Texas 2019 - 86th Regular

Texas Senate Bill SB763 Compare Versions

Only one version of the bill is available at this time.

Old	New	Differences
1	1	86R3440 KFF-D
2	2	By: Menéndez S.B. No. 763
3	3
4	4
5	5	A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
6	6	AN ACT
7	7	relating to a creditor's remedies with respect to certain
8	8	delinquent payments owed by an elderly person who has an agent
9	9	appointed under a durable power of attorney.
10	10	BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
11	11	SECTION 1. Chapter 751, Estates Code, is amended by adding
12	12	Subchapter E-1 to read as follows:
13	13	SUBCHAPTER E-1. CREDITOR'S DUTY TO NOTIFY AGENT
14	14	Sec. 751.231. CREDITOR'S DUTY TO NOTIFY AGENT OF CERTAIN
15	15	DELINQUENT PAYMENTS. (a) In this section, "elderly principal"
16	16	means a principal who is 65 years of age or older.
17	17	(b) For purposes of this section, a payment is delinquent if
18	18	the creditor to whom the payment is owed does not receive the
19	19	payment on or before the 30th day after the date the payment is due,
20	20	as determined under a purchase or lease agreement or other
21	21	contractual arrangement.
22	22	(c) Notwithstanding any other law, a creditor to whom an
23	23	elderly principal owes a payment that is delinquent and arose out of
24	24	a purchase or lease agreement or other contractual arrangement that
25	25	secures the elderly principal's living quarters must comply with
26	26	the requirements of this subsection before taking an adverse action
27	27	against the elderly principal, including commencing an eviction
28	28	proceeding, if the creditor knows or has reason to know that the
29	29	elderly principal executed a durable power of attorney that grants
30	30	authority to an agent that would allow the agent to make the payment
31	31	that is delinquent. Notwithstanding any other law, before the
32	32	creditor takes the adverse action against the elderly principal,
33	33	the creditor must:
34	34	(1) submit a written request to the agent by certified
35	35	mail, return receipt requested, that the delinquent payment be made
36	36	on or before the 30th day after the date the agent receives the
37	37	request; and
38	38	(2) if the creditor does not receive payment on or
39	39	before the 30th day after the date the agent received the written
40	40	request under Subdivision (1), bring an action requesting a court
41	41	to review the agent's conduct and grant appropriate relief under
42	42	Section 751.251.
43	43	(d) A creditor who files an action with a court in
44	44	accordance with Subsection (c)(2) may not take an adverse action
45	45	against the elderly principal until the court enters an order on the
46	46	action.
47	47	(e) In addition to other remedies provided by law, an
48	48	elderly principal is entitled to recover from or against a creditor
49	49	who violates this section:
50	50	(1) a civil penalty in an amount equal to the amount of
51	51	the delinquent payment;
52	52	(2) actual damages suffered by the elderly principal
53	53	as a result of the creditor's violation of this section;
54	54	(3) court costs;
55	55	(4) injunctive relief; and
56	56	(5) reasonable attorney's fees incurred by the elderly
57	57	principal in seeking enforcement of this section.
58	58	SECTION 2. Section 751.251(a), Estates Code, is amended to
59	59	read as follows:
60	60	(a) The following may bring an action requesting a court to
61	61	construe, or determine the validity or enforceability of, a durable
62	62	power of attorney, or to review an agent's conduct under a durable
63	63	power of attorney and grant appropriate relief:
64	64	(1) the principal or the agent;
65	65	(2) a guardian, conservator, or other fiduciary acting
66	66	for the principal;
67	67	(3) a person named as a beneficiary to receive
68	68	property, a benefit, or a contractual right on the principal's
69	69	death;
70	70	(4) a governmental agency with regulatory authority to
71	71	protect the principal's welfare; [and]
72	72	(5) a person who demonstrates to the court sufficient
73	73	interest in the principal's welfare or estate; and
74	74	(6) a creditor under Section 751.231(c)(2).
75	75	SECTION 3. (a) Subchapter E-1, Chapter 751, Estates Code,
76	76	as added by this Act, applies only to a purchase or lease agreement
77	77	or other contractual arrangement entered into or renewed:
78	78	(1) on or after the effective date of this Act; and
79	79	(2) before the effective date of this Act, to the
80	80	extent the subchapter does not conflict with a provision of the
81	81	purchase or lease agreement or other contractual arrangement.
82	82	(b) To the extent Subchapter E-1, Chapter 751, Estates Code,
83	83	as added by this Act, conflicts with the provision of a purchase or
84	84	lease agreement or other contractual arrangement entered into
85	85	before the effective date of this Act, the purchase or lease
86	86	agreement or other contractual arrangement provision prevails.
87	87	SECTION 4. This Act takes effect September 1, 2019.