Texas 2021 - 87th Regular

Texas Senate Bill SB2075 Compare Versions

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

Old	New	Differences
1	1	87R11340 MWC-D
2	2	By: Menéndez S.B. No. 2075
3	3
4	4
5	5	A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
6	6	AN ACT
7	7	relating to the charging of higher prices by retail electric
8	8	providers during a declared disaster.
9	9	BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
10	10	SECTION 1. Section 17.46(b), Business & Commerce Code, is
11	11	amended to read as follows:
12	12	(b) Except as provided in Subsection (d) of this section,
13	13	the term "false, misleading, or deceptive acts or practices"
14	14	includes, but is not limited to, the following acts:
15	15	(1) passing off goods or services as those of another;
16	16	(2) causing confusion or misunderstanding as to the
17	17	source, sponsorship, approval, or certification of goods or
18	18	services;
19	19	(3) causing confusion or misunderstanding as to
20	20	affiliation, connection, or association with, or certification by,
21	21	another;
22	22	(4) using deceptive representations or designations
23	23	of geographic origin in connection with goods or services;
24	24	(5) representing that goods or services have
25	25	sponsorship, approval, characteristics, ingredients, uses,
26	26	benefits, or quantities which they do not have or that a person has
27	27	a sponsorship, approval, status, affiliation, or connection which
28	28	the person does not;
29	29	(6) representing that goods are original or new if
30	30	they are deteriorated, reconditioned, reclaimed, used, or
31	31	secondhand;
32	32	(7) representing that goods or services are of a
33	33	particular standard, quality, or grade, or that goods are of a
34	34	particular style or model, if they are of another;
35	35	(8) disparaging the goods, services, or business of
36	36	another by false or misleading representation of facts;
37	37	(9) advertising goods or services with intent not to
38	38	sell them as advertised;
39	39	(10) advertising goods or services with intent not to
40	40	supply a reasonable expectable public demand, unless the
41	41	advertisements disclosed a limitation of quantity;
42	42	(11) making false or misleading statements of fact
43	43	concerning the reasons for, existence of, or amount of price
44	44	reductions;
45	45	(12) representing that an agreement confers or
46	46	involves rights, remedies, or obligations which it does not have or
47	47	involve, or which are prohibited by law;
48	48	(13) knowingly making false or misleading statements
49	49	of fact concerning the need for parts, replacement, or repair
50	50	service;
51	51	(14) misrepresenting the authority of a salesman,
52	52	representative or agent to negotiate the final terms of a consumer
53	53	transaction;
54	54	(15) basing a charge for the repair of any item in
55	55	whole or in part on a guaranty or warranty instead of on the value of
56	56	the actual repairs made or work to be performed on the item without
57	57	stating separately the charges for the work and the charge for the
58	58	warranty or guaranty, if any;
59	59	(16) disconnecting, turning back, or resetting the
60	60	odometer of any motor vehicle so as to reduce the number of miles
61	61	indicated on the odometer gauge;
62	62	(17) advertising of any sale by fraudulently
63	63	representing that a person is going out of business;
64	64	(18) advertising, selling, or distributing a card
65	65	which purports to be a prescription drug identification card issued
66	66	under Section 4151.152, Insurance Code, in accordance with rules
67	67	adopted by the commissioner of insurance, which offers a discount
68	68	on the purchase of health care goods or services from a third party
69	69	provider, and which is not evidence of insurance coverage, unless:
70	70	(A) the discount is authorized under an agreement
71	71	between the seller of the card and the provider of those goods and
72	72	services or the discount or card is offered to members of the
73	73	seller;
74	74	(B) the seller does not represent that the card
75	75	provides insurance coverage of any kind; and
76	76	(C) the discount is not false, misleading, or
77	77	deceptive;
78	78	(19) using or employing a chain referral sales plan in
79	79	connection with the sale or offer to sell of goods, merchandise, or
80	80	anything of value, which uses the sales technique, plan,
81	81	arrangement, or agreement in which the buyer or prospective buyer
82	82	is offered the opportunity to purchase merchandise or goods and in
83	83	connection with the purchase receives the seller's promise or
84	84	representation that the buyer shall have the right to receive
85	85	compensation or consideration in any form for furnishing to the
86	86	seller the names of other prospective buyers if receipt of the
87	87	compensation or consideration is contingent upon the occurrence of
88	88	an event subsequent to the time the buyer purchases the merchandise
89	89	or goods;
90	90	(20) representing that a guaranty or warranty confers
91	91	or involves rights or remedies which it does not have or involve,
92	92	provided, however, that nothing in this subchapter shall be
93	93	construed to expand the implied warranty of merchantability as
94	94	defined in Sections 2.314 through 2.318 and Sections 2A.212 through
95	95	2A.216 to involve obligations in excess of those which are
96	96	appropriate to the goods;
97	97	(21) promoting a pyramid promotional scheme, as
98	98	defined by Section 17.461;
99	99	(22) representing that work or services have been
100	100	performed on, or parts replaced in, goods when the work or services
101	101	were not performed or the parts replaced;
102	102	(23) filing suit founded upon a written contractual
103	103	obligation of and signed by the defendant to pay money arising out
104	104	of or based on a consumer transaction for goods, services, loans, or
105	105	extensions of credit intended primarily for personal, family,
106	106	household, or agricultural use in any county other than in the
107	107	county in which the defendant resides at the time of the
