Defendant’s reliance on an automatic renewal provision is unenforceable as a matter of law and public policy. Even if the service agreement nominally renewed, Defendant’s failure to provide a functioning server capable of maintaining Plaintiff’s existing websites constituted a material breach, discharging any further obligation of renewal or payment. Moreover, New Jersey’s public policy, as expressed in the Automatic Renewal Law (N.J.S.A. 56:12-14 et seq.), rejects undisclosed or unnotified contract renewals. Although that statute applies primarily to consumer contracts, its principles should be applied by analogy to protect a sole-member LLC operating in a consumer-like capacity under an adhesionary service contract. Defendant’s omission of proper notice and failure of performance render any claimed renewal null, void, and unconscionable.
Defendant’s reliance on an automatic renewal provision is unenforceable as a matter of law and public policy. Even if the service agreement nominally renewed, Defendant’s failure to provide a functioning server capable of maintaining Plaintiff’s existing websites constituted a material breach, discharging any further obligation of renewal or payment. Moreover, New Jersey’s public policy, as expressed in the Automatic Renewal Law (N.J.S.A. 56:12-14 et seq.), rejects undisclosed or unnotified contract renewals. Although that statute applies primarily to consumer contracts, its principles should be applied by analogy to protect a sole-member LLC operating in a consumer-like capacity under an adhesionary service contract. Defendant’s omission of proper notice and failure of performance render any claimed renewal null, void, and unconscionable.