Texas 2015 - 84th Regular

Texas House Bill HB2573 Compare Versions

Version 1 (Old)

Version 2 (New)

Old	New		Differences
1		-	84R5255 EES-D
2		-	By: Johnson, Hernandez H.B. No. 2573
	1	+	H.B. No. 2573
3	2
4	3
5		-	A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
6	4		AN ACT
7	5		relating to a deceptive trade practice related to the use of certain
8	6		words to imply that a person who is not an attorney is authorized to
9	7		practice law and the prosecution of a cause of action arising from
10	8		that practice.
11	9		BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
12	10		SECTION 1. Section 17.46(b), Business & Commerce Code, is
13	11		amended to read as follows:
14	12		(b) Except as provided in Subsection (d) of this section,
15	13		the term "false, misleading, or deceptive acts or practices"
16	14		includes, but is not limited to, the following acts:
17	15		(1) passing off goods or services as those of another;
18	16		(2) causing confusion or misunderstanding as to the
19	17		source, sponsorship, approval, or certification of goods or
20	18		services;
21	19		(3) causing confusion or misunderstanding as to
22	20		affiliation, connection, or association with, or certification by,
23	21		another;
24	22		(4) using deceptive representations or designations
25	23		of geographic origin in connection with goods or services;
26	24		(5) representing that goods or services have
27	25		sponsorship, approval, characteristics, ingredients, uses,
28	26		benefits, or quantities which they do not have or that a person has
29	27		a sponsorship, approval, status, affiliation, or connection which
30	28		the person [he] does not;
31	29		(6) representing that goods are original or new if
32	30		they are deteriorated, reconditioned, reclaimed, used, or
33	31		secondhand;
34	32		(7) representing that goods or services are of a
35	33		particular standard, quality, or grade, or that goods are of a
36	34		particular style or model, if they are of another;
37	35		(8) disparaging the goods, services, or business of
38	36		another by false or misleading representation of facts;
39	37		(9) advertising goods or services with intent not to
40	38		sell them as advertised;
41	39		(10) advertising goods or services with intent not to
42	40		supply a reasonable expectable public demand, unless the
43	41		advertisements disclosed a limitation of quantity;
44	42		(11) making false or misleading statements of fact
45	43		concerning the reasons for, existence of, or amount of price
46	44		reductions;
47	45		(12) representing that an agreement confers or
48	46		involves rights, remedies, or obligations which it does not have or
49	47		involve, or which are prohibited by law;
50	48		(13) knowingly making false or misleading statements
51	49		of fact concerning the need for parts, replacement, or repair
52	50		service;
53	51		(14) misrepresenting the authority of a salesman,
54	52		representative or agent to negotiate the final terms of a consumer
55	53		transaction;
56	54		(15) basing a charge for the repair of any item in
57	55		whole or in part on a guaranty or warranty instead of on the value of
58	56		the actual repairs made or work to be performed on the item without
59	57		stating separately the charges for the work and the charge for the
60	58		warranty or guaranty, if any;
61	59		(16) disconnecting, turning back, or resetting the
62	60		odometer of any motor vehicle so as to reduce the number of miles
63	61		indicated on the odometer gauge;
64	62		(17) advertising of any sale by fraudulently
65	63		representing that a person is going out of business;
66	64		(18) advertising, selling, or distributing a card
67	65		which purports to be a prescription drug identification card issued
68	66		under Section 4151.152, Insurance Code, in accordance with rules
69	67		adopted by the commissioner of insurance, which offers a discount
70	68		on the purchase of health care goods or services from a third party
71	69		provider, and which is not evidence of insurance coverage, unless:
72	70		(A) the discount is authorized under an agreement
73	71		between the seller of the card and the provider of those goods and
74	72		services or the discount or card is offered to members of the
75	73		seller;
76	74		(B) the seller does not represent that the card
77	75		provides insurance coverage of any kind; and
78	76		(C) the discount is not false, misleading, or
79	77		deceptive;
80	78		(19) using or employing a chain referral sales plan in
81	79		connection with the sale or offer to sell of goods, merchandise, or
82	80		anything of value, which uses the sales technique, plan,
83	81		arrangement, or agreement in which the buyer or prospective buyer
84	82		is offered the opportunity to purchase merchandise or goods and in
85	83		connection with the purchase receives the seller's promise or
86	84		representation that the buyer shall have the right to receive
87	85		compensation or consideration in any form for furnishing to the
88	86		seller the names of other prospective buyers if receipt of the
89	87		compensation or consideration is contingent upon the occurrence of
90	88		an event subsequent to the time the buyer purchases the merchandise
91	89		or goods;
92	90		(20) representing that a guaranty [guarantee] or
93	91		warranty confers or involves rights or remedies which it does not
94	92		have or involve, provided, however, that nothing in this subchapter
95	93		shall be construed to expand the implied warranty of
96	94		merchantability as defined in Sections 2.314 through 2.318 and
97	95		Sections 2A.212 through 2A.216 to involve obligations in excess of
