S.B. No. 2140
AN ACT
relating to the amount of civil penalties the attorney general may
seek to recover 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 in an amount of:
(1) not more than $10,000 [$20,000] per 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
an action filed by the consumer protection division under Section
17.47, Business & Commerce Code, on or after the effective date of
this Act. An action filed by the consumer protection division under
Section 17.47, Business & Commerce Code, before the effective date
of this Act is governed by the law in effect on the date the action
is filed, and the former law is continued in effect for that
purpose.
SECTION 3. This Act takes effect September 1, 2019.
______________________________ ______________________________
President of the Senate Speaker of the House
I hereby certify that S.B. No. 2140 passed the Senate on
April 17, 2019, by the following vote: Yeas 31, Nays 0.
______________________________
Secretary of the Senate
I hereby certify that S.B. No. 2140 passed the House on
May 14, 2019, by the following vote: Yeas 134, Nays 5, two
present not voting.
______________________________
Chief Clerk of the House
Approved:
______________________________
Date
______________________________
Governor