For the purpose of this chapter, the following definitions shall apply:

(a) “Rental company” means a person or entity in the business of renting passenger vehicles to the public.

Ask a litigation question, get an answer ASAP!
Thousands of highly rated, verified litigation lawyers.
Click here to chat with a lawyer about your rights.

(b) “Renter” means any person in a manner obligated under a contract for the lease or hire of a passenger vehicle from a rental company for a period of less than 30 days.

(c) “Additional mandatory charges” means any separately stated charges that the rental company requires the renter to pay to hire or lease the vehicle for the period of time to which the rental rate applies, which are imposed by a governmental entity and specifically relate to the operation of a rental vehicle business, including, but not limited to, a customer facility charge, airport concession fee, tourism commission assessment, vehicle license recovery fee, or other government-imposed taxes or fees.

(d) “Airport concession fee” means a charge collected by a rental company from a renter that is the renter’s proportionate share of the amount paid by the rental company to the owner or operator of an airport for the right or privilege of conducting a vehicle rental business on the airport’s premises.

(e) “Authorized driver” means all of the following:

(1) The renter.

(2) The renter’s spouse, if that person is a licensed driver and satisfies the rental company’s minimum age requirement.

(3) The renter’s employer or coworker, if the employer or coworker is engaged in business activity with the renter, is a licensed driver, and satisfies the rental company’s minimum age requirement.

(4) A person expressly listed by the rental company on that renter’s contract as an authorized driver.

(f) “Customer facility charge” means any fee, including an alternative fee, required by an airport to be collected by a rental company from a renter pursuant to § 50474.21 of the Government Code.

(g) “Damage waiver” means a rental company’s agreement not to hold a renter liable for all or any portion of any damage or loss related to the rented vehicle, any loss of use of the rented vehicle, or any storage, impound, towing, or administrative charges.

(h) “Electronic surveillance technology” means a technological method or system used to observe, monitor, or collect information, including telematics, Global Positioning System (GPS), wireless technology, or location-based technologies. “Electronic surveillance technology” does not include event data recorders (EDR), sensing and diagnostic modules (SDM), or other systems that are used either:

(1) For the purpose of identifying, diagnosing, or monitoring functions related to the potential need to repair, service, or perform maintenance on the rental vehicle.

(2) As part of the vehicle’s airbag sensing and diagnostic system in order to capture safety systems-related data for retrieval after a crash has occurred or in the event that the collision sensors are activated to prepare the decisionmaking computer to make the determination to deploy or not to deploy the airbag.

(i) “Estimated time for replacement” means the number of hours of labor, or fraction thereof, needed to replace damaged vehicle parts as set forth in collision damage estimating guides generally used in the vehicle repair business and commonly known as “crash books.”

(j) “Estimated time for repair” means a good faith estimate of the reasonable number of hours of labor, or fraction thereof, needed to repair damaged vehicle parts.

(k) “Membership program” means a service offered by a rental company that permits customers to bypass the rental counter and go directly to the vehicle previously reserved or select an alternate vehicle. A membership program shall meet all of the following requirements:

(1) The renter initiates enrollment by completing an application on which the renter can specify a preference for type of vehicle and acceptance or declination of optional services.

(2) The rental company fully discloses, prior to the enrollee’s first rental as a participant in the program, all terms and conditions of the rental agreement as well as all required disclosures.

(3) The renter may terminate enrollment at any time.

(4) The rental company fully explains to the renter that designated preferences, as well as acceptance or declination of optional services, may be changed by the renter at any time for the next and future rentals.

(5) An employee is available at the lot where the renter takes possession of the vehicle, to receive any change in the rental agreement from the renter.

(l) “Passenger vehicle” or “vehicle” means a “passenger vehicle” as defined in § 465 of the Vehicle Code.

(m) “Personal vehicle sharing program” means a person or entity that for monetary compensation facilitates sharing or renting passenger vehicles to the public, including via a peer-to-peer internet website, application, or other platform that connects a vehicle owner with a vehicle driver to facilitate sharing or renting a vehicle for consideration, and includes a personal vehicle sharing program as defined in § 11580.24 of the Insurance Code.

(n) “Quote” means an estimated cost of rental provided by a rental company or a third party to a potential customer that is based on information provided by the potential customer and used to generate an estimated cost of rental, including, but not limited to, potential dates of rental, locations, or classes of vehicle.

(o) “Tourism commission assessment” means the charge collected by a rental company from a renter that has been established by the California Travel and Tourism Commission pursuant to § 13995.65 of the Government Code.

(p) “Vehicle license fee” means the tax imposed pursuant to the Vehicle License Fee Law (Part 5 (commencing with Section 10701) of Division 2 of the Revenue and Taxation Code).

(q) “Vehicle registration fee” means any fee imposed pursuant to any provision of Chapter 6 (commencing with Section 9101) of Division 3 of the Vehicle Code or any other law that imposes a fee upon the registration of vehicles in this state.

(r) “Vehicle license recovery fee” means a charge that seeks to recover the amount of any vehicle license fee and vehicle registration fee paid by a rental company for the particular class of vehicle being rented. If imposed, the vehicle license recovery fee shall be separately stated as a single charge in the quote and rental contract.

(Amended by Stats. 2023, Ch. 547, Sec. 1. (AB 893) Effective January 1, 2024.)