SB 95 California Senate · 2025-2026 Regular Session

Sellers of travel: travel consolidators: fraud.

Summary

Existing law regulates sellers of travel, as defined, and requires a seller of travel to annually register with the Attorney General. Existing law, unless an exception applies, requires a seller of travel to establish a trust fund to deposit money received from persons for travel services and prohibits the seller of travel from withdrawing money from the trust account except for specified purposes, including to make refunds to the passenger. Existing law exempts a seller of travel from the requirement to establish a trust account under specified circumstances, including if the seller of travel is a participant in a Consumer Protection Deposit Plan or uses a Consumer Protection Escrow Plan and meets specified requirements. Existing law imposes an obligation on a seller of travel either to provide the air or sea transportation or travel service purchased by the passenger or to make a refund within a certain period of time, except as specified. Existing law establishes the Travel Consumer Restitution Corporation to provide restitution to a person aggrieved, as defined, and provides for payment of claims from the Travel Consumer Restitution Fund established by the Travel Consumer Restitution Corporation. This bill would specify the term "seller of travel" includes a travel consolidator, as defined. The bill would require an air carrier to refund a person who purchased a ticket or voucher for air transportation from a seller of travel if the person is a victim of fraud committed by the seller of travel, the air carrier had actual knowledge of the seller of travel's fraudulent business practice, and the person was unable to procure a refund from the seller of travel within a reasonable time. If the seller of travel is not registered, the bill would specify that the sale is voidable by the purchaser. Because a violation of the provisions regulating sellers of travel is a misdemeanor or a felony, depending on the circumstances, this bill would expand the scope of a crime and would therefore impose a state-mandated local crime. The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse local agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that reimbursement. This bill would provide that no reimbursement is required by this act for a specified reason.

Bill status failed 1 of 4 stages cleared

Introduction

Jan 2025

Committee Review

Floor Vote

Governor

Introduced Jan 23, 2025 Last action Feb 2, 2026

Maddy AI version diff · 3 comparisons

What changed between versions

03/12/25 - Amended Senate → 04/10/25 - Amended Senate · 6 edits · Apr 10, 2025

MODERATE

The April amendment to SB 95 removed the Penal Code Section 777 jurisdiction amendment, broadened the definition of 'travel consolidator' to include vouchers and air carriers more generally, expanded the conditions under which an air carrier must refund a fraud victim to include knowledge of a seller's fraudulent business practice (not just fraud), added specific legal definitions for 'fraud' and 'actual knowledge,' and added a prevailing plaintiff attorney's fees provision. These changes make the consumer protection provisions more robust while narrowing the bill's overall scope by dropping the criminal procedure component.

SCOPE

The amendment to Penal Code Section 777 (criminal jurisdiction) was removed entirely, along with its reference in the bill title and digest. The bill now focuses solely on seller of travel regulation.

DEFINITION

The definition of 'travel consolidator' was broadened: 'airline tickets in bulk from an airline' changed to 'tickets or vouchers for air transportation from an air carrier,' and 'consumers' changed to 'passengers.' This captures a wider range of entities and instruments.

New subdivision (b) to Section 17550.31 defines 'fraud' as an act of deceit under Civil Code Section 1710 or an act proscribed under Civil Code Section 1770, and defines 'actual knowledge of the seller of travel's fraudulent business practice' as actual knowledge that the seller is engaged in a course of conduct violating those sections.

REQUIREMENT

The air carrier refund obligation in Section 17550.31 now triggers not only when the carrier has actual knowledge of fraud, but also when it has actual knowledge of the seller of travel's fraudulent business practice. The purchase is also described as 'a ticket or voucher for air transportation' rather than just 'air travel.'

ENFORCEMENT

New subdivision (c) to Section 17550.31 provides that a prevailing plaintiff in an action to enforce rights under the section is entitled to reasonable attorney's fees and costs, creating a private right of action with fee-shifting.

TECHNICAL

Gender-neutral language change: 'he or she' replaced with 'they' in the seller of travel definition. Fiscal committee vote changed from 'no' to 'yes,' indicating a fiscal analysis is now required.

01/23/25 - Introduced → 03/12/25 - Amended Senate · 5 edits · Mar 12, 2025

MODERATE

SB 95 was dramatically expanded from a purely technical amendment to Penal Code Section 777 (fixing pronouns and removing redundant language) into a bill that also adds significant consumer protection provisions for the travel industry. The amended version now defines 'travel consolidator' as a type of seller of travel, requires air carriers to refund fraud victims when they had actual knowledge of the fraud, and makes sales voidable by purchasers if the seller of travel is unregistered. This matters because it creates new financial obligations on air carriers and gives consumers a direct remedy against unregistered travel sellers.

Scope change

Expanded from a narrow technical correction to criminal jurisdiction language into a broader bill that also regulates the travel industry by defining new categories of sellers, imposing refund obligations on air carriers, and creating consumer remedies for unregistered sellers.

DEFINITION

Adds definition of 'travel consolidator' (an entity that buys airline tickets in bulk and resells at a discount) and explicitly includes travel consolidators within the definition of 'seller of travel' under Business and Professions Code Section 17550.1.

REQUIREMENT

Adds new Business and Professions Code Section 17550.31 requiring an air carrier to refund a person who purchased air travel from a seller of travel if the person is a fraud victim, the air carrier had actual knowledge of the fraud, and the person could not get a refund from the seller within a reasonable time.

ENFORCEMENT

Provides that if a seller of travel is not registered under the applicable article, the sale is voidable by the purchaser, giving consumers a direct legal remedy against unregistered sellers.

SCOPE

The bill's scope expanded from a single technical amendment to Penal Code Section 777 (criminal jurisdiction language) to also include amendments and additions to the Business and Professions Code regulating sellers of travel. The fiscal committee and state-mandated local program designations changed from 'no' to 'yes' reflecting the new crime-related provisions.

TECHNICAL

The original Penal Code Section 777 amendment (changing 'him' to 'them', removing redundant 'by law') is retained but renumbered as a later section in the amended bill.

Floor votes

How they voted

No floor votes recorded yet.

Full legislative history

Actions timeline

Total actions

Key actions

Committee

Amendments

May 23, 2025

Upper · Passed

May 23 hearing: Held in committee and under submission.

upper

Apr 23, 2025

Upper · Passed

From committee: Do pass and re-refer to Com. on APPR. (Ayes 13. Noes 0. Page 833.) (April 22). Re-referred to Com. on APPR.

upper

Apr 10, 2025

Upper · Passed

From committee with author's amendments. Read second time and amended. Re-referred to Com. on JUD.

upper

Apr 7, 2025

Upper · Passed

From committee: Do pass and re-refer to Com. on JUD. (Ayes 10. Noes 0. Page 679.) (April 7). Re-referred to Com. on JUD.

upper

Mar 19, 2025

Committee

Re-referred to Coms. on B. P. & E.D. and JUD.

upper

Mar 12, 2025

Upper · Passed

From committee with author's amendments. Read second time and amended. Re-referred to Com. on RLS.

upper

Feb 5, 2025

Committee

Referred to Com. on RLS.

upper

Jan 23, 2025

Introduced

Introduced. Read first time. To Com. on RLS. for assignment. To print.

upper

1 primary · 0 co-sponsors