H.B. No. 2949
AN ACT
relating to the maximum amount of a documentary fee charged by a
retail seller of motor vehicles.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Sections 348.006(e) and (f), Finance Code, are
amended to read as follows:
(e) Prior to increasing the maximum amount of the
documentary fee the retail seller charges, a retail seller shall
provide written notice to the commissioner of the maximum amount of
the documentary fee the retail seller intends to charge unless the
maximum amount intended to be charged is considered reasonable as
provided by Subsection (f). The commissioner may review the amount
of a documentary fee a retail seller intends to charge for
reasonableness if the retail seller is required to provide written
notice of the fee increase under this subsection. In determining
whether a fee charged by a retail seller is reasonable, the
commissioner may consider the resources required by the retail
seller to perform the retail seller's duties under state and
federal law with respect to the handling and processing of
documents relating to the sale and financing of a motor vehicle. If
the commissioner determines that a documentary fee charged is not
reasonable, the commissioner may require that the documentary fee
charged be reduced or suspended.
(f) A documentary fee charged in accordance with this
section [before September 1, 2009,] is considered reasonable for
purposes of this section if the amount is less than or equal to the
amount of the documentary fee presumed reasonable as established by
rule of the finance commission.
SECTION 2. Sections 348.006(e) and (f), Finance Code, as
amended by this Act, apply only to the sale of a motor vehicle that
occurs on or after the effective date of this Act. The sale of a
motor vehicle that occurs before the effective date of this Act is
governed by the law in effect on the date of the sale, and the former
law is continued in effect for that purpose.
SECTION 3. This Act takes effect September 1, 2017.
______________________________ ______________________________
President of the Senate Speaker of the House
I certify that H.B. No. 2949 was passed by the House on April
27, 2017, by the following vote: Yeas 143, Nays 1, 3 present, not
voting.
______________________________
Chief Clerk of the House
I certify that H.B. No. 2949 was passed by the Senate on May
24, 2017, by the following vote: Yeas 31, Nays 0.
______________________________
Secretary of the Senate
APPROVED: _____________________
Date
_____________________
Governor