Contracts: consumer goods and services: dispute resolution provisions.

Senator Umberg's consumer protection legislation restricts dispute resolution terms in consumer contracts to matters directly related to the transaction's core elements - the use, payment, or provision of goods, services, money, or credit. The measure adds new parameters to California's Civil Code governing how businesses can structure conflict resolution provisions in consumer agreements.

Under the proposed framework, consumer use agreements - defined as contracts between consumers and providers for goods, services, money, or credit - must limit their dispute resolution mechanisms to issues specifically tied to the transaction itself. The legislation declares any attempts to waive these restrictions void and unenforceable as contrary to public policy. Courts are directed to interpret these provisions broadly in service of consumer protection.

The measure maintains existing consumer safeguards while establishing these new limitations, explicitly stating that its requirements supplement rather than replace current legal obligations. The bill preserves all rights and remedies available under other laws, positioning its dispute resolution restrictions as an additional layer of consumer contract regulation within California's broader consumer protection framework.