A terms-change notice is the company's way of saying the deal you already agreed to is about to shift, sometimes on a date only a few weeks away. Don't treat it as junk mail.
Should you keep using the service and assume nothing will change on your bill?
Not if the new fees matter. Read the effective date first. A checking account, a subscription, and a lease do not share one federal script. This page is for people in the United States who received a notice and want a written way to answer. It is not a kit for businesses announcing new terms.
What that notice is trying to do
Most senders want your silence. They name a future date and say that staying means you accept.
Thing is, "continued use equals acceptance" is the company's line. It is not a magic switch. It only has a chance of sticking if your original contract allowed later changes, and if the new terms are not unfair or deceptive.
I know these emails look like every other policy update you've archived since forever, same bland subject line, same "please take a moment to review," and it is very easy to assume the change will never touch your actual bill, which is exactly how a new monthly fee or a new dispute clause gets in. That is the usual trap here.
The Federal Trade Commission has said that quietly rewriting terms of service can be unfair or deceptive, including when a company uses data people shared under older rules. A footer link is not a heads-up.
An app policy is not a bank disclosure, and a lease is not a free social account.
Deposit accounts use a 30-day federal clock
Banks and credit unions are under Truth in Savings rules in Regulation DD. For many changes that cost you more, the institution must mail or deliver notice at least 30 calendar days before the change takes effect. Count calendar days, not business days.
CDs have separate maturity mailings. Longer-term accounts often need 30 days. Shorter ones can be 10.
Some items do not need a fresh notice. Check-printing fees are a common example in the rule. Variable rates that were already explained can move without a new 30-day letter.
| What changed | Federal timing the rule describes | Practical next step |
|---|---|---|
| An adverse change on a deposit account | Mail or deliver at least 30 calendar days before the effective date | Compare the new fee to your old disclosures, then close the account if you refuse the change |
| CD over one year | Disclosures before maturity, commonly 30 days | Decide whether to renew or take the payout |
| CD over one month but not over one year | A shorter window, often 10 days | Same decision, less time |
If your fee-hike letter showed up a week before the new charge, save it. Late notice is a fact you can use.
Leases are not app terms
A landlord usually cannot rewrite a fixed-term lease with the same email blast an app uses. Your signed lease and state landlord-tenant law control rent and house rules.
Subscriptions and stored cards
Streaming, software, and membership sites often treat a banner as enough. Cancel before the effective date if you reject the new terms. Do it in the billing portal when you can.
Watch the notice for:
- A new price or a new billing cycle
- A new arbitration clause or class-action waiver
- Harder cancellation steps, or a claim that silence is consent
Screenshot the cancel screen. Save the email. If a charge posts after you canceled, that screenshot is what you attach later.
State automatic-renewal laws can add extra reminders. Those statutes are not identical nationwide.
Sample letter for a terms change you do not accept
Copy this and fill the brackets. Send it to the address or email on the notice. Keep a copy.
Subject: I reject the new terms for account [number]
Dear [Company] Customer Service,
I got your notice dated [date] about changes to my [checking account / subscription / other product], effective [effective date].
I do not agree to those changes. Please take this email as my written rejection.
Please confirm you received this. Do not apply the new fees, new arbitration language, or other listed changes to my account. If you cannot keep the prior terms, cancel or close the account on [date before the change], send a final statement, and stop later automatic charges.
Account name: [name] Account or order number: [number] Email on file: [email] Date sent: [today]
Sincerely, [Your name] [Street address] [Phone]
If the notice includes a separate arbitration opt-out address, say you are opting out and use that address too. Those opt-out windows can be short. Mail it in time, not the day after.
The letter will not automatically erase a fee, to be honest. It puts a date on your rejection. That date is what you show a bank, a card issuer, or a regulator if the company bills you anyway.
Paper you should keep
Hold onto these:
- Full notice, including email headers or the postmark
- Your old terms or last fee schedule
- The reply you sent, plus proof of delivery
- Cancellation or account-closing confirmation
- The first statement that shows a new charge
Put the account number on mailed pages. It sounds fussy. It saves a week later.
If they already took the new amount
Work this sequence.
- Write the company once more. Ask for a reversal and attach your earlier rejection or cancel confirmation.
- For a credit card charge, open a billing dispute with the issuer and upload the same papers.
- For debit or ACH, ask your bank what it needs for an incorrect electronic transfer.
- For a bank or credit union fee that skipped a proper 30-day notice, you can complain to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.
For a subscription that feels deceptive, you can complain to the FTC. Have the notice in front of you when you file.
Turns out the argument is only as strong as the dates on the papers you kept. A notice with no effective date is a weak file. So is a cancel email you cannot find.
Send it before the date on the letter
Open the notice tonight if you still have it. Mark the effective date on your calendar, then send the reply early enough that you have a dated copy if a charge posts anyway.