Bill protects online sellers from sudden account freezes and fund holds.
H.R. 9799 — Online Sellers’ Bill of Rights Act of 2026 · Filed by Becca Balint (D-VT) · 9 cosponsors · Introduced Jul 21, 2026 · Referred to committee
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What it does
The bill tells the FTC to make rules for big online marketplaces. Amazon and eBay would have to stop freezing seller money or holding goods without warning. Sellers get 30 days' notice before any hold. Sellers get a written reason for the hold. Sellers can sue the platform for money damages. The platform must prove the seller broke the rules.
Who it affects
People who sell things on big online marketplaces would get new protections. Small sellers who depend on these platforms for their job would benefit most.
One thing to notice
Sellers can sue platforms and get triple damages plus lawyer fees. This might lead to more lawsuits even for small rule breaks.
From the analysis of the bill text, linked under Primary records below.
Where it stands
9 cosponsors: 9 Democrats.
- Jul 21, 2026 — Introduced · Congress.gov: “Introduced in House”
- Jul 21, 2026 — Referred to House Committee on the Judiciary · Congress.gov: “Referred to the House Committee on the Judiciary”
Dates and quoted wording are Congress.gov's action record; the timeline shows status changes, not every procedural step.
Words to know
- FTC — The Federal Trade Commission, a government agency that makes rules about fair business practices.
- triple damages — Money paid as punishment that is three times the actual harm caused.
- sue — To take a company to court to ask for money because of harm or broken rules.
How this was measured
Analysis — Quorum's AI read the bill text published by Congress.gov (6,767 characters) on Aug 12, 2026. Section numbers in the findings refer to that text, linked below; transparency and hidden-provision scores are compared against the median of 14,707 analysed bills.
Status and sponsors — Congress.gov's bill record — actions, committee referrals and cosponsors — loaded nightly. The timeline shows status changes, not every procedural action.
As of — page rendered 2026-09-23.
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