81R10770 JAM-F
By: Thompson H.B. No. 2591
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to certain prohibited acts by registered property tax
consultants.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Chapter 1152, Occupations Code, is amended by
adding Subchapter E-1 to read as follows:
SUBCHAPTER E-1. PROHIBITED ACTS
Sec. 1152.231. GENERAL PROHIBITED ACTS. (a) A person
required to register under this chapter may not appear at an
appraisal review board hearing acting under a registered senior
property tax consultant unless the property tax consultant has, for
at least the two years preceding the date of the hearing:
(1) been engaged and employed on a full-time basis as a
property tax consultant;
(2) performed property tax consultant related
services as an employee of a property owner; or
(3) performed appraisal services under a registration
under Chapter 1151.
(b) A person required to register under this chapter may not
mail or provide on an Internet website, as part of a public
solicitation of business, a retainer agreement or fee agreement.
(c) A person required to register under this chapter may not
serve as a registered senior property tax consultant for more than
10 registered property tax consultants.
(d) A person required to register under this chapter may not
sign a request for arbitration, or make an arbitration deposit on
behalf of a property owner, under Section 41A.03, Tax Code.
(e) A person required to register under this chapter may not
file a protest under Chapter 41, Tax Code, without the written
approval of the property owner.
(f) A person required to register under this chapter may not
be a party to, or benefit from, the forgery, alteration, or changing
of an agent appointment, exemption application, protest, or other
legal document that is filed with or presented to an appraisal
district, an appraisal review board, or a taxing unit.
(g) A person required to register under this chapter may not
file a motion or protest concerning residential property on behalf
of a person who the registrant does not represent unless:
(1) the registrant has written authorization by
e-mail, facsimile, letter, or any other written medium from:
(A) that person; or
(B) another person, other than the agent or the
firm that employs the agent, who is authorized by the person to
designate agents under Section 1.111, Tax Code, at the time the
motion or protest is filed; and
(2) the registrant retains a copy of the person's
written authorization, for inspection by the department on request,
until at least the second anniversary of the date of the
representation.
Sec. 1152.232. PROHIBITED ACTS: SOLICITATION OF BUSINESS
AND ADVERTISING. (a) Unless the recipient of the communication is
another registrant, or has a family, close personal, or prior
professional relationship with the registrant, a person required to
register under this chapter may not solicit professional employment
from a prospective client in a written, recorded, or electronic
communication without including the words "advertising material"
on the outside envelope, if any, and at the beginning and ending of
any recorded or electronic communication.
(b) A person required to register under this chapter may
not, in a public solicitation for business:
(1) offer economic incentives based on the success or
lack of success of the representation; or
(2) represent that the fee for services rendered
includes the hiring of legal services.
(c) A person required to register under this chapter may
not, as part of a solicitation for professional employment from a
prospective client who has not affirmatively indicated an interest
in receiving solicitations from the registrant, provide any
analysis or characterization of the appraisal or level of taxation
of the person's property unless the registrant:
(1) has conducted an appraisal of the property in
compliance with the Uniform Standards of Professional Appraisal
Practice, as applicable to the year to which the appraisal applies;
(2) certifies in the communication that the appraisal
was conducted as provided by Subdivision (1); and
(3) maintains a copy of the communication, the
appraisal, and the certification for inspection by the department
for at least two years.
(d) A person required to register under this chapter may not
solicit a property tax consulting assignment by assuring a specific
outcome.
Sec. 1152.233. PROHIBITED ACTS: USE OF INTERNET WEBSITE.
(a) A person required to register under this chapter may not
maintain an Internet website for any purpose associated with the
provision of tax consulting services by the registrant that has a
domain name or other Internet address that implies that the website
is a government website.
(b) A person required to register under this chapter may not
use or maintain an Internet website for the purpose of soliciting
clients if the website does not identify the registrant prominently
on the home page of the website.
Sec. 1152.234. PROHIBITED ACTS: CERTAIN LEGAL ACTIONS. (a)
A person required to register under this chapter may not:
(1) engage the services of an attorney for purposes of
filing an appeal under Chapter 42, Tax Code, without the prior
written consent of the client; or
(2) pay, offer to pay, contract to pay, or advance the
payment of a filing fee for purposes of filing an appeal under
Chapter 42, Tax Code.
(b) A person required to register under this chapter may not
appear as a designated expert witness in an appeal under Chapter 42,
Tax Code, in which a remedy under Section 42.26, Tax Code, is sought
if the person or the person's employer represented the owner of the
property that is the subject of the appeal at the protest before the
appraisal review board, unless the property tax consultant:
(1) is registered under Chapter 1151 as an appraiser;
and
(2) holds an industry-recognized national appraisal
designation.
(c) A person required to register under this chapter may
not:
(1) solicit a client for an attorney for the purpose of
filing an appeal under Chapter 42, Tax Code, in a manner that
results in compensation to the property tax consultant; or
(2) recommend an attorney for the purpose of filing an
appeal under Chapter 42, Tax Code, if the property tax consultant
receives compensation in connection with the appeal.
SECTION 2. This Act takes effect September 1, 2009.