By: Carona S.B. No. 1248
(In the Senate - Filed March 6, 2013; March 13, 2013, read
first time and referred to Committee on Business and Commerce;
March 28, 2013, reported adversely, with favorable Committee
Substitute by the following vote: Yeas 9, Nays 0; March 28, 2013,
sent to printer.)
COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE FOR S.B. No. 1248 By: Carona
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to the documentary fee charged in connection with the sale
of certain recreational vehicles and boats.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Section 345.251, Finance Code, is amended by
amending Subsections (a), (b), and (c) and adding Subsection (e) to
read as follows:
(a) A retail seller may charge a documentary fee for
services rendered to, for, or on behalf of a retail buyer in
[preparing,] handling[,] and processing documents relating to the
sale of[, and closing a retail installment transaction involving,]
a motorcycle, motor-driven cycle, moped, all-terrain vehicle,
boat, boat motor, boat trailer, or towable recreational vehicle.
(b) If a documentary fee is charged under this section the
fee:
(1) must be charged to cash buyers and credit buyers;
(2) may not exceed a reasonable amount agreed to by the
retail seller and retail buyer for the documentary services,
subject to a reasonable maximum amount set by rule by the finance
commission [$50]; and
(3) must be disclosed on the buyer's order or retail
installment contract as a separate itemized charge.
(c) A preliminary work sheet on which a sale price is
computed and that is shown to the retail buyer, an order from the
buyer, or a retail installment contract must include in reasonable
proximity to the place on the document where the documentary fee is
disclosed:
(1) the amount of the fee; and
(2) the following notice in type that is bold-faced,
capitalized, or underlined or otherwise conspicuously set out from
the surrounding written material:
"A DOCUMENTARY FEE IS NOT AN OFFICIAL FEE. A
DOCUMENTARY FEE IS NOT REQUIRED BY LAW, BUT MAY BE
CHARGED TO BUYERS FOR HANDLING DOCUMENTS [AND
PERFORMING SERVICES] RELATING TO THE [CLOSING OF A]
SALE. A DOCUMENTARY FEE MAY NOT EXCEED A REASONABLE
AMOUNT AGREED TO BY THE PARTIES THAT IS NOT MORE THAN
THE MAXIMUM AMOUNT ALLOWED BY THE STATE [$50]. THIS
NOTICE IS REQUIRED BY LAW."
(e) The finance commission may adopt rules necessary to
implement and enforce this section.
SECTION 2. This Act takes effect September 1, 2013.
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