May 6, 2026, nonexempt sellers must register before covered calls originate in or reach Utah, or they operate there. Registration lasts one year; renewal applications are due at least 30 days before expiration. Sellers must pay application and screening costs, provide agent details and fingerprints, consent to checks, and disclose specified convictions from the past 10 years. Required bonds or deposits are $25,000 for sellers with fewer than 10 employees, or $50,000 with 10 or more. Those amounts apply without a chapter violation in the prior three years; any seller or affiliate violation raises security to $75,000.

Ride companies face yearly registration rules

Beginning May 6, 2026, transportation network companies must register and pay a fee before operating in Utah. Applications must include agent details, insurance information, drug-and-alcohol and discrimination policies, and other required information. Registration lasts one year; renewals are due at least 30 days before expiration, and incorrect or incomplete information needs updates within 30 days. The division can start denial, suspension, or revocation proceedings when action serves the public interest and a listed ground applies. Grounds include misleading filings, legal violations, specified fraud or dishonesty findings or convictions, misrepresentations, withheld requested information, and unpaid fines or fees.

Ride-app oversight loses specific enforcement tools

Beginning May 6, 2026, the Division loses its specified authority to audit ride-app company records, including driver records. The repealed authority allowed audits up to twice yearly or at any time to investigate a complaint. The law also removes the specific authority to fine companies up to $500 per chapter violation. These repeals do not establish that all other enforcement remedies are removed.

Schools face filing fees and deadlines

Beginning May 6, 2026, the division must set a registration-statement filing fee for postsecondary schools. The law removes the requirement for a graduated fee schedule but does not state the new amount. Schools renewing registration certificates must apply at least 30 days before expiration. Schools renewing state authorization must submit a registration statement at least 30 days before authorization expires.

Sellers must keep state filings current

Beginning May 6, 2026, covered filers must keep their information with the Division of Consumer Protection current. They must update a filing within 30 days after its information becomes incorrect or incomplete.

Solar retailers face registration and screening

Beginning July 1, 2026, solar retailers must register when they or their representatives operate in Utah or contact Utah customers. Applicants must provide registered-agent details and financial security; registration generally lasts one year. Specified theft, fraud, or dishonesty convictions within the prior 10 years disqualify applicants or participants. Participants must submit fingerprints, consent to background checks, and pay associated costs; publicly traded corporations registered with the SEC are exempt from these history and screening requirements. The division may extend registration by up to six months to stagger expiration dates.

Consumer complaints get limited public access

Covered complaints submitted to Utah’s consumer protection division are not public records unless reclassified as public under the law. This protects complaint privacy while limiting public access. The supplied provision does not state its effective date.

Credit firms face rules and exemptions

Beginning May 6, 2026, credit services firms must register before regulated work and disclose ownership, management, agents, legal actions, programs, contracts, and rule-required information. Registration lasts one year; firms must correct incomplete or wrong information within 30 days and seek renewal at least 30 days before expiration. The state can start denial, suspension, or revocation proceedings when public interest and a listed ground both support action. Grounds include defective filings, specified violations, orders or convictions, misrepresentation, missing requested information, and unpaid fines or fees. Sales representatives need no separate bond or deposit when covered by the firm’s security through its name or written confirmation from the firm and issuer; letters of credit no longer qualify.

Fundraisers keep records but file less

Beginning May 6, 2026, paid charitable fundraisers must keep detailed campaign records for five years after a campaign ends. Records include revenue, expenses, accounts, scripts, charity approval, supervisors, contributions collected and passed to charity, and charity-paid fundraiser expenses. The law removes the prior advance-submission and post-campaign report requirements. The Division can also accept substantially similar information that charities or fundraisers filed with another state, federal agency, or organization.

Legal funding access expands with enforcement

Beginning May 6, 2026, individuals, not just business entities, can apply to register as legal funding providers. Providers cannot claim state endorsement, omit required material facts, or file material facts they know, or should know, are misleading. The division administers the chapter and can impose administrative fines up to $2,500 per violation. It can also seek court fines up to $2,500 per violation. Court remedies include orders stopping violations, surrender of money gained through violations, and payments to consumers.

Annual training requirement is repealed

Beginning May 6, 2026, Utah repeals an annual training requirement. The supplied text does not identify who had to complete the training or what it covered. It does not establish the practical effect on households.

Translation and original document rules repealed

Beginning May 6, 2026, Utah repeals two provisions titled “Translations—Prohibited acts.” It also repeals a provision governing treatment of original documents. The supplied text does not explain the removed rules or identify the people affected. Their practical effects cannot be determined from this text.

Two background check requirements are repealed

Beginning May 6, 2026, Utah repeals criminal background check requirements in two parts of state law. The supplied text does not identify who was checked or which activities the checks covered. It does not establish specific effects on costs, access, or safety.

Chatbot enforcement shifts toward consumer officials

Beginning May 6, 2026, Utah’s consumer protection division can sue over mental health chatbot violations. Courts can impose civil penalties authorized by that chapter. The law removes the Attorney General’s duty to advise or represent the division on request. It also removes the Attorney General’s authority to sue on the division’s behalf to collect a penalty.

More charitable appeals fall under oversight

Beginning May 6, 2026, charitable oversight covers entities claiming a charitable purpose and seeking public contributions, or making appeals suggesting that purpose. Covered causes include education, public health, conservation, civic and social welfare work, and specified fraternal benefits. Sales and donation appeals using a charity’s name or saying proceeds support charity also count as charitable solicitation. Vending tags promising proceeds to a specific charity qualify regardless of who places them. However, the professional fundraising consultant category now covers individuals rather than persons generally: paid planners or advisers who do not solicit, hold donations, or hire paid solicitors or receivers.

Consumer penalty deposit requirements are removed

Beginning May 6, 2026, Utah removes several chapter-specific requirements for depositing fines and civil penalties. Telemarketing and lawyer-referral collections lose their specified deposit requirements for the Consumer Protection Education and Training Fund. Automatic-renewal collections lose their specified General Fund deposit requirement. These provisions do not name replacement destinations or state collection amounts.

Debt-service dollar amounts get rounding rules

Beginning May 6, 2026, the Division follows specific rounding rules when adjusting covered statutory dollar amounts for inflation. Amounts in Section 13-42-123 are rounded to the nearest dollar. Other covered amounts are rounded to the nearest $100. Rounding can raise or lower the calculated amount.

Solar retailers must maintain consumer security

Beginning May 6, 2026, solar retailers must maintain a state-approved surety bond or certificate of deposit. With no covered violation in the past three years, $100,000 applies below 10 employees and below 500 kilowatts in annual sales. With no such violation, $200,000 applies with at least 10 employees or annual sales above 500 kilowatts. The requirement is $300,000 when the retailer or an affiliated person had a covered violation during those three years. This financial security supports consumer protection while placing a funding obligation on retailers.

Sponsors & Cosponsors

Sponsor

Todd Weiler
Republican • Senate

Cosponsors

Ashlee Matthews
Democratic • House

Roll Call Votes

All Roll Calls

Yes: 119 • No: 1

Senate vote • 2/27/2026

Senate/ concurs with House amendment

Yes: 22 • No: 0

House vote • 2/26/2026

House/ substituted

Yes: 0 • No: 0