SB 766 (Chapter 354, Statutes of 2025), Civil Code Title 1.5B and Vehicle Code 11709.2

SB 766 notice requirements: dealer sign, cancel notice, contract

SB 766 notice requirements from 1 October 2026: the 36-point dealer sign wording, the separate 3-day cancel notice and the first-page contract warning.

Updated 4 September 2026 · 9 min read · Written from the public text of the law; sources at the end.

SB 766 (the California Combating Auto Retail Scams Act, Chapter 354, Statutes of 2025) requires three separate pieces of paper from every California dealer from 1 October 2026: a wall sign in each sales office, cubicle and contract room; a stand-alone notice handed to the buyer of any used vehicle sold or leased at $50,000 or less; and a fixed paragraph on the first page of every sale and lease contract. The wording of the sign and the contract paragraph is set by statute. The content of the cancel notice is set by statute, but no form has been published.

The old "THERE IS NO COOLING-OFF PERIOD UNLESS YOU OBTAIN A CONTRACT CANCELLATION OPTION" sign and contract box are repealed on the same day. Keeping them up after 1 October 2026 is a misstatement of the law.

The wall sign: Vehicle Code 11709.2

SB 766 repeals the current Vehicle Code 11709.2 and adds a new one that becomes operative on 1 October 2026. The new subdivision (a) reads:

Every dealer shall conspicuously display a physical notice, in at least 36-point type, in each sales office and sales cubicle of a dealer's established place of business where written terms of specific sale or lease transactions are discussed with prospective purchasers or lessees, and in each room of a dealer's established place of business where sale and lease contracts are regularly executed that states the following:

The statutory text of the sign is:

CALIFORNIA DOES NOT HAVE A COOLING-OFF PERIOD FOR NEW VEHICLES. BUT IF YOU PURCHASED OR LEASED A USED VEHICLE FOR $50,000 OR LESS, YOU HAVE 3 DAYS TO CANCEL THIS CONTRACT FOR ANY REASON. ADDITIONAL RESTRICTIONS MAY APPLY, INCLUDING A RESTOCKING FEE. ASK THE DEALER FOR MORE INFORMATION ABOUT HOW TO EXERCISE THIS RIGHT.

Four points about the sign:

"Every dealer" includes one that sells only new vehicles or only vehicles above $50,000; the sign does not depend on your inventory.
"Physical notice" replaces the old "notice, not less than 8 inches high and 10 inches wide." The size rule is now a type size, at least 36 points, which is half an inch for a capital letter. A screen saver or a tablet does not meet "physical".
Placement is unchanged from the old section: every sales office and cubicle where written terms of a specific deal are discussed, and every room where contracts are regularly signed. A single sign at reception does not cover a six-desk floor.
Print the text as written. The statute quotes it, so a paraphrase is not the notice.

The motorcycle and off-highway addendum

Subdivision (b) of the new section adds a line for mixed lots:

If the dealer also sells or leases motorcycles or off-highway motor vehicles at the same location as vehicles subject to the right to cancel, the physical notice shall contain the following additional language, in at least 36-point type:

This cooling-off period also does not apply to the sale of a motorcycle or an off-highway motor vehicle subject to registration under California law. See the vehicle contract for details.

If you sell only cars and light trucks, leave it off. If you sell both at one address, it goes on the same physical notice, in the same 36-point minimum.

The separate cancel notice: Civil Code 1784.43(b)

For every used vehicle sold or leased at retail for $50,000 or less, you must give the buyer or lessee a copy of a disclosure titled "3-Day Right to Cancel Used Car Purchase or Lease" on a separate document. The title is quoted in the statute, so use it as written. "Separate document" means it cannot be a paragraph inside the contract, and the statute says this applies "notwithstanding Section 2981.9", the single-document rule for conditional sale contracts.

If the transaction was negotiated primarily in Spanish, Chinese, Tagalog, Vietnamese or Korean (the languages in Civil Code 1632(b)), the disclosure must also be provided in that language.

