When It Comes to Junk Fees, New Jersey Needs to Take Out the Trash
Picture walking into one of OneMain Financial's twenty-six NJ branches, taking out an installment loan marketed as having "clear, up-front terms," and later discovering $826 in loan add-ons — credit "insurance," roadside memberships — buried in the paperwork. Anyone faced with this situation would be furious. On March 16, 2026, Attorney General Jennifer Davenport joined a thirteen-state bipartisan coalition to sue OneMain over roughly $27 million in add-ons sold to New Jersey residents in a single two-year stretch.[1] That case is one chapter in a much larger New Jersey story about junk fees — and the political moment to write the next chapter has arrived.
Thankfully, Governor Mikie Sherrill already weighed in, issuing an Executive Order that described junk fees as "hidden, surprise, or excessively overpriced fees, including those associated with a good or service that provides little or no benefit to the consumer". Sellers impose them through drip pricing, partitioned pricing, dark patterns, and unbundling — the four categories Attorney General Davenport's accompanying Enforcement Statement identifies as violations of the New Jersey Consumer Fraud Act. The White House Council of Economic Advisers estimated the aggregate cost at roughly $90 billion a year, about $650 per household.[2][3]
The concrete harms already touch New Jersey. In December 2025, the FTC and Colorado wrangled a $24 million settlement from Greystar for burying mandatory monthly lease fees in forty- to sixty-page rental agreements at properties from Jersey City to Wayne to Flemington.[4] The FTC alleges Live Nation and Ticketmaster raised final ticket prices 24 to 44 percent above advertised prices — wringing $6.4 billion in mandatory fees between 2019 and 2024.[5] Auto add-ons cited in Davenport's Enforcement Statement carry an average 170 percent markup. New Jersey's own enforcement docket includes an $840,000 judgment against a Union County used-car dealership in 2025.[6] And the harm is not evenly distributed — Sherrill's Executive Order acknowledges that junk-fee practices "disproportionately impact low-income consumers and consumers of color".
Federal action has been narrow, and in places reversed. The FTC's Unfair or Deceptive Fees Rule took effect May 12, 2025 — but only for live-event ticketing and short-term lodging.[7] The CFPB's Credit Card Late Fee Rule was vacated in April 2025 and its Overdraft Rule repealed via Congressional Review Act in May 2025 — restoring roughly $15 billion a year in fees to the finance industry.[8][9] The Fifth Circuit vacated the DOT's Airline Ancillary Fee Rule en banc in February 2026, rolling back another fee protection rule.[10]
But states have been filling the gap: California, Minnesota, and Massachusetts each adopted economy-wide frameworks, and New Jersey enacted its first sector-specific junk-fee statute — a $50 residential rental application fee cap — in January 2026.[11][12][13][14]
NJAC recommends that New Jersey:
Enact the Pricing Fairness Act — an economy-wide amendment to the New Jersey Consumer Fraud Act that codifies Total Price disclosure, bans drip pricing, partitioned pricing, dark patterns, and unbundling, and requires click-to-cancel for negative-option features.
Enforce pricing fairness through the existing Consumer Fraud Act's remedy architecture — treble damages, attorneys' fees, injunctive relief — with a $500 statutory-damages floor and an opt-in meaningful-consent rule for pre-dispute arbitration.
Use Massachusetts' prescriptive rule as the blueprint for the bill's standards, and extend NJOAG's multistate-leadership posture to junk-fee actions.
Prosecute existing New Jersey law aggressively now — the Consumer Fraud Act, the Truth-in-Consumer Contract Act, and the Law Against Discrimination — while the Pricing Fairness Act moves through the 222nd Legislature.
Public support for state junk-fee legislation is unusually unanimous — 80 percent of Democrats, 80 percent of independents, and 78 percent of Republicans back it in national polling.[15] No sensible politician would want to be on the wrong side of this one. Governor Sherrill has done what an executive can do. Attorney General Davenport has done what an attorney general can do. The 222nd Legislature can finish the job — and make New Jersey a junk-fee-free state.
