81R12528 JAM-F
By: Hegar S.B. No. 1870
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to the regulation of property tax consultants.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Section 1152.152, Occupations Code, is amended
by adding Subsection (c) to read as follows:
(c) A registered senior property tax consultant or an
attorney described by Subsection (a)(2) may not employ, claim an
association with, or sponsor more than 10 registered property tax
consultants.
SECTION 2. Section 1152.156(a), Occupations Code, is
amended to read as follows:
(a) In addition to satisfying the requirements of Section
1152.155, an applicant for registration as a property tax
consultant must:
(1) complete at least 30 [15] classroom hours of
educational courses approved by the executive director, including
at least four hours of instruction on laws and legal issues in this
state related to property tax consulting services and pass a
competency examination under Section 1152.161; or
(2) if the person is eligible for registration under
Section 1152.155(b), submit to the commission evidence that the
applicant has completed at least four classroom hours of
educational programs or courses on the laws and legal issues in this
state related to property tax consulting services.
SECTION 3. Subchapter D, Chapter 1152, Occupations Code, is
amended by adding Section 1152.161 to read as follows:
Sec. 1152.161. PROPERTY TAX CONSULTANT REGISTRATION
EXAMINATION. (a) The executive director shall:
(1) adopt a competency examination for registration
as a property tax consultant; and
(2) establish the standards for grading and passing
the examination.
(b) To be eligible to take the examination, an applicant
must pay to the department an examination fee.
(c) The examination must:
(1) test the applicant's knowledge of:
(A) property taxation;
(B) the property tax system;
(C) property tax administration;
(D) ethical standards; and
(E) general principles of appraisal, accounting,
and law as they relate to property tax consulting services; and
(2) be graded according to rules adopted by the
commission.
(d) The department shall offer the examination at times and
places designated by the executive director.
SECTION 4. 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 5. Not later than December 31, 2009, the executive
director of the Texas Commission of Licensing and Regulation shall
adopt the examination required by Section 1152.161, Occupations
Code, as added by this Act.
SECTION 6. The change in law made by this Act to Section
1152.156(a), Occupations Code, applies only to an application for
registration as a property tax consultant that is submitted to the
Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation on or after March 1,
2010. An application for registration submitted before that date
is governed by the law in effect at the time the application was
submitted, and the former law is continued in effect for that
purpose.
SECTION 7. This Act takes effect immediately if it receives
a vote of two-thirds of all the members elected to each house, as
provided by Section 39, Article III, Texas Constitution. If this
Act does not receive the vote necessary for immediate effect, this
Act takes effect September 1, 2009.