By: Hegar S.B. No. 1166
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to certain procedures and civil penalties under the
Deceptive Trade Practices-Consumer Protection Act.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Section 17.47(c), Business & Commerce Code, is
amended to read as follows:
(c) In addition to the request for a temporary restraining
order, or permanent injunction in a proceeding brought under
Subsection (a) of this section, the consumer protection division
may request, and the trier of fact may award, a civil penalty to be
paid to the state. The amount of the penalty shall be [in an amount
of]:
(1) not more than $10,000 per violation, not to exceed
ten times the amount of actual damages, as determined by the trier
of fact; or
(2) not more than $20,000 per violation, as determined
by the trier of fact if the trier of fact determines that the person
intentionally committed the violation[; and
[(2) if the act or practice that is the subject of the
proceeding was calculated to acquire or deprive money or other
property from a consumer who was 65 years of age or older when the
act or practice occurred, an additional amount of not more than
$250,000].
SECTION 2. The changes in law made by this Act apply only to
a violation of the Deceptive Trade Practices-Consumer Protection
Act that occurs on or after the effective date of this Act. A
violation of the Deceptive Trade Practices-Consumer Protection Act
that occurs before the effective date of this Act is governed by the
law in effect on the date the violation occurred, and the former law
is continued in effect for that purpose. For purposes of this
section, a violation occurs before the effective date of this Act if
any element of the violation occurs before that date.
SECTION 3. This Act takes effect September 1, 2013.