Texas 2015 - 84th Regular

Texas House Bill HB1199 Compare Versions

Version 1 (Old)

Version 2 (New)

Old	New	Differences
1	1	84R23746 JSC-F
2	2	By: Simpson, Oliveira, Keffer, Price, et al. H.B. No. 1199
3	3	Substitute the following for H.B. No. 1199:
4	4	By: Oliveira C.S.H.B. No. 1199
5	5
6	6
7	7	A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
8	8	AN ACT
9	9	relating to deceptive representations or other conduct concerning
10	10	certain synthetic substances as a violation of the Deceptive Trade
11	11	Practices-Consumer Protection Act.
12	12	BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
13	13	SECTION 1. Section 17.46(b), Business & Commerce Code, is
14	14	amended to read as follows:
15	15	(b) Except as provided in Subsection (d) of this section,
16	16	the term "false, misleading, or deceptive acts or practices"
17	17	includes, but is not limited to, the following acts:
18	18	(1) passing off goods or services as those of another;
19	19	(2) causing confusion or misunderstanding as to the
20	20	source, sponsorship, approval, or certification of goods or
21	21	services;
22	22	(3) causing confusion or misunderstanding as to
23	23	affiliation, connection, or association with, or certification by,
24	24	another;
25	25	(4) using deceptive representations or designations
26	26	of geographic origin in connection with goods or services;
27	27	(5) representing that goods or services have
28	28	sponsorship, approval, characteristics, ingredients, uses,
29	29	benefits, or quantities which they do not have or that a person has
30	30	a sponsorship, approval, status, affiliation, or connection which
31	31	he does not;
32	32	(6) representing that goods are original or new if
33	33	they are deteriorated, reconditioned, reclaimed, used, or
34	34	secondhand;
35	35	(7) representing that goods or services are of a
36	36	particular standard, quality, or grade, or that goods are of a
37	37	particular style or model, if they are of another;
38	38	(8) disparaging the goods, services, or business of
39	39	another by false or misleading representation of facts;
40	40	(9) advertising goods or services with intent not to
41	41	sell them as advertised;
42	42	(10) advertising goods or services with intent not to
43	43	supply a reasonable expectable public demand, unless the
44	44	advertisements disclosed a limitation of quantity;
45	45	(11) making false or misleading statements of fact
46	46	concerning the reasons for, existence of, or amount of price
47	47	reductions;
48	48	(12) representing that an agreement confers or
49	49	involves rights, remedies, or obligations which it does not have or
50	50	involve, or which are prohibited by law;
51	51	(13) knowingly making false or misleading statements
52	52	of fact concerning the need for parts, replacement, or repair
53	53	service;
54	54	(14) misrepresenting the authority of a salesman,
55	55	representative or agent to negotiate the final terms of a consumer
56	56	transaction;
57	57	(15) basing a charge for the repair of any item in
58	58	whole or in part on a guaranty or warranty instead of on the value of
59	59	the actual repairs made or work to be performed on the item without
60	60	stating separately the charges for the work and the charge for the
61	61	warranty or guaranty, if any;
62	62	(16) disconnecting, turning back, or resetting the
63	63	odometer of any motor vehicle so as to reduce the number of miles
64	64	indicated on the odometer gauge;
65	65	(17) advertising of any sale by fraudulently
66	66	representing that a person is going out of business;
67	67	(18) advertising, selling, or distributing a card
68	68	which purports to be a prescription drug identification card issued
69	69	under Section 4151.152, Insurance Code, in accordance with rules
70	70	adopted by the commissioner of insurance, which offers a discount
71	71	on the purchase of health care goods or services from a third party
72	72	provider, and which is not evidence of insurance coverage, unless:
73	73	(A) the discount is authorized under an agreement
74	74	between the seller of the card and the provider of those goods and
75	75	services or the discount or card is offered to members of the
76	76	seller;
77	77	(B) the seller does not represent that the card
78	78	provides insurance coverage of any kind; and
79	79	(C) the discount is not false, misleading, or
80	80	deceptive;
81	81	(19) using or employing a chain referral sales plan in
82	82	connection with the sale or offer to sell of goods, merchandise, or
83	83	anything of value, which uses the sales technique, plan,
84	84	arrangement, or agreement in which the buyer or prospective buyer
85	85	is offered the opportunity to purchase merchandise or goods and in
