Stop Online Booking Scams Act of 2019

II 116TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION S. 2229 To protect consumers from deceptive practices with respect to online booking of hotel reservations, and for other purposes. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES JULY 23, 2019 Mr. DAINES (for himself and Ms. KLOBUCHAR) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation A BILL To protect consumers from deceptive practices with respect to online booking of hotel reservations, and for other purposes. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Stop Online Booking 4 Scams Act of 2019’’. 5 SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS. 6 In this Act: 7 (1) AFFILIATION CONTRACT.—The term ‘‘affili- 8 ation contract’’ means, with respect to a hotel, a 9 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:55 Jul 27, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2229.IS S2229 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 2 •S 2229 IS contract with the owner of the hotel, the entity that 1 manages the hotel, or the franchisor of the hotel to 2 provide online hotel reservation services for the 3 hotel. 4 (2) COMMISSION.—The term ‘‘Commission’’ 5 means the Federal Trade Commission. 6 (3) EXHIBITION ORGANIZER OR MEETING PLAN- 7 NER.—The term ‘‘exhibition organizer or meeting 8 planner’’ means the person responsible for all as- 9 pects of planning, promoting, and producing a meet- 10 ing, conference, event, or exhibition, including over- 11 seeing and arranging all hotel reservation plans and 12 contracts for the meeting, conference, event, or exhi- 13 bition. 14 (4) OFFICIAL HOUSING BUREAU.—The term 15 ‘‘official housing bureau’’ means the organization 16 designated by an exhibition organizer or meeting 17 planner to provide hotel reservation services for 18 meetings, conferences, events, or exhibitions. 19 (5) PARTY DIRECTLY AFFILIATED.—The term 20 ‘‘party directly affiliated’’ means, with respect to a 21 hotel, a person who has entered into an affiliation 22 contract with the hotel. 23 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:55 Jul 27, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2229.IS S2229 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 3 •S 2229 IS (6) THIRD PARTY ONLINE HOTEL RESERVATION 1 SELLER.—The term ‘‘third party online hotel res- 2 ervation seller’’ means any person that— 3 (A) sells any good or service with respect 4 to a hotel in a transaction effected on the Inter- 5 net; and 6 (B) is not— 7 (i) a party directly affiliated with the 8 hotel; or 9 (ii) an exhibition organizer or meeting 10 planner or the official housing bureau for 11 a meeting, conference, event, or exhibition 12 held at the hotel. 13 SEC. 3. REQUIREMENTS FOR THIRD PARTY ONLINE HOTEL 14 RESERVATION SELLERS. 15 (a) REQUIREMENT.—It shall be unlawful for a third 16 party online hotel reservation seller to advertise, market, 17 or promote the sale of a hotel room reservation or charge 18 or attempt to charge any consumer’s credit card, debit 19 card, bank account, or other financial account for any 20 good or service sold in a transaction effected on the Inter- 21 net, if the third party online hotel reservation seller states 22 or implies that it is, or is affiliated with, the person who 23 owns the hotel or provides the hotel services or accom- 24 modations. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:55 Jul 27, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2229.IS S2229 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 4 •S 2229 IS (b) ENFORCEMENT BY COMMISSION.— 1 (1) UNFAIR OR DECEPTIVE ACTS OR PRAC- 2 TICES.—A violation of subsection (a) by a person 3 subject to such subsection shall be treated as a viola- 4 tion of a rule defining an unfair or deceptive act or 5 practice prescribed under section 18(a)(1)(B) of the 6 Federal Trade Commission Act (15 U.S.C. 7 57a(a)(1)(B)). 8 (2) POWERS OF COMMISSION.— 9 (A) IN GENERAL.—The Commission shall 10 enforce this section in the same manner, by the 11 same means, and with the same jurisdiction, 12 powers, and duties as though all applicable 13 terms and provisions of the Federal Trade 14 Commission Act (15 U.S.C. 41 et seq.) were in- 15 corporated into and made a part of this Act. 16 (B) PRIVILEGES AND IMMUNITIES.—Any 17 person who violates this section shall be subject 18 to the penalties and entitled to the privileges 19 and immunities provided in the Federal Trade 20 Commission Act (15 U.S.C. 41 et seq.). 21 (C) RULEMAKING.— 22 (i) IN GENERAL.—The Commission 23 may promulgate such rules as the Commis- 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:55 Jul 27, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2229.IS S2229 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 5 •S 2229 IS sion considers appropriate to enforce this 1 section. 