The disclosure must "clearly and conspicuously" contain all nine of the following:

#	Required content	Statute
1	Name of the selling or leasing dealer and of the buyer or lessee	1784.43(b)(1)
2	Description and VIN of the vehicle	1784.43(b)(2)
3	The time within which the buyer must exercise the right and return the vehicle	1784.43(b)(3)
4	A statement that you cannot charge for the right, but may charge a restocking fee, describing how both parts of the fee (the 1.5 percent fee and the per-mile charge) are calculated	1784.43(b)(4)
5	A statement that the right cannot be exercised if the vehicle has been driven more than 400 miles	1784.43(b)(5)
6	A statement that the right applies only if the restocking fee (unless deducted from the refund), the vehicle (lien-free, same condition allowing for wear and tear and post-delivery defects) and any other cash or items received are personally delivered during business hours when the buyer cancels	1784.43(b)(6)
7	A statement that you may require the buyer to sign documents reasonably necessary to complete the cancellation and refund	1784.43(b)(7)
8	A statement that if you have sold or started transferring title to the trade-in, you will pay the greater of the contract value, the amount you sold it for, or fair market value, and that the refund may be reduced to satisfy debt secured by the trade-in	1784.43(b)(8)
9	A statement that if you say you sold the trade-in, you must give the buyer a copy of the sale document, with the purchaser's personal information redacted	1784.43(b)(9)

Item 4 must describe the 1.5 percent fee with its $200 floor and $600 cap and the $1 per mile charge over 250 miles; the arithmetic is in /california-sb-766/sb-766-restocking-fee-mileage-refund/. Items 3 and 6 are where dealers will get into trouble. For item 3, write the actual last date and your closing time, not just "three days". For item 6, the words "personally delivered" and "during business hours" matter: a vehicle left on the lot at night with the keys in the drop box is not a valid cancellation on the face of the statute.

What the statute does not require

The old contract cancellation option agreement under Vehicle Code 11713.21 had to include a signature line and a sample election sentence. Civil Code 1784.43(b) does not. Adding a signature block for the buyer's election to cancel, odometer lines at delivery and return, and a space for the date and time of cancellation makes the receipt required by 1784.43(a)(3)(B) easier to produce.

As of September 2026 the DMV has not published a form for this disclosure, a regulation under the CARS Act, or an Occupational Licensing bulletin on it. The DMV's only public statement is a December 2025 summary of new laws. Until a form appears, you need your own document that covers the nine items.

The first-page contract warning: Civil Code 1784.43(e)

Subdivision (e) fixes the words that go on the first page of the purchase or lease agreement:

The dealer will clearly and conspicuously disclose on the first page of the purchase or lease agreement the following:

CALIFORNIA DOES NOT HAVE A COOLING-OFF PERIOD FOR NEW VEHICLES. HOWEVER, IF YOU PURCHASED OR LEASED A USED VEHICLE FOR $50,000 OR LESS, YOU HAVE 3 DAYS TO CANCEL THIS CONTRACT FOR ANY REASON. ADDITIONAL RESTRICTIONS MAY APPLY, INCLUDING A RESTOCKING FEE. You have up to 3 days to return the vehicle to the dealer and cancel this contract and obtain a refund. Please review the disclosure, which the dealer is required by law to provide, for the details about this right and how to exercise it.

SB 766 wires this paragraph into the contract statutes. The new Civil Code 2982(r), operative 1 October 2026, says simply: "The contract shall contain the disclosure identified in subdivision (e) of Section 1784.43." It replaces the old 2982(r) box ("THERE IS NO COOLING-OFF PERIOD UNLESS YOU OBTAIN A CONTRACT CANCELLATION OPTION") that sat above the signature line in 12-point and 10-point bold type. The new Civil Code 2985.8(e) does the same for lease contracts, replacing the old 8-point "THERE IS NO COOLING OFF PERIOD" box.

Note the differences from the wall sign: the contract paragraph says "HOWEVER" where the sign says "BUT", it has no "ASK THE DEALER" sentence, and it adds a second paragraph in sentence case. Do not copy one into the other.

The statute puts the paragraph on the first page and requires it to be clear and conspicuous, but it does not set a type size or a box. The old 2982(r) rules (12-point heading, 10-point text, circumscribed by a line) are repealed with it. Because 2982(r) applies to every conditional sale contract, the paragraph appears on new-vehicle contracts too, which is why it opens by saying there is no cooling-off period for new vehicles.

