Texas 2009 - 81st Regular

Texas Senate Bill SB1870 Compare Versions

Only one version of the bill is available at this time.

Old	New	Differences
1	1	81R12528 JAM-F
2	2	By: Hegar S.B. No. 1870
3	3
4	4
5	5	A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
6	6	AN ACT
7	7	relating to the regulation of property tax consultants.
8	8	BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
9	9	SECTION 1. Section 1152.152, Occupations Code, is amended
10	10	by adding Subsection (c) to read as follows:
11	11	(c) A registered senior property tax consultant or an
12	12	attorney described by Subsection (a)(2) may not employ, claim an
13	13	association with, or sponsor more than 10 registered property tax
14	14	consultants.
15	15	SECTION 2. Section 1152.156(a), Occupations Code, is
16	16	amended to read as follows:
17	17	(a) In addition to satisfying the requirements of Section
18	18	1152.155, an applicant for registration as a property tax
19	19	consultant must:
20	20	(1) complete at least 30 [15] classroom hours of
21	21	educational courses approved by the executive director, including
22	22	at least four hours of instruction on laws and legal issues in this
23	23	state related to property tax consulting services and pass a
24	24	competency examination under Section 1152.161; or
25	25	(2) if the person is eligible for registration under
26	26	Section 1152.155(b), submit to the commission evidence that the
27	27	applicant has completed at least four classroom hours of
28	28	educational programs or courses on the laws and legal issues in this
29	29	state related to property tax consulting services.
30	30	SECTION 3. Subchapter D, Chapter 1152, Occupations Code, is
31	31	amended by adding Section 1152.161 to read as follows:
32	32	Sec. 1152.161. PROPERTY TAX CONSULTANT REGISTRATION
33	33	EXAMINATION. (a) The executive director shall:
34	34	(1) adopt a competency examination for registration
35	35	as a property tax consultant; and
36	36	(2) establish the standards for grading and passing
37	37	the examination.
38	38	(b) To be eligible to take the examination, an applicant
39	39	must pay to the department an examination fee.
40	40	(c) The examination must:
41	41	(1) test the applicant's knowledge of:
42	42	(A) property taxation;
43	43	(B) the property tax system;
44	44	(C) property tax administration;
45	45	(D) ethical standards; and
46	46	(E) general principles of appraisal, accounting,
47	47	and law as they relate to property tax consulting services; and
48	48	(2) be graded according to rules adopted by the
49	49	commission.
50	50	(d) The department shall offer the examination at times and
51	51	places designated by the executive director.
52	52	SECTION 4. Chapter 1152, Occupations Code, is amended by
53	53	adding Subchapter E-1 to read as follows:
54	54	SUBCHAPTER E-1. PROHIBITED ACTS
55	55	Sec. 1152.231. GENERAL PROHIBITED ACTS. (a) A person
56	56	required to register under this chapter may not appear at an
57	57	appraisal review board hearing acting under a registered senior
58	58	property tax consultant unless the property tax consultant has, for
59	59	at least the two years preceding the date of the hearing:
60	60	(1) been engaged and employed on a full-time basis as a
61	61	property tax consultant;
62	62	(2) performed property tax consultant related
63	63	services as an employee of a property owner; or
64	64	(3) performed appraisal services under a registration
65	65	under Chapter 1151.
66	66	(b) A person required to register under this chapter may not
67	67	mail or provide on an Internet website, as part of a public
68	68	solicitation of business, a retainer agreement or fee agreement.
69	69	(c) A person required to register under this chapter may not
70	70	serve as a registered senior property tax consultant for more than
71	71	10 registered property tax consultants.
72	72	(d) A person required to register under this chapter may not
73	73	sign a request for arbitration, or make an arbitration deposit on
74	74	behalf of a property owner, under Section 41A.03, Tax Code.
75	75	(e) A person required to register under this chapter may not
76	76	file a protest under Chapter 41, Tax Code, without the written
77	77	approval of the property owner.
78	78	(f) A person required to register under this chapter may not
79	79	be a party to, or benefit from, the forgery, alteration, or changing
80	80	of an agent appointment, exemption application, protest, or other
81	81	legal document that is filed with or presented to an appraisal
82	82	district, an appraisal review board, or a taxing unit.
83	83	(g) A person required to register under this chapter may not
84	84	file a motion or protest concerning residential property on behalf
85	85	of a person who the registrant does not represent unless:
86	86	(1) the registrant has written authorization by
87	87	e-mail, facsimile, letter, or any other written medium from:
88	88	(A) that person; or
89	89	(B) another person, other than the agent or the
90	90	firm that employs the agent, who is authorized by the person to
91	91	designate agents under Section 1.111, Tax Code, at the time the
92	92	motion or protest is filed; and
93	93	(2) the registrant retains a copy of the person's
94	94	written authorization, for inspection by the department on request,
95	95	until at least the second anniversary of the date of the
96	96	representation.