Read the full brief: https://www.antimonopolynj.org/s/NJAC-Junk-Fees-Brief.pdf
Model legislation — NJAC Pricing Fairness Act: https://www.antimonopolynj.org/s/NJAC-Pricing-Fairness-Act.pdf
Take action: https://antimonopolynj.org/take-action
Sources:
[1] Office of the Attorney General. AG Davenport Sues OneMain Financial for Packing Loans With Add-Ons to Extract Hundreds of Millions in Junk Fees From Consumers. State of New Jersey, 2026-03-16. https://www.njoag.gov/ag-davenport-sues-onemain-financial-for-packing-loans-with-add-ons-to-extract-hundreds-of-millions-in-junk-fees-from-consumers/
[2] Governor Mikie Sherrill. Executive Order No. 19. State of New Jersey, Office of the Governor, 2026-06-15. https://nj.gov/infobank/eo/057sherrill/pdf/EO-19.pdf
[3] Office of the Attorney General, Division of Consumer Affairs. Enforcement Statement on Junk Fees. State of New Jersey, 2026-06-15. https://www.njoag.gov/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/Junk-Fees-Enforcement-Statement.pdf
[4] U.S. Federal Trade Commission. Greystar Agrees to Pay $24 Million and Stop Deceptive Advertising Practices as a Result of FTC and Colorado Lawsuit Alleging the Firm Deceived Consumers About Rent Prices. 2025-12-02. https://www.ftc.gov/news-events/news/press-releases/2025/12/greystar-agrees-pay-24-million-stop-deceptive-advertising-practices-result-ftc-colorado-lawsuit
[5] U.S. Federal Trade Commission. FTC Sues Live Nation and Ticketmaster for Engaging in Illegal Ticket Resale Tactics and Deceiving Artists and Consumers about Price and Ticket Limits. 2025-09-17. https://www.ftc.gov/news-events/news/press-releases/2025/09/ftc-sues-live-nation-ticketmaster-engaging-illegal-ticket-resale-tactics-deceiving-artists-consumers
[6] Office of the Attorney General. AG Davenport Announces $840,000 Judgment Against Used Car Dealership BM Motor Cars. State of New Jersey, 2025 (Davenport acting period; pre-confirmation). https://www.njoag.gov/acting-attorney-general-davenport-announces-840000-judgment-protecting-consumers-from-fraud-by-used-car-dealership-bm-motor-cars/
[7] U.S. Federal Trade Commission. Trade Regulation Rule on Unfair or Deceptive Fees (final rule). 2024-12-17. https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2025/01/10/2024-30293/trade-regulation-rule-on-unfair-or-deceptive-fees
[8] Ballard Spahr / Consumer Finance Monitor. Federal Judge Voids CFPB Credit Card Late Fee Rule. Ballard Spahr LLP, 2025-04-16. https://www.consumerfinancemonitor.com/2025/04/16/federal-judge-voids-cfpb-credit-card-late-fee-rule/
[9] U.S. Congress; signed by President Trump. Public Law 119-10 (Congressional Review Act resolution repealing CFPB Overdraft Rule). U.S. Federal Government, 2025-05-09. https://www.consumerfinancemonitor.com/2025/05/12/trump-signs-resolution-nullifying-cfpb-overdraft-rule/
[10] Airlines for America v. Department of Transportation (5th Cir. en banc, vacated), U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit, (2026-02-03). https://news.bgov.com/litigation/biden-era-airline-fee-disclosure-rule-nixed-by-fifth-circuit
[11] State of California. California Senate Bill 478 — Honest Pricing Act (Hidden Fees Statute, Cal. Civ. Code § 1770(a)(29)). 2023-10 (signed); 2024-07-01 (effective); 2024-06 (amended by SB 1524 for restaurants). https://oag.ca.gov/hiddenfees
[12] State of Minnesota. Minnesota Junk Fees Law (HF 3438 / SF 3537, 2024 Minn. Sess. Laws ch. 111). 2024-05-20 (signed); 2025-01-01 (effective). https://www.revisor.mn.gov/bills/93/2024/0/HF/3438/versions/3/pdf/
[13] Massachusetts Office of the Attorney General. Massachusetts Attorney General's Unfair and Deceptive Fees Rule (940 CMR 38.00). Commonwealth of Massachusetts, 2025-03 (issued); 2025-09-02 (effective). https://www.morganlewis.com/pubs/2025/03/massachusetts-attorney-general-issues-expansive-junk-fees-rule
[14] New Jersey Legislature, 221st Session. A4899 — An Act limiting the amount of residential rental property application fee and establishing a penalty (as enacted, P.L.2025, c.405). (As enacted (P.L.2025, c.405), 2026-01-20, Signed by Governor Murphy). https://legiscan.com/NJ/text/A4899/id/3025421
[15] Lake, Celinda (Lake Research Partners); American Economic Liberties Project. National Survey Shows Legislation Banning Junk Fees as a Major Turnout and Voting Issue (memo to interested parties). Lake Research Partners; American Economic Liberties Project, 2024-02-23. https://www.economicliberties.us/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/LRP-AELP-National-Junk-Fee-Survey-Memo-f-2.23.2024.pdf