Sizes and places at a glance

Notice	Where	Size	Wording
Wall sign (Vehicle Code 11709.2(a))	Each sales office, each sales cubicle where written terms are discussed, each room where contracts are regularly signed	Physical, at least 36-point type	Fixed by statute
Motorcycle addendum (11709.2(b))	On the same sign, only where motorcycles or off-highway vehicles are sold at that location	At least 36-point type	Fixed by statute
Cancel notice (Civil Code 1784.43(b))	Separate document handed to the buyer or lessee of a used vehicle at $50,000 or less	"Clearly and conspicuously"; no point size stated	Nine required items; title fixed
Contract paragraph (Civil Code 1784.43(e), 2982(r), 2985.8(e))	First page of every purchase or lease agreement	"Clearly and conspicuously"; no point size stated	Fixed by statute

The other written disclosures SB 766 adds

These are not cancellation notices, but they are new paper in the same deal:

Any written statement about an add-on during a negotiation must say at least once that the add-on is not required and the customer can buy or lease the vehicle without it (Civil Code 1784.41(b)).
Any written monthly payment figure must be accompanied at least once by the total the customer will pay over the term at that payment, and by the down payment or trade-in value the total assumes (1784.41(c)).
Any written comparison of payment options that discusses lower monthly payments must say that lower payments often increase the total paid (1784.41(d)).
The vehicle's total price must appear in advertisements for a specific vehicle and in your first written response about a specific vehicle (1784.41(a)). See /california-sb-766/sb-766-total-price-advertising-rules/.

The add-on, payment and comparison disclosures may be folded into the pre-contract disclosure already required by Civil Code 2982.2 (1784.41(e)), and the add-on and payment ones must also be in the negotiating language where 1632(b) applies.

Next steps

Order a physical sign with the exact 11709.2(a) text at 36 points or larger, one per sales office, cubicle and contract room; add the (b) sentence if you sell motorcycles or off-highway vehicles at that address.
Take down the old "no cooling-off period unless you obtain a contract cancellation option" signs on 1 October 2026, not before.
Ask your forms supplier or DMS vendor for a contract and lease form with the 1784.43(e) paragraph on page one, effective 1 October 2026.
Draft the "3-Day Right to Cancel Used Car Purchase or Lease" document with all nine items, in English plus Spanish, Chinese, Tagalog, Vietnamese and Korean versions as your customer base requires.
Keep a copy of every cancel notice and contract for two years under Civil Code 1784.44 (longer under the DMV and finance rules in /california-sb-766/sb-766-compliance-checklist-independent-dealers/).
The right itself, and who gets it, is in /california-sb-766/sb-766-three-day-right-to-cancel/.

Frequently asked questions

What must the SB 766 dealer sign say?

From 1 October 2026 Vehicle Code 11709.2 requires a physical notice in at least 36-point type with the statutory text, which states that California has no cooling-off period for new vehicles, that a used vehicle bought or leased for $50,000 or less can be cancelled within 3 days for any reason, that restrictions including a restocking fee may apply, and that the buyer should ask the dealer how to exercise the right. The exact wording is quoted in the guide and must be printed as written.

Where does the SB 766 sign have to be posted?

In every sales office and sales cubicle where written terms of a specific sale or lease are discussed with customers, and in every room where sale and lease contracts are regularly executed. It must be a physical notice, not a screen.

Is there a DMV form for the SB 766 three-day cancel notice?

Not as of September 2026. Civil Code 1784.43(b) lists what the separate document titled 3-Day Right to Cancel Used Car Purchase or Lease must contain, but the DMV has not published a form or a regulation. Dealers must draft their own.

Does the contract itself need SB 766 wording?

Yes. Civil Code 1784.43(e), applied to sale contracts by Civil Code 2982(r) and to leases by Civil Code 2985.8(e), requires a fixed paragraph on the first page of the purchase or lease agreement, replacing the old no cooling-off box.

Do I need the motorcycle addendum on the sign?

Only if you sell or lease motorcycles or off-highway vehicles at the same location as vehicles subject to the right. Then the sign must add, in at least 36-point type, that the cooling-off period does not apply to a motorcycle or an off-highway motor vehicle.

Does the cancel notice have to be in Spanish?

If the deal was negotiated primarily in Spanish, Chinese, Tagalog, Vietnamese or Korean, Civil Code 1784.43(b) requires the disclosure to be provided in that language as well as in English.

Template kit · PDF + CSV

CA Used-Car Cancel Notice Kit

For California used-car dealers selling vehicles at $50,000 or less. The SB 766 cancel notice, wall-sign wording, first-page contract warning, add-on and total-price checklist, and a sale log.

$49 one-time · instant download · no account

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Blank templates built from the public law. Not legal advice, and not a filled-in document.

Sources

This guide is general information written from public statutes and agency materials as of 4 September 2026. Laws and agency rules change, and agencies sometimes read a statute differently from its text. It is not legal, tax or customs advice for your situation. Check the sources above or ask a licensed professional before you rely on it.