86	86	connection with the purchase receives the seller's promise or
87	87	representation that the buyer shall have the right to receive
88	88	compensation or consideration in any form for furnishing to the
89	89	seller the names of other prospective buyers if receipt of the
90	90	compensation or consideration is contingent upon the occurrence of
91	91	an event subsequent to the time the buyer purchases the merchandise
92	92	or goods;
93	93	(20) representing that a guarantee or warranty confers
94	94	or involves rights or remedies which it does not have or involve,
95	95	provided, however, that nothing in this subchapter shall be
96	96	construed to expand the implied warranty of merchantability as
97	97	defined in Sections 2.314 through 2.318 and Sections 2A.212 through
98	98	2A.216 to involve obligations in excess of those which are
99	99	appropriate to the goods;
100	100	(21) promoting a pyramid promotional scheme, as
101	101	defined by Section 17.461;
102	102	(22) representing that work or services have been
103	103	performed on, or parts replaced in, goods when the work or services
104	104	were not performed or the parts replaced;
105	105	(23) filing suit founded upon a written contractual
106	106	obligation of and signed by the defendant to pay money arising out
107	107	of or based on a consumer transaction for goods, services, loans, or
108	108	extensions of credit intended primarily for personal, family,
109	109	household, or agricultural use in any county other than in the
110	110	county in which the defendant resides at the time of the
111	111	commencement of the action or in the county in which the defendant
112	112	in fact signed the contract; provided, however, that a violation of
113	113	this subsection shall not occur where it is shown by the person
114	114	filing such suit he neither knew or had reason to know that the
115	115	county in which such suit was filed was neither the county in which
116	116	the defendant resides at the commencement of the suit nor the county
117	117	in which the defendant in fact signed the contract;
118	118	(24) failing to disclose information concerning goods
119	119	or services which was known at the time of the transaction if such
120	120	failure to disclose such information was intended to induce the
121	121	consumer into a transaction into which the consumer would not have
122	122	entered had the information been disclosed;
123	123	(25) using the term "corporation," "incorporated," or
124	124	an abbreviation of either of those terms in the name of a business
125	125	entity that is not incorporated under the laws of this state or
126	126	another jurisdiction;
127	127	(26) selling, offering to sell, or illegally promoting
128	128	an annuity contract under Chapter 22, Acts of the 57th Legislature,
129	129	3rd Called Session, 1962 (Article 6228a-5, Vernon's Texas Civil
130	130	Statutes), with the intent that the annuity contract will be the
131	131	subject of a salary reduction agreement, as defined by that Act, if
132	132	the annuity contract is not an eligible qualified investment under
133	133	that Act or is not registered with the Teacher Retirement System of
134	134	Texas as required by Section 8A of that Act; [or]
135	135	(27) taking advantage of a disaster declared by the
136	136	governor under Chapter 418, Government Code, by:
137	137	(A) selling or leasing fuel, food, medicine, or
138	138	another necessity at an exorbitant or excessive price; or
139	139	(B) demanding an exorbitant or excessive price in
140	140	connection with the sale or lease of fuel, food, medicine, or
141	141	another necessity; or
142	142	(28) in the production, sale, distribution, or
143	143	promotion of a synthetic substance that produces and is intended to
144	144	produce an effect when consumed or ingested similar to, or in excess
145	145	of, the effect of a controlled substance or controlled substance
146	146	analogue, as those terms are defined by Section 481.002, Health and
147	147	Safety Code:
148	148	(A) making a deceptive representation or
149	149	designation about the synthetic substance; or
150	150	(B) causing confusion or misunderstanding as to
151	151	the effects the synthetic substance causes when consumed or
152	152	ingested.
153	153	SECTION 2. The change in law made by this Act applies only
154	154	to a cause of action that accrues on or after the effective date of
155	155	this Act. A cause of action that accrues before the effective date
156	156	of this Act is governed by the law in effect immediately before the
157	157	effective date of this Act, and that law is continued in effect for
158	158	that purpose.
159	159	SECTION 3. This Act takes effect September 1, 2015.