97	97	Sec. 1152.232. PROHIBITED ACTS: SOLICITATION OF BUSINESS
98	98	AND ADVERTISING. (a) Unless the recipient of the communication is
99	99	another registrant, or has a family, close personal, or prior
100	100	professional relationship with the registrant, a person required to
101	101	register under this chapter may not solicit professional employment
102	102	from a prospective client in a written, recorded, or electronic
103	103	communication without including the words "advertising material"
104	104	on the outside envelope, if any, and at the beginning and ending of
105	105	any recorded or electronic communication.
106	106	(b) A person required to register under this chapter may
107	107	not, in a public solicitation for business:
108	108	(1) offer economic incentives based on the success or
109	109	lack of success of the representation; or
110	110	(2) represent that the fee for services rendered
111	111	includes the hiring of legal services.
112	112	(c) A person required to register under this chapter may
113	113	not, as part of a solicitation for professional employment from a
114	114	prospective client who has not affirmatively indicated an interest
115	115	in receiving solicitations from the registrant, provide any
116	116	analysis or characterization of the appraisal or level of taxation
117	117	of the person's property unless the registrant:
118	118	(1) has conducted an appraisal of the property in
119	119	compliance with the Uniform Standards of Professional Appraisal
120	120	Practice, as applicable to the year to which the appraisal applies;
121	121	(2) certifies in the communication that the appraisal
122	122	was conducted as provided by Subdivision (1); and
123	123	(3) maintains a copy of the communication, the
124	124	appraisal, and the certification for inspection by the department
125	125	for at least two years.
126	126	(d) A person required to register under this chapter may not
127	127	solicit a property tax consulting assignment by assuring a specific
128	128	outcome.
129	129	Sec. 1152.233. PROHIBITED ACTS: USE OF INTERNET WEBSITE.
130	130	(a) A person required to register under this chapter may not
131	131	maintain an Internet website for any purpose associated with the
132	132	provision of tax consulting services by the registrant that has a
133	133	domain name or other Internet address that implies that the website
134	134	is a government website.
135	135	(b) A person required to register under this chapter may not
136	136	use or maintain an Internet website for the purpose of soliciting
137	137	clients if the website does not identify the registrant prominently
138	138	on the home page of the website.
139	139	Sec. 1152.234. PROHIBITED ACTS: CERTAIN LEGAL ACTIONS. (a)
140	140	A person required to register under this chapter may not:
141	141	(1) engage the services of an attorney for purposes of
142	142	filing an appeal under Chapter 42, Tax Code, without the prior
143	143	written consent of the client; or
144	144	(2) pay, offer to pay, contract to pay, or advance the
145	145	payment of a filing fee for purposes of filing an appeal under
146	146	Chapter 42, Tax Code.
147	147	(b) A person required to register under this chapter may not
148	148	appear as a designated expert witness in an appeal under Chapter 42,
149	149	Tax Code, in which a remedy under Section 42.26, Tax Code, is sought
150	150	if the person or the person's employer represented the owner of the
151	151	property that is the subject of the appeal at the protest before the
152	152	appraisal review board, unless the property tax consultant:
153	153	(1) is registered under Chapter 1151 as an appraiser;
154	154	and
155	155	(2) holds an industry-recognized national appraisal
156	156	designation.
157	157	(c) A person required to register under this chapter may
158	158	not:
159	159	(1) solicit a client for an attorney for the purpose of
160	160	filing an appeal under Chapter 42, Tax Code, in a manner that
161	161	results in compensation to the property tax consultant; or
162	162	(2) recommend an attorney for the purpose of filing an
163	163	appeal under Chapter 42, Tax Code, if the property tax consultant
164	164	receives compensation in connection with the appeal.
165	165	SECTION 5. Not later than December 31, 2009, the executive
166	166	director of the Texas Commission of Licensing and Regulation shall
167	167	adopt the examination required by Section 1152.161, Occupations
168	168	Code, as added by this Act.
169	169	SECTION 6. The change in law made by this Act to Section
170	170	1152.156(a), Occupations Code, applies only to an application for
171	171	registration as a property tax consultant that is submitted to the
172	172	Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation on or after March 1,
173	173	2010. An application for registration submitted before that date
174	174	is governed by the law in effect at the time the application was
175	175	submitted, and the former law is continued in effect for that
176	176	purpose.
177	177	SECTION 7. This Act takes effect immediately if it receives
178	178	a vote of two-thirds of all the members elected to each house, as
179	179	provided by Section 39, Article III, Texas Constitution. If this
180	180	Act does not receive the vote necessary for immediate effect, this
181	181	Act takes effect September 1, 2009.