108	108	commencement of the action or in the county in which the defendant
109	109	in fact signed the contract; provided, however, that a violation of
110	110	this subsection shall not occur where it is shown by the person
111	111	filing such suit that the person neither knew or had reason to know
112	112	that the county in which such suit was filed was neither the county
113	113	in which the defendant resides at the commencement of the suit nor
114	114	the county in which the defendant in fact signed the contract;
115	115	(24) failing to disclose information concerning goods
116	116	or services which was known at the time of the transaction if such
117	117	failure to disclose such information was intended to induce the
118	118	consumer into a transaction into which the consumer would not have
119	119	entered had the information been disclosed;
120	120	(25) using the term "corporation," "incorporated," or
121	121	an abbreviation of either of those terms in the name of a business
122	122	entity that is not incorporated under the laws of this state or
123	123	another jurisdiction;
124	124	(26) selling, offering to sell, or illegally promoting
125	125	an annuity contract under Chapter 22, Acts of the 57th Legislature,
126	126	3rd Called Session, 1962 (Article 6228a-5, Vernon's Texas Civil
127	127	Statutes), with the intent that the annuity contract will be the
128	128	subject of a salary reduction agreement, as defined by that Act, if
129	129	the annuity contract is not an eligible qualified investment under
130	130	that Act;
131	131	(27) subject to Section 17.4625, taking advantage of a
132	132	disaster declared by the governor under Chapter 418, Government
133	133	Code, or by the president of the United States by:
134	134	(A) selling or leasing fuel, food, medicine,
135	135	lodging, building materials, construction tools, or another
136	136	necessity at an exorbitant or excessive price; [or]
137	137	(B) demanding an exorbitant or excessive price in
138	138	connection with the sale or lease of fuel, food, medicine, lodging,
139	139	building materials, construction tools, or another necessity; or
140	140	(C) selling electricity as a retail electric
141	141	provider under a contract that allows for the charging of prices
142	142	that are at least 300 percent more than the average price charged by
143	143	the provider during the month immediately preceding the date of the
144	144	declaration of the disaster;
145	145	(28) using the translation into a foreign language of
146	146	a title or other word, including "attorney," "immigration
147	147	consultant," "immigration expert," "lawyer," "licensed," "notary,"
148	148	and "notary public," in any written or electronic material,
149	149	including an advertisement, a business card, a letterhead,
150	150	stationery, a website, or an online video, in reference to a person
151	151	who is not an attorney in order to imply that the person is
152	152	authorized to practice law in the United States;
153	153	(29) delivering or distributing a solicitation in
154	154	connection with a good or service that:
155	155	(A) represents that the solicitation is sent on
156	156	behalf of a governmental entity when it is not; or
157	157	(B) resembles a governmental notice or form that
158	158	represents or implies that a criminal penalty may be imposed if the
159	159	recipient does not remit payment for the good or service;
160	160	(30) delivering or distributing a solicitation in
161	161	connection with a good or service that resembles a check or other
162	162	negotiable instrument or invoice, unless the portion of the
163	163	solicitation that resembles a check or other negotiable instrument
164	164	or invoice includes the following notice, clearly and conspicuously
165	165	printed in at least 18-point type:
166	166	"SPECIMEN-NON-NEGOTIABLE";
167	167	(31) in the production, sale, distribution, or
168	168	promotion of a synthetic substance that produces and is intended to
169	169	produce an effect when consumed or ingested similar to, or in excess
170	170	of, the effect of a controlled substance or controlled substance
171	171	analogue, as those terms are defined by Section 481.002, Health and
172	172	Safety Code:
173	173	(A) making a deceptive representation or
174	174	designation about the synthetic substance; or
175	175	(B) causing confusion or misunderstanding as to
176	176	the effects the synthetic substance causes when consumed or
177	177	ingested;
178	178	(32) a licensed public insurance adjuster directly or
179	179	indirectly soliciting employment, as defined by Section 38.01,
180	180	Penal Code, for an attorney, or a licensed public insurance
181	181	adjuster entering into a contract with an insured for the primary
182	182	purpose of referring the insured to an attorney without the intent
183	183	to actually perform the services customarily provided by a licensed
184	184	public insurance adjuster, provided that this subdivision may not
185	185	be construed to prohibit a licensed public insurance adjuster from
186	186	recommending a particular attorney to an insured;
187	187	(33) owning, operating, maintaining, or advertising a
188	188	massage establishment, as defined by Section 455.001, Occupations
189	189	Code, that:
190	190	(A) is not appropriately licensed under Chapter
191	191	455, Occupations Code, or is not in compliance with the applicable
192	192	licensing and other requirements of that chapter; or
193	193	(B) is not in compliance with an applicable local
194	194	ordinance relating to the licensing or regulation of massage
195	195	establishments; or
196	196	(34) a warrantor of a vehicle protection product
197	197	warranty using, in connection with the product, a name that
198	198	includes "casualty," "surety," "insurance," "mutual," or any other
199	199	word descriptive of an insurance business, including property or
200	200	casualty insurance, or a surety business.
201	201	SECTION 2. The changes in law made by this Act apply only to
202	202	a contract that is entered into or renewed on or after the effective
203	203	date of this Act.
204	204	SECTION 3. This Act takes effect September 1, 2021.