98	96		those which are appropriate to the goods;
99	97		(21) promoting a pyramid promotional scheme, as
100	98		defined by Section 17.461;
101	99		(22) representing that work or services have been
102	100		performed on, or parts replaced in, goods when the work or services
103	101		were not performed or the parts replaced;
104	102		(23) filing suit founded upon a written contractual
105	103		obligation of and signed by the defendant to pay money arising out
106	104		of or based on a consumer transaction for goods, services, loans, or
107	105		extensions of credit intended primarily for personal, family,
108	106		household, or agricultural use in any county other than in the
109	107		county in which the defendant resides at the time of the
110	108		commencement of the action or in the county in which the defendant
111	109		in fact signed the contract; provided, however, that a violation of
112	110		this subsection shall not occur where it is shown by the person
113	111		filing such suit that the person [he] neither knew or had reason to
114	112		know that the county in which such suit was filed was neither the
115	113		county in which the defendant resides at the commencement of the
116	114		suit nor the county in which the defendant in fact signed the
117	115		contract;
118	116		(24) failing to disclose information concerning goods
119	117		or services which was known at the time of the transaction if such
120	118		failure to disclose such information was intended to induce the
121	119		consumer into a transaction into which the consumer would not have
122	120		entered had the information been disclosed;
123	121		(25) using the term "corporation," "incorporated," or
124	122		an abbreviation of either of those terms in the name of a business
125	123		entity that is not incorporated under the laws of this state or
126	124		another jurisdiction;
127	125		(26) selling, offering to sell, or illegally promoting
128	126		an annuity contract under Chapter 22, Acts of the 57th Legislature,
129	127		3rd Called Session, 1962 (Article 6228a-5, Vernon's Texas Civil
130	128		Statutes), with the intent that the annuity contract will be the
131	129		subject of a salary reduction agreement, as defined by that Act, if
132	130		the annuity contract is not an eligible qualified investment under
133	131		that Act or is not registered with the Teacher Retirement System of
134	132		Texas as required by Section 8A of that Act; [or]
135	133		(27) taking advantage of a disaster declared by the
136	134		governor under Chapter 418, Government Code, by:
137	135		(A) selling or leasing fuel, food, medicine, or
138	136		another necessity at an exorbitant or excessive price; or
139	137		(B) demanding an exorbitant or excessive price in
140	138		connection with the sale or lease of fuel, food, medicine, or
141	139		another necessity; or
142	140		(28) using the translation into a foreign language of
143	141		a title or other word, including "attorney," "lawyer," "licensed,"
144		-	"notary," and "notary public," in any written material, including
145		-	an advertisement, a business card, a letterhead, or stationery, in
146		-	reference to a person who is not an attorney in order to imply that
147		-	the person is authorized to practice law.
	142	+	"notary," and "notary public," in any written or electronic
	143	+	material, including an advertisement, a business card, a
	144	+	letterhead, stationery, a website, or an online video, in reference
	145	+	to a person who is not an attorney in order to imply that the person
	146	+	is authorized to practice law in the United States.
148	147		SECTION 2. Section 17.48, Business & Commerce Code, is
149	148		amended by adding Subsections (c) and (d) to read as follows:
150	149		(c) In an action prosecuted by a district or county attorney
151	150		under this subchapter for a violation of Section 17.46(b)(28),
152	151		three-fourths of any civil penalty awarded by a court must be paid
153	152		to the county where the court is located.
154	153		(d) A district or county attorney is not required to obtain
155	154		the permission of the consumer protection division to prosecute an
156	155		action under this subchapter for a violation of Section
157	156		17.46(b)(28), if the district or county attorney provides prior
158	157		written notice to the division as required by Subsection (b).
159	158		SECTION 3. The change in law made by this Act applies only
160	159		to a cause of action that accrues on or after the effective date of
161	160		this Act. A cause of action that accrued before the effective date
162	161		of this Act is governed by the law in effect immediately before the
163	162		effective date of this Act, and that law is continued in effect for
164	163		that purpose.
165	164		SECTION 4. This Act takes effect September 1, 2015.
	165	+	______________________________ ______________________________
	166	+	President of the Senate Speaker of the House
	167	+	I certify that H.B. No. 2573 was passed by the House on May 5,
	168	+	2015, by the following vote: Yeas 143, Nays 2, 2 present, not
	169	+	voting; and that the House concurred in Senate amendments to H.B.
	170	+	No. 2573 on May 28, 2015, by the following vote: Yeas 140, Nays 2,
	171	+	2 present, not voting.
	172	+	______________________________
	173	+	Chief Clerk of the House
	174	+	I certify that H.B. No. 2573 was passed by the Senate, with
	175	+	amendments, on May 26, 2015, by the following vote: Yeas 31, Nays
	176	+	0.
	177	+	______________________________
	178	+	Secretary of the Senate
	179	+	APPROVED: __________________
	180	+	Date
	181	+	__________________
	182	+	Governor