Class Action Lawsuit Claims Houzz Illegally Renews Customer Subscriptions Automatically

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A proposed class action lawsuit alleges Houzz Inc. fails to adequately disclose that a consumer will automatically be enrolled in a 12-month subscription to the home design and remodeling platform at the end of the free trial period.

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The 56-page lawsuit claims that Houzz does not clearly inform customers who took advantage of the company’s free-trial offer that, at the end of the trial, they would be automatically charged for and enrolled in a full, 12-month subscription to Houzz Pro and Houzz Essential services that they could not cancel.

With regard to consumers who had existing Houzz subscriptions, the suit claims that the defendant continued to charge them even after they had attempted to cancel their subscriptions before the renewal date.

In either case, the lawsuit says, Houzz makes it “extremely difficult” to cancel a subscription. Cited in the complaint are a slew of complaints left on the Better Business Bureau (BBB) website, Reddit and SiteJabber from customers who all claim that they were unable to cancel the service, not informed of price increases, and were refused refunds for the fraudulent charges.

The complaint goes on to contend that Houzz’s Terms of Use and privacy policy disclaimers are rendered “notably inconspicuous to users” given that they appear in light-grey font on a white background. Secondly, the case claims that the Houzz website intentionally employs unclear, ambiguous phrasing regarding the initial sign-up or sign-in process, creating uncertainty for users as to whether the Terms of Use and privacy policy apply to those who access the site through Google authentication and not by setting up a site-specific password.

Next, the lawsuit says that the page on which a consumer is to select a subscription plan lacks any disclaimer stating that they will automatically be enrolled in a full, contracted annual plan following the trial.

Instead, the website simply advertises “$0/mo” with text underneath elaborating “for the 30 day free trial,” then the monthly price of the plan, the suit shares.

Additionally, the complaint claims that the user is not required to provide any sort of acknowledgement of the obscured terms of service and that no further confirmation of the contract, or their inability to cancel the subscription, is provided in the confirmation email.

The class action lawsuit against Houzz seeks to represent anyone in the United States who, on or before October 21, 2024, was enrolled in an automatically renewing Houzz Pro or Houzz Essential subscription.

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