Texas 2021 - 87th Regular

Texas House Bill HB1826 Compare Versions

Version 1 (Old)

Version 2 (New)

Old	New		Differences
1		-	87R15059 MWC-F
2		-	By: Martinez Fischer, Guillen H.B. No. 1826
3		-	Substitute the following for H.B. No. 1826:
4		-	By: Crockett C.S.H.B. No. 1826
	1	+	By: Martinez Fischer H.B. No. 1826
5	2
6	3
7	4		A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
8	5		AN ACT
9		-	relating to the charging of exorbitant or excessive prices for
10		-	disinfectant cleaning supplies or personal protective equipment
11		-	during a declared disaster.
	6	+	relating to the deceptive trade practice of charging exorbitant or
	7	+	excessive prices for necessities during a declared disaster.
12	8		BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
13	9		SECTION 1. Section 17.45, Business & Commerce Code, is
14	10		amended by adding Subdivisions (18) and (19) to read as follows:
15		-	(18) "Disinfectant cleaning supplies" includes bleach
16		-	products, sanitizing wipes, sanitizing spray, and hand sanitizer.
17		-	(19) "Personal protective equipment" means
18		-	specialized clothing or equipment, including disposable gloves,
19		-	face shields, face masks, and surgical masks, worn to protect
20		-	against infectious diseases or hazardous materials.
21		-	SECTION 2. Section 17.46(b), Business & Commerce Code, is
22		-	amended to read as follows:
	11	+	(18) "Disinfectant cleaning supplies" includes
	12	+	sanitizing wipes, sanitizing spray, hand sanitizer, and bleach
	13	+	products.
	14	+	(19) "Personal protective equipment" includes
	15	+	disposable gloves, face shields, face masks, and surgical masks.
	16	+	SECTION 2. Section 17.46(b), Business & Commerce Code, as
	17	+	amended by Chapters 324 (S.B. 1488), 858 (H.B. 2552), and 967 (S.B.
	18	+	2065), Acts of the 85th Legislature, Regular Session, 2017, is
	19	+	reenacted and amended to read as follows:
23	20		(b) Except as provided in Subsection (d) of this section,
24	21		the term "false, misleading, or deceptive acts or practices"
25	22		includes, but is not limited to, the following acts:
26	23		(1) passing off goods or services as those of another;
27	24		(2) causing confusion or misunderstanding as to the
28	25		source, sponsorship, approval, or certification of goods or
29	26		services;
30	27		(3) causing confusion or misunderstanding as to
31	28		affiliation, connection, or association with, or certification by,
32	29		another;
33	30		(4) using deceptive representations or designations
34	31		of geographic origin in connection with goods or services;
35	32		(5) representing that goods or services have
36	33		sponsorship, approval, characteristics, ingredients, uses,
37	34		benefits, or quantities which they do not have or that a person has
38	35		a sponsorship, approval, status, affiliation, or connection which
39	36		the person does not;
40	37		(6) representing that goods are original or new if
41	38		they are deteriorated, reconditioned, reclaimed, used, or
42	39		secondhand;
43	40		(7) representing that goods or services are of a
44	41		particular standard, quality, or grade, or that goods are of a
45	42		particular style or model, if they are of another;
46	43		(8) disparaging the goods, services, or business of
47	44		another by false or misleading representation of facts;
48	45		(9) advertising goods or services with intent not to
49	46		sell them as advertised;
50	47		(10) advertising goods or services with intent not to
51	48		supply a reasonable expectable public demand, unless the
52	49		advertisements disclosed a limitation of quantity;
53	50		(11) making false or misleading statements of fact
54	51		concerning the reasons for, existence of, or amount of price
55	52		reductions;
56	53		(12) representing that an agreement confers or
57	54		involves rights, remedies, or obligations which it does not have or
58	55		involve, or which are prohibited by law;
59	56		(13) knowingly making false or misleading statements
60	57		of fact concerning the need for parts, replacement, or repair
61	58		service;
62	59		(14) misrepresenting the authority of a salesman,
63	60		representative or agent to negotiate the final terms of a consumer
64	61		transaction;
65	62		(15) basing a charge for the repair of any item in
66	63		whole or in part on a guaranty or warranty instead of on the value of
67	64		the actual repairs made or work to be performed on the item without
68	65		stating separately the charges for the work and the charge for the
69	66		warranty or guaranty, if any;
70	67		(16) disconnecting, turning back, or resetting the
71	68		odometer of any motor vehicle so as to reduce the number of miles
72	69		indicated on the odometer gauge;
73	70		(17) advertising of any sale by fraudulently
74	71		representing that a person is going out of business;
