Bill Text: TX HB2573 | 2015-2016 | 84th Legislature | Enrolled
Bill Title: Relating to a deceptive trade practice related to the use of certain words to imply that a person who is not an attorney is authorized to practice law and the prosecution of a cause of action arising from that practice.
Spectrum: Slight Partisan Bill (Democrat 3-1)
Status: (Passed) 2015-06-19 - Effective on 9/1/15 [HB2573 Detail]
Download: Texas-2015-HB2573-Enrolled.html
H.B. No. 2573 |
|
||
relating to a deceptive trade practice related to the use of certain | ||
words to imply that a person who is not an attorney is authorized to | ||
practice law and the prosecution of a cause of action arising from | ||
that practice. | ||
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS: | ||
SECTION 1. Section 17.46(b), Business & Commerce Code, is | ||
amended to read as follows: | ||
(b) Except as provided in Subsection (d) of this section, | ||
the term "false, misleading, or deceptive acts or practices" | ||
includes, but is not limited to, the following acts: | ||
(1) passing off goods or services as those of another; | ||
(2) causing confusion or misunderstanding as to the | ||
source, sponsorship, approval, or certification of goods or | ||
services; | ||
(3) causing confusion or misunderstanding as to | ||
affiliation, connection, or association with, or certification by, | ||
another; | ||
(4) using deceptive representations or designations | ||
of geographic origin in connection with goods or services; | ||
(5) representing that goods or services have | ||
sponsorship, approval, characteristics, ingredients, uses, | ||
benefits, or quantities which they do not have or that a person has | ||
a sponsorship, approval, status, affiliation, or connection which | ||
the person [ |
||
(6) representing that goods are original or new if | ||
they are deteriorated, reconditioned, reclaimed, used, or | ||
secondhand; | ||
(7) representing that goods or services are of a | ||
particular standard, quality, or grade, or that goods are of a | ||
particular style or model, if they are of another; | ||
(8) disparaging the goods, services, or business of | ||
another by false or misleading representation of facts; | ||
(9) advertising goods or services with intent not to | ||
sell them as advertised; | ||
(10) advertising goods or services with intent not to | ||
supply a reasonable expectable public demand, unless the | ||
advertisements disclosed a limitation of quantity; | ||
(11) making false or misleading statements of fact | ||
concerning the reasons for, existence of, or amount of price | ||
reductions; | ||
(12) representing that an agreement confers or | ||
involves rights, remedies, or obligations which it does not have or | ||
involve, or which are prohibited by law; | ||
(13) knowingly making false or misleading statements | ||
of fact concerning the need for parts, replacement, or repair | ||
service; | ||
(14) misrepresenting the authority of a salesman, | ||
representative or agent to negotiate the final terms of a consumer | ||
transaction; | ||
(15) basing a charge for the repair of any item in | ||
whole or in part on a guaranty or warranty instead of on the value of | ||
the actual repairs made or work to be performed on the item without | ||
stating separately the charges for the work and the charge for the | ||
warranty or guaranty, if any; | ||
(16) disconnecting, turning back, or resetting the | ||
odometer of any motor vehicle so as to reduce the number of miles | ||
indicated on the odometer gauge; | ||
(17) advertising of any sale by fraudulently | ||
representing that a person is going out of business; | ||
(18) advertising, selling, or distributing a card | ||
which purports to be a prescription drug identification card issued | ||
under Section 4151.152, Insurance Code, in accordance with rules | ||
adopted by the commissioner of insurance, which offers a discount | ||
on the purchase of health care goods or services from a third party | ||
provider, and which is not evidence of insurance coverage, unless: | ||
(A) the discount is authorized under an agreement | ||
between the seller of the card and the provider of those goods and | ||
services or the discount or card is offered to members of the | ||
seller; | ||
(B) the seller does not represent that the card | ||
provides insurance coverage of any kind; and | ||
(C) the discount is not false, misleading, or | ||
deceptive; | ||
(19) using or employing a chain referral sales plan in | ||
connection with the sale or offer to sell of goods, merchandise, or | ||
anything of value, which uses the sales technique, plan, | ||
arrangement, or agreement in which the buyer or prospective buyer | ||
is offered the opportunity to purchase merchandise or goods and in | ||
connection with the purchase receives the seller's promise or | ||
representation that the buyer shall have the right to receive | ||
compensation or consideration in any form for furnishing to the | ||
seller the names of other prospective buyers if receipt of the | ||
compensation or consideration is contingent upon the occurrence of | ||
an event subsequent to the time the buyer purchases the merchandise | ||
or goods; | ||
(20) representing that a guaranty [ |
||
