Unfair or deceptive acts or practices in the advertisement or rental of vehicles are prohibited. Unfair or deceptive acts or practices include, but are not limited to, the following:
 1. A representation connected with the advertisement or rental of a vehicle that the purchase of a collision damage waiver is mandatory.

Terms Used In Iowa Code 516D.7

  • Advertisement: means the attempt by dissemination, solicitation, or circulation to directly or indirectly induce any person to enter into any obligation or acquire any title or interest in land offered for sale or lease to the public in this state. See Iowa Code 543C.1
  • Collision damage waiver: means a contract or contractual provision, whether separate from or a part of a rental agreement, whereby the rental company agrees, for a charge, to waive claims against an authorized driver for all, or any portion of, damages to the rental vehicle, loss due to theft of the rental vehicle, or damages resulting from the loss of use of the rental vehicle. See Iowa Code 516D.3
  • Customer: means a person entering into a rental agreement and obtaining the use of a rental vehicle from a rental company under the terms of the rental agreement. See Iowa Code 516D.3
  • following: when used by way of reference to a chapter or other part of a statute mean the next preceding or next following chapter or other part. See Iowa Code 4.1
  • person: means individual, corporation, limited liability company, government or governmental subdivision or agency, business trust, estate, trust, partnership or association, or any other legal entity. See Iowa Code 4.1
  • Placing a block: means any procedure or mechanism which reserves a specified amount of the customer's otherwise available credit on the customer's credit or charge card account so that the amount is not available for future credit purchases. See Iowa Code 516D.3
  • Rental agreement: means a written contract containing the terms and conditions for the use of a rental vehicle by a customer for a term of sixty days or less. See Iowa Code 516D.3
  • Rental company: means a person in the business of providing rental vehicles to customers. See Iowa Code 516D.3
  • Rental vehicle: means a private passenger type vehicle which, upon the execution of a rental agreement, is made available to a customer for the customer's use or other authorized driver's use. See Iowa Code 516D.3
  • United States: includes all the states. See Iowa Code 4.1
 2. Failure to provide disclosures as required by this chapter.
 3. Failure to disclose in a manner likely to be noticed and comprehended in an advertisement, as defined in section 714.16, subsection 1, paragraph “a”, the availability of a collision damage waiver, and the cost of the waiver.
 4. Misrepresentation of a customer‘s need for a collision damage waiver, personal accident insurance, or personal effects insurance.
 5. Misrepresentation of the characteristics or availability of a reserved rental vehicle in order to rent a customer a more expensive vehicle than the one reserved.
 6. Failure to provide a vehicle in the class reserved, or, if the reserved vehicle is out of stock, failure to provide another vehicle in the class reserved or a more expensive vehicle. A replacement vehicle for an out-of-stock reserved vehicle may be provided from the stock of the rental company or from another rental company but, in any event, must be provided at the rate quoted for the vehicle reserved.
 7. Failure to disclose the following material restrictions, where applicable, in response to direct consumer inquiries regarding the price of renting a vehicle, when the rental company discloses a vehicle rental rate, and at the time the reservation is accepted:

 a. Specific geographic restrictions and limitations, other than travel outside the continental United States.
 b. Advance reservation and payment requirements.
 c. The existence of penalties or higher rates that may apply for early or late returns.
 d. Cost of an additional driver fee.
 e. Credit or cash deposit requirements.
 f. Extent of liability for damage or loss and price range of collision damage waiver.
 g. Mileage limitations and charges.
 8. Placement of a block against a customer’s credit limit or charge against a customer’s credit card in the following manner:

 a. Placing a block or charge against a customer’s credit limit without disclosing in the rental agreement in a clear and conspicuous manner the fact that a block or charge will be placed against the customer’s credit card, and the amount of the block or charge. Such disclosure shall also be made orally whenever possible.
 b. Placing a block or charge against a portion or the entirety of the credit limit of the card or otherwise placing a block or charge against the card in excess of the estimated total daily or weekly charges, including taxes and charges of optional services accepted by the customer, stated in the rental agreement multiplied by the number of days of the estimated rental if rented on a daily basis or, if rented on a weekly basis, multiplied by the number of weeks of the estimated rental.
 c. Placing a block or charge against a customer’s credit card and then failing to clear the unused amount of the block or charge against the customer’s credit card after the customer returns the rental vehicle in the same amount of time, subject to credit card company or charge card company availability, as it took the rental company to place the block or charge against the customer’s card when the customer rented the vehicle.
 d. Placing or threatening to place a block or charge on a customer’s credit card when seeking to recover any portion of a claim arising out of damage to, or loss of use of, the rental vehicle, unless, after the rental vehicle is damaged or lost, the rental company determines the exact amount of the repair or replacement costs and the customer authorizes the charge.
 e. Charging an amount to a customer’s credit card for damage to, or loss of use of, a rental vehicle after the customer has left the location where the rental vehicle was returned, unless the customer has authorized the specific charge, in a specific amount, to be charged to the customer’s credit card. This subsection does not apply to a block in the amount of one dollar obtained for authorized charge amounts.
 9. Assessment of additional driver fees for licensed drivers who are spouses or business associates engaged in business activities with the customer to whom the vehicle is rented, other than charges for a person who does not satisfy the rental company’s minimum age requirement, if applicable.
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