2 (ii) PROCEDURES.—The Commission 3 shall carry out any rulemaking under 4 clause (i) in accordance with section 553 of 5 title 5, United States Code. 6 (c) ENFORCEMENT BY STATES.— 7 (1) IN GENERAL.—In any case in which the at- 8 torney general of a State has reason to believe that 9 an interest of the residents of the State has been or 10 is being threatened or adversely affected by the en- 11 gagement of any person subject to subsection (a) in 12 a practice that violates such subsection, the attorney 13 general of the State may, as parens patriae, bring 14 a civil action on behalf of the residents of the State 15 in an appropriate district court of the United States 16 to obtain appropriate relief. 17 (2) RIGHTS OF FEDERAL TRADE COMMIS- 18 SION.— 19 (A) NOTICE TO FEDERAL TRADE COMMIS- 20 SION.— 21 (i) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided 22 in clause (iii), the attorney general of a 23 State shall notify the Commission in writ- 24 ing that the attorney general intends to 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:55 Jul 27, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2229.IS S2229 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 6 •S 2229 IS bring a civil action under paragraph (1) 1 before initiating any civil action against a 2 person subject to subsection (a). 3 (ii) CONTENTS.—The notification re- 4 quired under clause (i) with respect to a 5 civil action shall include a copy of the com- 6 plaint to be filed to initiate the civil action. 7 (iii) EXCEPTION.—If it is not feasible 8 for the attorney general of a State to pro- 9 vide the notification required by clause (i) 10 before initiating a civil action under para- 11 graph (1), the attorney general shall notify 12 the Commission immediately upon insti- 13 tuting the civil action. 14 (B) INTERVENTION BY FEDERAL TRADE 15 COMMISSION.—The Commission may— 16 (i) intervene in any civil action 17 brought by the attorney general of a State 18 under paragraph (1); and 19 (ii) upon intervening— 20 (I) be heard on all matters aris- 21 ing in the civil action; and 22 (II) file petitions for appeal of a 23 decision in the civil action. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:55 Jul 27, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2229.IS S2229 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 7 •S 2229 IS (3) INVESTIGATORY POWERS.—Nothing in this 1 subsection may be construed to prevent the attorney 2 general of a State from exercising the powers con- 3 ferred on the attorney general by the laws of the 4 State— 5 (A) to conduct investigations; 6 (B) to administer oaths or affirmations; or 7 (C) to compel the attendance of witnesses 8 or the production of documentary or other evi- 9 dence. 10 (4) STATE COORDINATION WITH FEDERAL 11 TRADE COMMISSION.—If the Commission institutes a 12 civil action or an administrative action with respect 13 to a violation of subsection (a), the attorney general 14 of a State shall coordinate with the Commission be- 15 fore bringing a civil action under paragraph (1) 16 against any defendant named in the complaint of the 17 Commission for the violation with respect to which 18 the Commission instituted such action. 19 (5) VENUE; SERVICE OF PROCESS.— 20 (A) VENUE.—Any action brought under 21 paragraph (1) may be brought in— 22 (i) the district court of the United 23 States that meets applicable requirements 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:55 Jul 27, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2229.IS S2229 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 8 •S 2229 IS relating to venue under section 1391 of 1 title 28, United States Code; or 2 (ii) another court of competent juris- 3 diction. 4 (B) SERVICE OF PROCESS.—In an action 5 brought under paragraph (1), process may be 6 served in any district in which the defendant— 7 (i) is an inhabitant; or 8 (ii) may be found. 9 (6) ACTIONS BY OTHER STATE OFFICIALS.— 10 (A) IN GENERAL.—In addition to civil ac- 11 tions brought by attorneys general under para- 12 graph (1), any other officer of a State who is 13 authorized by the State to do so may bring a 14 civil action under paragraph (1), subject to the 15 same requirements and limitations that apply 16 under this subsection to civil actions brought by 17 attorneys general. 18 (B) SAVINGS PROVISION.—Nothing in this 19 subsection may be construed to prohibit an au- 20 thorized official of a State from initiating or 21 continuing any proceeding in a court of the 22 State for a violation of any civil or criminal law 23 of the State. 24 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:55 Jul 27, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\S2229.IS S2229 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS