By: Phillips (Senate Sponsor - Seliger) H.B. No. 2468
(In the Senate - Received from the House April 26, 2011;
April 29, 2011, read first time and referred to Committee on
Business and Commerce; May 10, 2011, reported favorably by the
following vote: Yeas 9, Nays 0; May 10, 2011, sent to printer.)
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to providing a patron of a pay-to-park or valet parking
service with certain information; providing a civil penalty.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Subtitle C, Title 5, Business & Commerce Code, is
amended by adding Chapter 106 to read as follows:
CHAPTER 106. PAY-TO-PARK AND VALET PARKING SERVICES
Sec. 106.001. DEFINITIONS. In this chapter:
(1) "Pay-to-park service" means a business that
provides a place to park the motor vehicles of patrons of a public
accommodation in a garage, lot, or other facility for a fee.
(2) "Public accommodation" means any:
(A) inn, hotel, or motel;
(B) restaurant, cafeteria, or other facility
principally engaged in selling food for consumption on the
premises;
(C) bar, nightclub, or other facility engaged in
selling alcoholic beverages for consumption on the premises;
(D) motion picture house, theater, concert hall,
stadium, or other place of exhibition or entertainment; or
(E) other facility used by or open to members of
the public.
(3) "Valet parking service" means a parking service
through which the motor vehicles of patrons of a public
accommodation are parked for a fee by a third party who is not an
employee of the public accommodation.
Sec. 106.002. APPLICABILITY OF CHAPTER. This chapter does
not apply to a pay-to-park or valet parking service:
(1) operated by the owner of:
(A) a restaurant, cafeteria, or other facility
principally engaged in selling food for consumption on the
premises; or
(B) an inn, hotel, or motel; and
(2) provided exclusively to patrons of the public
accommodation described by Subdivision (1).
Sec. 106.003. REQUIREMENT OF CONTACT INFORMATION. (a) The
receipt or claim ticket that an operator of a pay-to-park or valet
parking service provides to a patron must state the name, address,
and telephone number of the owner of the pay-to-park or valet
parking service.
(b) If a pay-to-park service does not provide a patron with
a receipt or claim ticket, the operator shall prominently display
the name, address, and telephone number of the owner of the
pay-to-park service on a sign on or immediately adjacent to the
payment receptacle or other device for making payment for the
service.
(c) For purposes of this section, "owner" does not include
the owner of the property on which the pay-to-park or valet parking
service is provided unless the service is also owned by the owner of
the property.
Sec. 106.004. CIVIL PENALTY. A pay-to-park or valet
parking service that violates this chapter is subject to a civil
penalty not to exceed $200 for each violation.
Sec. 106.005. SUIT FOR CIVIL PENALTY. The attorney general
or a county or district attorney may bring an action to recover a
civil penalty imposed under Section 106.004.
SECTION 2. This Act takes effect September 1, 2011.
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