Cutter Law and Almeida Law Group File Lawsuit Alleging Unlawful 'Junk Fees' on Cal Parks' Reservation Site, Oakland, California - May 8, 2025

OAKLAND, Calif., May 8, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- Plaintiffs filed a class action lawsuit challenging what they allege are unlawful 'junk fees' charged on the California Department of Parks and Recreation camping reservation website, ReserveCalifornia.com. The website is run by the government contracting company Tyler Technologies, Inc.

The suit alleges that Tyler Technologies imposes unlawful last-minute transaction fees on reservations that are booked through Reserve California, often increasing the cost of a reservation by more than 20%. The lawsuit further contends that customers are falsely led to believe that the reservation fees are being paid to and kept by Cal Parks, when in reality, Tyler Technologies keeps the reservation fees for itself.

Internal government records filed in the lawsuit reflect that the fees kept by Tyler Technologies are projected to add up to over $37 million in fiscal year 2025/26 and $398 million over the life of the contract.

Effective July 1, 2024, California enacted the Honest Pricing Act, S.B. 478, a law that explicitly bans "junk fee" practices by prohibiting businesses from "[a]dvertising, displaying, or offering a price for a good or service that does not include all mandatory fees or charges." The Honest Pricing Act was met with widespread support from consumer advocates and state officials, with the California Office of the Attorney General issuing public guidance that under the new law "the price a Californian sees should be the price they pay."

According to the lawsuit, under its contract with Cal Parks, Tyler Technologies is "obligat[ed] to comply with federal and California laws and regulations" in operating the website. The lawsuit claims that Tyler Technologies has not met its obligation.

"What we see here is an out of state company coming into California, ignoring our laws, and violating the terms of its contract with the state," said Wesley M. Griffith, one of the attorneys who filed the lawsuit. "Perhaps even more troubling, Tyler Technologies' design and operation of the Cal Parks reservation website creates the false impression that these unlawful fees are being kept by Cal Parks, which is grossly underfunded. These junk fees take money away from park operations."

The lawsuit states that only the junk fees charged and kept by Tyler Technologies are at issue, and that any revenue retained by Cal Parks is not being challenged.

"The bottom line is that what Tyler Technologies is doing is not just deceptive, it's also illegal," said John Roussas, another of the attorneys involved. "This isn't some mom-and-pop shop. This is a large, sophisticated company with dedicated legal and compliance departments. Tyler Technologies knew—or should have known—better."

Tyler Technologies is a publicly traded company (NYSE symbol: TYL), with reported annual revenue of $2.13 billion in 2024, and a market capitalization of approximately $23 billion.

"These unavoidable, surprise charges that add no value to consumers are precisely the type of junk fees that the FTC and the State of California are cracking down on to promote transparent pricing and fair competition," said Karen Dahlberg O'Connell, another attorney who is involved in the lawsuit.

The class action lawsuit seeks to represent all customers who were charged a junk fee that was kept by Tyler Technologies. Plaintiffs state that Tyler Technologies' practices violate the California Consumer Legal Remedies Act, the California Honest Pricing Act, California's False Advertising Law, and California's Unfair Competition Law, among other laws.

The case is Chowning vs. Tyler Technologies, Inc., United States District Court for the Northern District of California, Case No. 3:25-cv-04009. Consumer advocacy attorneys Wesley M. Griffith and John Roussas of Cutter Law P.C. and Karen Dahlberg O'Connell of Almeida Law Group, LLC represent plaintiffs in the lawsuit.

Media Contact: Wesley M. Griffith, 530-490-3178, [email protected] (through May 9) and [email protected] (effective May 10).

SOURCE Cutter Law, P.C.