H.R. 1479 — Hotel Fees Transparency Act of 2025

This section establishes the short title of the Act as the “Hotel Fees Transparency Act of 2025.”

This section establishes a federal prohibition on unfair and deceptive advertising of hotel rooms and other short-term rental prices by requiring covered entities to display the total services price clearly, conspicuously, and prominently whenever a price is advertised, to disclose that total price when the service is first shown and throughout the purchase process, and to disclose any government-imposed tax, fee, or assessment before final purchase. It also permits the separate display of individual price components and other nonrequired details so long as they are less prominent than the total services price, and it allows covered entities to enter into indemnification agreements regarding price or fee information shared between contracting covered entities. This section directs the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) to enforce violations of the pricing disclosure requirements as violations of a rule defining an unfair or deceptive act or practice under section 18(a)(1)(B) of the Federal Trade Commission Act (15 U.S.C. 57a(a)(1)(B)). It gives the FTC the same enforcement powers, jurisdiction, duties, penalties, privileges, and immunities it has under the Federal Trade Commission Act, while preserving the FTC’s authority under other laws. This section also authorizes state attorneys general to bring parens patriae civil actions in federal court on behalf of state residents when a practice violates the pricing disclosure requirements. It requires prior written notice to the FTC, including a copy of the complaint, unless notice before filing is not feasible, in which case notice must be given immediately after filing. The FTC may intervene, be heard on all matters, and file appeals. The provision preserves state investigatory powers, bars a state attorney general from suing a defendant already named in an FTC action for the same alleged violation while that FTC case is pending, and allows suit in any federal district meeting venue requirements under 28 U.S.C. § 1391 or another court of competent jurisdiction, with service of process permitted where the defendant is found, transacts business, or where venue is proper. It also allows other authorized state officers to bring the same civil actions subject to the same requirements and limitations.