If you live in Connecticut and the fee at the bottom of your receipt was not in the advertised price, the business just broke the law. As of July 1, 2026, three days ago, hiding mandatory fees became a per se violation of Connecticut’s Unfair Trade Practices Act. The state Attorney General can sue. So can you. The mechanics are worth knowing before your next lease, ticket, or hotel booking.
Public Act 25-44, the fee section of Senate Bill 3, closed the drip-pricing loophole for good. Businesses can no longer advertise, display, or offer a price that leaves out any fee a customer is required to pay to complete the purchase, lease, or rental (CBIA, CT Mirror). That covers rental listings that hide pet, parking, or amenity fees, ticket sites that layer on convenience fees at checkout, hotel reservations that spring resort fees at the front desk, and restaurants with surprise service charges. Government taxes are out. Shipping that legitimately can’t be calculated at purchase is out. Almost everything else is in.
Connecticut is not moving alone. California’s SB-478 took effect July 2024. Minnesota’s price transparency rule went live January 2025. Colorado’s followed this year. The federal FTC junk-fee rule that survived only touches live event tickets and short-term lodging. States are picking up the rest of the country’s checkout page.
Here’s what they don’t tell you about the Connecticut rule. Being a per se CUTPA violation means the AG’s office does not have to prove intent, deception, or extended harm. The fee was hidden. That’s the case. The Attorney General and the Commissioner of Consumer Protection can obtain injunctions, restitution for affected consumers, and civil penalties (CBIA). Individual consumers can also sue under CUTPA and recover actual damages, punitive damages, and attorney’s fees. The private right is quiet, but it’s the reason smart Connecticut businesses will just fix the price display rather than argue.
Do this now. If a Connecticut business charges you a fee that wasn’t in the advertised price, ask in writing for the fee to be removed or the price refunded to match what you saw. If they refuse, file at portal.ct.gov/ag. If you’re renting, screen every listing before you sign: the advertised monthly rent has to include every mandatory periodic fee (parking, storage, amenity, valet trash). If it doesn’t, the listing itself is the CUTPA violation.
If you don’t live in Connecticut, watch your state legislature. Junk fee bills are sitting in a dozen more state houses. When yours passes, your next apartment listing and concert ticket will look different too.
Verdict: dumb math for any Connecticut business still running drip pricing after July 1. Straight consumer win everywhere else. The all-in price has always been what the customer actually pays. Making the ad match the checkout total is not radical. It’s what any honest seller was already doing.
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