75	72		(18) advertising, selling, or distributing a card
76	73		which purports to be a prescription drug identification card issued
77	74		under Section 4151.152, Insurance Code, in accordance with rules
78	75		adopted by the commissioner of insurance, which offers a discount
79	76		on the purchase of health care goods or services from a third party
80	77		provider, and which is not evidence of insurance coverage, unless:
81	78		(A) the discount is authorized under an agreement
82	79		between the seller of the card and the provider of those goods and
83	80		services or the discount or card is offered to members of the
84	81		seller;
85	82		(B) the seller does not represent that the card
86	83		provides insurance coverage of any kind; and
87	84		(C) the discount is not false, misleading, or
88	85		deceptive;
89	86		(19) using or employing a chain referral sales plan in
90	87		connection with the sale or offer to sell of goods, merchandise, or
91	88		anything of value, which uses the sales technique, plan,
92	89		arrangement, or agreement in which the buyer or prospective buyer
93	90		is offered the opportunity to purchase merchandise or goods and in
94	91		connection with the purchase receives the seller's promise or
95	92		representation that the buyer shall have the right to receive
96	93		compensation or consideration in any form for furnishing to the
97	94		seller the names of other prospective buyers if receipt of the
98	95		compensation or consideration is contingent upon the occurrence of
99	96		an event subsequent to the time the buyer purchases the merchandise
100	97		or goods;
101	98		(20) representing that a guaranty or warranty confers
102	99		or involves rights or remedies which it does not have or involve,
103	100		provided, however, that nothing in this subchapter shall be
104	101		construed to expand the implied warranty of merchantability as
105	102		defined in Sections 2.314 through 2.318 and Sections 2A.212 through
106	103		2A.216 to involve obligations in excess of those which are
107	104		appropriate to the goods;
108	105		(21) promoting a pyramid promotional scheme, as
109	106		defined by Section 17.461;
110	107		(22) representing that work or services have been
111	108		performed on, or parts replaced in, goods when the work or services
112	109		were not performed or the parts replaced;
113	110		(23) filing suit founded upon a written contractual
114	111		obligation of and signed by the defendant to pay money arising out
115	112		of or based on a consumer transaction for goods, services, loans, or
116	113		extensions of credit intended primarily for personal, family,
117	114		household, or agricultural use in any county other than in the
118	115		county in which the defendant resides at the time of the
119	116		commencement of the action or in the county in which the defendant
120	117		in fact signed the contract; provided, however, that a violation of
121	118		this subsection shall not occur where it is shown by the person
122	119		filing such suit that the person neither knew or had reason to know
123	120		that the county in which such suit was filed was neither the county
124	121		in which the defendant resides at the commencement of the suit nor
125	122		the county in which the defendant in fact signed the contract;
126	123		(24) failing to disclose information concerning goods
127	124		or services which was known at the time of the transaction if such
128	125		failure to disclose such information was intended to induce the
129	126		consumer into a transaction into which the consumer would not have
130	127		entered had the information been disclosed;
131	128		(25) using the term "corporation," "incorporated," or
132	129		an abbreviation of either of those terms in the name of a business
133	130		entity that is not incorporated under the laws of this state or
134	131		another jurisdiction;
135	132		(26) selling, offering to sell, or illegally promoting
136	133		an annuity contract under Chapter 22, Acts of the 57th Legislature,
137	134		3rd Called Session, 1962 (Article 6228a-5, Vernon's Texas Civil
138	135		Statutes), with the intent that the annuity contract will be the
139	136		subject of a salary reduction agreement, as defined by that Act, if
140	137		the annuity contract is not an eligible qualified investment under
141		-	that Act;
	138	+	that Act or is not registered with the Teacher Retirement System of
	139	+	Texas as required by Section 8A of that Act;
142	140		(27) subject to Section 17.4625, taking advantage of a
143	141		disaster declared by the governor under Chapter 418, Government
144	142		Code, or by the president of the United States by:
145	143		(A) selling or leasing fuel, food, medicine,
146	144		lodging, building materials, construction tools, disinfectant
