Tennessee House Bill HB2180

Tennessee 2025-2026 Regular Session

• Introduced: 2/2/26
• Refer: 2/5/26
• Refer: 3/18/26
• Refer: 4/1/26
• Chaptered: 5/4/26
• Passed: 5/4/26

Caption

AN ACT to amend Tennessee Code Annotated, Title 47, Chapter 18, relative to notice of fees.

Summary

HB2180 adds a new consumer-protection requirement for hotel booking sites and third-party booking sites that advertise ancillary hotel services in Tennessee. If a site lists services such as parking, breakfast, spa treatments, early check-in, or late check-out and those services require extra payment beyond the room rate, the site must clearly disclose that additional fees are required and identify which services carry those fees. The bill also covers situations where the room price is higher because it includes access to some services, requiring disclosure that additional fees may still apply and which services may require them. The bill defines key terms such as “hotel,” “hotel booking site,” “third-party booking site,” “occupancy,” and “ancillary hotel services,” and it excludes short-term rental units from the definition of hotel. It amends the Tennessee Consumer Protection Act to make a violation of the new disclosure rule an unfair or deceptive act or practice, subjecting violators to the Act’s penalties and remedies. The law takes effect July 1, 2026, and applies only to conduct on or after that date.

Impact

The bill expands Tennessee consumer-protection law by creating a specific disclosure obligation for hotel and travel booking platforms and by adding a corresponding prohibited practice to the Tennessee Consumer Protection Act. Hotels themselves are not directly regulated by the new section, but their booking information, pricing structure, and service disclosures on hotel-owned and third-party websites become subject to state law. The measure is aimed at transparency around add-on fees and bundled service pricing in the lodging market, and it may affect online travel agencies, hotel websites, and consumers booking transient accommodations in Tennessee.

Sentiment

The available voting history shows strong support and no recorded opposition in committee, with unanimous or near-unanimous favorable recommendations in both the House Banking and Consumer Affairs Subcommittee and the House Commerce Committee. The bill appears to have been treated as a straightforward consumer-disclosure measure rather than a controversial policy change. No committee transcript was provided, so there is no recorded floor or committee debate reflecting broader public sentiment beyond the favorable votes.

Contention

The main policy issue is how broadly the disclosure requirement reaches and how it applies to different booking models. The bill distinguishes between hotel-owned booking sites and third-party booking sites, and it creates an exception when a third-party site is merely relaying information supplied by a hotel that itself omitted the required fee details. Another potential point of concern is compliance burden for online travel agencies and hotel operators, especially where room rates bundle access to services in different ways. No explicit opposition is shown in the available record, but these disclosure and implementation questions are the most likely areas of contention.