Texas 2023 - 88th Regular

Texas House Bill HB2128 Compare Versions

Version 1 (Old)

Version 2 (New)

Old	New	Differences
1	1	88R6430 JXC-D
2	2	By: Bailes H.B. No. 2128
3	3
4	4
5	5	A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
6	6	AN ACT
7	7	relating to the charging of exorbitant or excessive prices for
8	8	natural gas 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) demanding an exorbitant or excessive price in
141	141	connection with a sale of natural gas in intrastate commerce,
142	142	except for a sale by a gas utility whose rates are established under
143	143	Subchapter B, Chapter 104, Utilities Code;
144	144	(28) using the translation into a foreign language of
145	145	a title or other word, including "attorney," "immigration
146	146	consultant," "immigration expert," "lawyer," "licensed," "notary,"
147	147	and "notary public," in any written or electronic material,
148	148	including an advertisement, a business card, a letterhead,
149	149	stationery, a website, or an online video, in reference to a person
150	150	who is not an attorney in order to imply that the person is
151	151	authorized to practice law in the United States;
152	152	(29) delivering or distributing a solicitation in
153	153	connection with a good or service that:
154	154	(A) represents that the solicitation is sent on
155	155	behalf of a governmental entity when it is not; or
156	156	(B) resembles a governmental notice or form that
157	157	represents or implies that a criminal penalty may be imposed if the
158	158	recipient does not remit payment for the good or service;
159	159	(30) delivering or distributing a solicitation in
160	160	connection with a good or service that resembles a check or other
161	161	negotiable instrument or invoice, unless the portion of the
162	162	solicitation that resembles a check or other negotiable instrument
163	163	or invoice includes the following notice, clearly and conspicuously
164	164	printed in at least 18-point type:
165	165	"SPECIMEN-NON-NEGOTIABLE";
166	166	(31) in the production, sale, distribution, or
167	167	promotion of a synthetic substance that produces and is intended to
168	168	produce an effect when consumed or ingested similar to, or in excess
169	169	of, the effect of a controlled substance or controlled substance
170	170	analogue, as those terms are defined by Section 481.002, Health and
171	171	Safety Code:
172	172	(A) making a deceptive representation or
173	173	designation about the synthetic substance; or
174	174	(B) causing confusion or misunderstanding as to
175	175	the effects the synthetic substance causes when consumed or
176	176	ingested;
177	177	(32) a licensed public insurance adjuster directly or
178	178	indirectly soliciting employment, as defined by Section 38.01,
179	179	Penal Code, for an attorney, or a licensed public insurance
180	180	adjuster entering into a contract with an insured for the primary
181	181	purpose of referring the insured to an attorney without the intent
182	182	to actually perform the services customarily provided by a licensed
183	183	public insurance adjuster, provided that this subdivision may not
184	184	be construed to prohibit a licensed public insurance adjuster from
185	185	recommending a particular attorney to an insured;
186	186	(33) owning, operating, maintaining, or advertising a
187	187	massage establishment, as defined by Section 455.001, Occupations
188	188	Code, that:
189	189	(A) is not appropriately licensed under Chapter
190	190	455, Occupations Code, or is not in compliance with the applicable
191	191	licensing and other requirements of that chapter; or
192	192	(B) is not in compliance with an applicable local
193	193	ordinance relating to the licensing or regulation of massage
194	194	establishments; or
195	195	(34) a warrantor of a vehicle protection product
196	196	warranty using, in connection with the product, a name that
197	197	includes "casualty," "surety," "insurance," "mutual," or any other
198	198	word descriptive of an insurance business, including property or
199	199	casualty insurance, or a surety business.
200	200	SECTION 2. The changes in law made by this Act apply only to
201	201	a contract that is entered into or renewed on or after the effective
202	202	date of this Act.
203	203	SECTION 3. This Act takes effect September 1, 2023.