147	145		cleaning supplies, personal protective equipment, or another
148	146		necessity at an exorbitant or excessive price; or
149	147		(B) demanding an exorbitant or excessive price in
150	148		connection with the sale or lease of fuel, food, medicine, lodging,
151	149		building materials, construction tools, disinfectant cleaning
152	150		supplies, personal protective equipment, or another necessity;
153	151		(28) using the translation into a foreign language of
154	152		a title or other word, including "attorney," "immigration
155	153		consultant," "immigration expert," "lawyer," "licensed," "notary,"
156	154		and "notary public," in any written or electronic material,
157	155		including an advertisement, a business card, a letterhead,
158	156		stationery, a website, or an online video, in reference to a person
159	157		who is not an attorney in order to imply that the person is
160	158		authorized to practice law in the United States;
161	159		(29) delivering or distributing a solicitation in
162	160		connection with a good or service that:
163	161		(A) represents that the solicitation is sent on
164	162		behalf of a governmental entity when it is not; or
165	163		(B) resembles a governmental notice or form that
166	164		represents or implies that a criminal penalty may be imposed if the
167	165		recipient does not remit payment for the good or service;
168	166		(30) delivering or distributing a solicitation in
169	167		connection with a good or service that resembles a check or other
170	168		negotiable instrument or invoice, unless the portion of the
171	169		solicitation that resembles a check or other negotiable instrument
172	170		or invoice includes the following notice, clearly and conspicuously
173	171		printed in at least 18-point type:
174	172		"SPECIMEN-NON-NEGOTIABLE";
175	173		(31) in the production, sale, distribution, or
176	174		promotion of a synthetic substance that produces and is intended to
177	175		produce an effect when consumed or ingested similar to, or in excess
178	176		of, the effect of a controlled substance or controlled substance
179	177		analogue, as those terms are defined by Section 481.002, Health and
180	178		Safety Code:
181	179		(A) making a deceptive representation or
182	180		designation about the synthetic substance; or
183	181		(B) causing confusion or misunderstanding as to
184	182		the effects the synthetic substance causes when consumed or
185	183		ingested;
186	184		(32) a licensed public insurance adjuster directly or
187	185		indirectly soliciting employment, as defined by Section 38.01,
188	186		Penal Code, for an attorney, or a licensed public insurance
189	187		adjuster entering into a contract with an insured for the primary
190	188		purpose of referring the insured to an attorney without the intent
191	189		to actually perform the services customarily provided by a licensed
192	190		public insurance adjuster, provided that this subdivision may not
193	191		be construed to prohibit a licensed public insurance adjuster from
194		-	recommending a particular attorney to an insured;
	192	+	recommending a particular attorney to an insured; [or]
195	193		(33) owning, operating, maintaining, or advertising a
196	194		massage establishment, as defined by Section 455.001, Occupations
197	195		Code, that:
198	196		(A) is not appropriately licensed under Chapter
199	197		455, Occupations Code, or is not in compliance with the applicable
200	198		licensing and other requirements of that chapter; or
201	199		(B) is not in compliance with an applicable local
202	200		ordinance relating to the licensing or regulation of massage
203	201		establishments; or
204	202		(34) a warrantor of a vehicle protection product
205	203		warranty using, in connection with the product, a name that
206	204		includes "casualty," "surety," "insurance," "mutual," or any other
207	205		word descriptive of an insurance business, including property or
208	206		casualty insurance, or a surety business.
209		-	SECTION 3. The changes in law made by this Act apply only to
	207	+	SECTION 3. To the extent of any conflict, this Act prevails
	208	+	over another Act of the 87th Legislature, Regular Session, 2021,
	209	+	relating to nonsubstantive additions to and corrections in enacted
	210	+	codes.
	211	+	SECTION 5. The changes in law made by this Act apply only to
210	212		an act or practice that occurs on or after the effective date of
211		-	this Act.
212		-	SECTION 4. This Act takes effect September 1, 2021.
	213	+	this Act. An act or practice that occurs before the effective date
	214	+	of this Act is governed by the law in effect on the date the act or
	215	+	practice occurred, and the former law is continued in effect for
	216	+	that purpose.
	217	+	SECTION 6. This Act takes effect September 1, 2021.