# California — Gift card expiration, fee and cash-redemption rules by state

For California, expiration rule is unlawful for any person or entity to sell a gift certificate to a purchaser that contains any of the following: (1) An expiration date; dormancy/service fee rule is (2) A service fee, including, but not limited to, a service fee for dormancy, except as provided in subdivision (f); cash redemption threshold is less than fifteen dollars ($15); covered instruments is distributed by the issuer to a consumer pursuant to an awards, loyalty, or promotional program without any money or other thing of value being given in exchange for the gift certificate by the consumer; statute citation is Cal. Civ. Code § 1749.5, recorded from its source on 2026-08-18.

- **State:** California _(verified: appears in the quote below)_
- **Expiration rule:** unlawful for any person or entity to sell a gift certificate to a purchaser that contains any of the following: (1) An expiration date _(verified: appears in the quote below)_
- **Dormancy/service fee rule:** (2) A service fee, including, but not limited to, a service fee for dormancy, except as provided in subdivision (f) _(verified: appears in the quote below)_
- **Cash redemption threshold:** less than fifteen dollars ($15) _(verified: appears in the quote below)_
- **Covered instruments:** distributed by the issuer to a consumer pursuant to an awards, loyalty, or promotional program without any money or other thing of value being given in exchange for the gift certificate by the consumer _(verified: appears in the quote below)_
- **Statute citation:** Cal. Civ. Code § 1749.5 _(our reading, not quoted from the source)_

## What the source says

> (a) It is unlawful for any person or entity to sell a gift certificate to a purchaser that contains any of the following: (1) An expiration date. (2) A service fee, including, but not limited to, a service fee for dormancy, except as provided in subdivision (f). (b) (1) A gift certificate sold after January 1, 1997, is redeemable in cash for its cash value or subject to replacement with a new gift certificate at no cost to the purchaser or holder. (2) Notwithstanding paragraph (1), a gift certificate with a cash value of less than fifteen dollars ($15) is redeemable in cash for its cash value. (c) Paragraph (2) of subdivision (b) shall not apply to a gift certificate that is donated to a nonprofit or a charitable organization without any money or other thing of value being given in exchange if the gift certificate has a disclaimer in at least 10-point font that the card is not redeemable for cash under California state law. (d) A gift certificate sold without an expiration date is valid until redeemed or replaced. (e) This section does not apply to any of the following gift certificates issued on or after January 1, 1998, if the expiration date appears in capital letters in at least 10-point font on the front of the gift certificate: (1) A gift certificate that is distributed by the issuer to a consumer pursuant to an awards, loyalty, or promotional program without any money or other thing of value being given in exchange for the gift certificate by the consumer.

## Source

- https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/codes_displaySection.xhtml?lawCode=CIV&sectionNum=1749.5

Last verified: 2026-08-18. Review by: 2027-08-18.
Part of [Gift card expiration, fee and cash-redemption rules by state](https://referencesource.org/gift-card-consumer-protections-by-state/).