Franchising & Distribution Law Blog

In Wells v. Holiday Companies, Inc., No. A12–1476, 2013 WL 777384 (Minn. Ct. App. 2013), the Minnesota Court of Appeals reversed an order granting a motion to dismiss a class action lawsuit alleging that car wash receipts constitute gift cards that cannot expire under state law.

For the past year and a half, various lawsuits have alleged that daily deal coupons, such as those offered by Groupon and Living Social, violate Regulation E’s rules for gift cards because such coupons expire too quickly. Regulation E, found at 12 C.F.R. § 205, et seq., is the Treasury’s official regulations enforcing the gift card provisions of the Credit Card Responsibility Act of 2009. It requires the funds underlying all gift cards to remain valid for at least five years.