Consumer · Right to Cancel

Right to Cancel a Purchase: Cooling-Off Periods by State

How many days you have to back out of a door-to-door purchase in each state, the longer windows for timeshares and other categories, and why there is no general three-day right to return a car. Each cited to the statute.

All 50 states published. 45 verified against the official statute; the rest cited to corroborating sources while the official portal is confirmed.Cooling-off is per category, not universal. The three-day rule is about how the sale happened, at your door, not the price tag.

Read this first: there is no 3-day right to return a car

The one cooling-off right that is nearly uniform is for a door-to-door, or home-solicitation, sale: all six states give three business days to cancel, sitting on the federal FTC floor. Some add longer windows for specific categories, California five days for seniors, Florida ten days for timeshares, New York seven days for medical-alert services.

The biggest myth to bust: there is no general three-day right to return a car. The federal rule explicitly excludes vehicles sold at a dealership, and none of these states give an automatic cooling-off window for a completed car purchase. The same logic means an in-store purchase has no cooling-off right either. The rule protects you from a salesperson at your door, not from buyer’s remorse at a counter. Every figure links to the statute, and pages still pending verification say so.

Every state in one table

The door-to-door window, any longer category window, and the statute in each row.

Find your state

Type a state to jump straight to its full right to cancel cooling off guide.

3 business days (34)

State	No-notice window	Statute
California	5 days for seniors	Cal. Civ. Code §1689.6
Connecticut	Saturday counts	Conn. Gen. Stat. §42‑137
Delaware	$25, anywhere	6 Del. C. §4404
Florida	10 days for timeshares	Fla. Stat. §501.025
Georgia		O.C.G.A. §10‑1‑6
Hawaii	30 days if unlicensed	Haw. Rev. Stat. §481C‑2
Illinois		815 ILCS 505/2B
Indiana	Runs from notice	Ind. Code §24‑5‑10‑8
Iowa	$25, incl. charges	Iowa Code §555A.3
Kansas	$25 minimum	K.S.A. 50‑640
Kentucky	10 days if home loan	KRS 367.420
Louisiana	60 days for mail checks	La. R.S. 9:3538
Maine	No dollar minimum	9‑A M.R.S. §3‑502
Maryland	Saturday counts	Md. Code, Com. Law §14‑302
Massachusetts	No work during 3 days	M.G.L. c. 93, §48
Michigan	Saturday excluded	MCL 445.112
Minnesota	Clock from sale date	Minn. Stat. §325G.07
Montana	Phone: until you sign	Mont. Code Ann. §30‑14‑504
Nebraska	Clock from notice	Neb. Rev. Stat. §69‑1603
Nevada	5% or $15 fee	Nev. Rev. Stat. §598.230
New Hampshire	$150 minimum	N.H. Rev. Stat. Ann. §361‑B:2
New Mexico	Covers phone sales	N.M. Stat. Ann. §57‑12‑21
New York	7 days for alarm services	N.Y. Pers. Prop. Law §427
North Dakota	15 days if 65+	N.D. Cent. Code §51‑18‑02
Ohio		Ohio Rev. Code §1345.23
Oregon	Saturday excluded	Or. Rev. Stat. §83.720
Pennsylvania		73 P.S. §201‑7
Rhode Island	Double damages	R.I. Gen. Laws §6‑28‑3
South Dakota	$25, cash or credit	S.D. Codified Laws §37‑24‑5.4
Tennessee	30 days if disguised	Tenn. Code Ann. §47‑18‑703
Texas	3 days for health spas	Tex. Bus. & Com. Code Ch. 601
Vermont	$5 minimum	9 V.S.A. §2454
Virginia	30 days if disguised	Va. Code Ann. §59.1‑21.3
Wisconsin	Clock from notice	Wis. Stat. §423.202

3 business days, credit sales only (11)

State	No-notice window	Statute
Alabama	1 year if no notice given	Ala. Code §5‑19‑12
Colorado	3 years if no notice	C.R.S. §5‑3‑402
Idaho	No limit if no notice	Idaho Code §28‑43‑402
Mississippi	5% fee kept	Miss. Code Ann. §75‑66‑3
Missouri	Credit sales only	Mo. Rev. Stat. §407.705
North Carolina	Credit sales only	N.C. Gen. Stat. §25A‑39
Oklahoma	5% fee kept	Okla. Stat. tit. 14A, §2‑502
South Carolina	Credit sales only	S.C. Code Ann. §37‑2‑502
Utah	Also covers workplace	Utah Code Ann. §70C‑5‑102
West Virginia	No fee if no notice	W. Va. Code §46A‑2‑132
Wyoming	Credit sales only	Wyo. Stat. Ann. §40‑14‑252

5 business days, $10 and up (1)

State	No-notice window	Statute
Alaska	$10 minimum	Alaska Stat. §45.02.350

3 business days, financed sales only (1)

State	No-notice window	Statute
Arizona	Saturday counts	A.R.S. §44‑5002

3 days, Saturdays count (1)

State	No-notice window	Statute
Arkansas	Over $25	Ark. Code Ann. §4‑89‑107

3 business days, financed goods only (1)

State	No-notice window	Statute
New Jersey	Certified mail by 5pm	N.J. Stat. Ann. §17:16C‑61.5

3 days, financed sales only (1)

State	No-notice window	Statute
Washington	Certified mail only	RCW 63.14.154

What these pages are, and what they aren't

Each state page is a reference for the cooling-off right and the neutral steps to use it. They are deliberately not advice for your purchase: the category, the notice, and the deadline can all matter, so each page links to the statute and a consumer-complaint route. This is legal information, not legal advice.