I 

114TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 4526 

To amend the Restore Online Shoppers’ Confidence Act to protect consumers 

from deceptive practices with respect to online booking of hotel reservations and to direct the Federal Trade Commission to conduct a study 

with respect to online shopping for hotel reservations, and for other 

purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

FEBRUARY 10, 2016 

Ms. FRANKEL of Florida (for herself, Ms. ROS-LEHTINEN, Mr. SHUSTER, Mr. 

DEUTCH, Mrs. MIMI WALTERS of California, Mr. MURPHY of Florida, 

Ms. CASTOR of Florida, Mr. HECK of Nevada, Mr. HASTINGS, Mr. MILLER of Florida, Mr. POLIQUIN, Mr. QUIGLEY, Mr. TAKANO, and Mr. 

JOHNSON of Georgia) introduced the following bill; which was referred to 

the Committee on Energy and Commerce 

A BILL 

To amend the Restore Online Shoppers’ Confidence Act to 

protect consumers from deceptive practices with respect 

to online booking of hotel reservations and to direct 

the Federal Trade Commission to conduct a study with 

respect to online shopping for hotel reservations, and 

for other purposes. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 


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1 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

2 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Stop Online Booking 

3 Scams Act of 2016’’. 

4 SEC. 2. PROTECTION FROM DECEPTIVE ONLINE BOOKING 

5 PRACTICES. 

6 The Restore Online Shoppers’ Confidence Act (15 

7 U.S.C. 8401 et seq.) is amended— 

8 (1) in section 2, by adding at the end the fol9 lowing new paragraph: 

10 ‘‘(9) Hotel reservation transactions can be eas11 ily made online. Online commerce has created the 

12 opportunity for third party sellers to offer hotel res13 ervations online while another company owns the 

14 hotel or provides the services purchased by the con15 sumer. A consumer should have the utmost clarity 

16 as to which company such consumer is transacting 

17 with online. Actions by third party sellers that mis18 appropriate brand identity, trademark, and other 

19 marketing content are harmful to consumers.’’; 

20 (2) in section 3— 

21 (A) by redesignating subsections (c) and 

22 (d) as subsections (d) and (e), respectively; and 

23 (B) by inserting after subsection (b) the 

24 following new subsection: 

25 ‘‘(c) REQUIREMENTS FOR THIRD PARTY ONLINE

26 HOTEL RESERVATION SELLERS.— 


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1 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—It shall be unlawful for a 

2 third party online hotel reservation seller to charge 

3 or attempt to charge any consumer’s credit card, 

4 debit card, bank account, or other financial account 

5 for any good or service sold in a transaction effected 

6 on the Internet, unless the third party online hotel 

7 reservation seller clearly and conspicuously discloses 

8 to the consumer all material terms of the trans9 action, including— 

10 ‘‘(A) before the conclusion of the trans11 action— 

12 ‘‘(i) a description of the good or serv13 ice being offered; and 

14 ‘‘(ii) the cost of such good or service; 

15 and 

16 ‘‘(B) in a manner that is continuously visi17 ble to the consumer throughout the transaction 

18 process, the fact that the third party online 

19 hotel reservation seller is a third party seller 

20 and is not affiliated with the person who owns 

21 the hotel or provides the hotel services or ac22 commodations. 

23 ‘‘(2) DEFINITIONS.—In this subsection: 

24 ‘‘(A) COMMISSION.—The term ‘Commis25 sion’ means the Federal Trade Commission. 


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1 ‘‘(B) THIRD PARTY ONLINE HOTEL RES2 ERVATION SELLER.—The term ‘third party on3 line hotel reservation seller’ means a person 

4 that sells, or offers for sale, hotel reservations 

5 on the Internet and is not affiliated with the 

6 person who owns the hotel or provides the hotel 

7 services or accommodations.’’; and 

8 (3) in section 6(a), by striking the period at the 

9 end and inserting ‘‘, damages, restitution, or other 

10 compensation on behalf of residents of the State, or 

11 such other relief that the court determines appro12 priate.’’. 

13 SEC. 3. STUDY AND REPORT. 

14 (a) STUDY.—The Federal Trade Commission shall 

15 conduct a study on online hotel reservation shopping. Such 

16 study shall include an assessment of— 

17 (1) the capacity of a consumer to understand 

18 which company such consumer is transacting with 

19 during online hotel reservation shopping; 

20 (2) the extent to which consumers are harmed 

21 by uncertainty as to which company such consumers 

22 are transacting with during online hotel reservation 

23 shopping; and 


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1 (3) whether any practice by a third party online 

2 hotel reservation seller violates the Restore Online 

3 Shoppers’ Confidence Act (15 U.S.C. 8401 et seq.). 

4 (b) REPORT.—Not later than 120 days after the date 

5 of the enactment of this Act, the Federal Trade Commis6 sion shall make publicly available on the website of the 

7 Commission a report that contains the results and conclu8 sions of the study conducted under subsection (a). 

9 (c) THIRD PARTY ONLINE HOTEL RESERVATION

10 SELLER DEFINED.—In this section, the term ‘‘third party 

11 online hotel reservation seller’’ has the meaning given such 

12 term in subsection (c)(2) of section 3 of the Restore On13 line Shoppers’ Confidence Act (15 U.S.C. 8402). 

14 SEC. 4. SENSE OF CONGRESS. 

15 It is the sense of Congress that the Federal Trade 

16 Commission should revise its website to make it easier for 

17 consumers and businesses to report complaints of decep18 tive practices with respect to online booking of hotel res19 ervations. 

Æ 


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