warranty confers or involves rights or remedies which it does not | ||
have or involve, provided, however, that nothing in this subchapter | ||
shall be construed to expand the implied warranty of | ||
merchantability as defined in Sections 2.314 through 2.318 and | ||
Sections 2A.212 through 2A.216 to involve obligations in excess of | ||
those which are appropriate to the goods; | ||
(21) promoting a pyramid promotional scheme, as | ||
defined by Section 17.461; | ||
(22) representing that work or services have been | ||
performed on, or parts replaced in, goods when the work or services | ||
were not performed or the parts replaced; | ||
(23) filing suit founded upon a written contractual | ||
obligation of and signed by the defendant to pay money arising out | ||
of or based on a consumer transaction for goods, services, loans, or | ||
extensions of credit intended primarily for personal, family, | ||
household, or agricultural use in any county other than in the | ||
county in which the defendant resides at the time of the | ||
commencement of the action or in the county in which the defendant | ||
in fact signed the contract; provided, however, that a violation of | ||
this subsection shall not occur where it is shown by the person | ||
filing such suit that the person [ |
||
know that the county in which such suit was filed was neither the | ||
county in which the defendant resides at the commencement of the | ||
suit nor the county in which the defendant in fact signed the | ||
contract; | ||
(24) failing to disclose information concerning goods | ||
or services which was known at the time of the transaction if such | ||
failure to disclose such information was intended to induce the | ||
consumer into a transaction into which the consumer would not have | ||
entered had the information been disclosed; | ||
(25) using the term "corporation," "incorporated," or | ||
an abbreviation of either of those terms in the name of a business | ||
entity that is not incorporated under the laws of this state or | ||
another jurisdiction; | ||
(26) selling, offering to sell, or illegally promoting | ||
an annuity contract under Chapter 22, Acts of the 57th Legislature, | ||
3rd Called Session, 1962 (Article 6228a-5, Vernon's Texas Civil | ||
Statutes), with the intent that the annuity contract will be the | ||
subject of a salary reduction agreement, as defined by that Act, if | ||
the annuity contract is not an eligible qualified investment under | ||
that Act or is not registered with the Teacher Retirement System of | ||
Texas as required by Section 8A of that Act; [ |
||
(27) taking advantage of a disaster declared by the | ||
governor under Chapter 418, Government Code, by: | ||
(A) selling or leasing fuel, food, medicine, or | ||
another necessity at an exorbitant or excessive price; or | ||
(B) demanding an exorbitant or excessive price in | ||
connection with the sale or lease of fuel, food, medicine, or | ||
another necessity; or | ||
(28) using the translation into a foreign language of | ||
a title or other word, including "attorney," "lawyer," "licensed," | ||
"notary," and "notary public," in any written or electronic | ||
material, including an advertisement, a business card, a | ||
letterhead, stationery, a website, or an online video, in reference | ||
to a person who is not an attorney in order to imply that the person | ||
is authorized to practice law in the United States. | ||
SECTION 2. Section 17.48, Business & Commerce Code, is | ||
amended by adding Subsections (c) and (d) to read as follows: | ||
(c) In an action prosecuted by a district or county attorney | ||
under this subchapter for a violation of Section 17.46(b)(28), | ||
three-fourths of any civil penalty awarded by a court must be paid | ||
to the county where the court is located. | ||
(d) A district or county attorney is not required to obtain | ||
the permission of the consumer protection division to prosecute an | ||
action under this subchapter for a violation of Section | ||
17.46(b)(28), if the district or county attorney provides prior | ||
written notice to the division as required by Subsection (b). | ||
SECTION 3. The change in law made by this Act applies only | ||
to a cause of action that accrues on or after the effective date of | ||
this Act. A cause of action that accrued before the effective date | ||
of this Act is governed by the law in effect immediately before the | ||
effective date of this Act, and that law is continued in effect for | ||
that purpose. | ||
SECTION 4. This Act takes effect September 1, 2015. | ||
______________________________ | ______________________________ | |
President of the Senate | Speaker of the House | |
I certify that H.B. No. 2573 was passed by the House on May 5, | ||
2015, by the following vote: Yeas 143, Nays 2, 2 present, not | ||
voting; and that the House concurred in Senate amendments to H.B. | ||
No. 2573 on May 28, 2015, by the following vote: Yeas 140, Nays 2, | ||
2 present, not voting. | ||
______________________________ | ||
Chief Clerk of the House | ||
I certify that H.B. No. 2573 was passed by the Senate, with | ||
amendments, on May 26, 2015, by the following vote: Yeas 31, Nays | ||
0. | ||
______________________________ | ||
Secretary of the Senate | ||
APPROVED: __________________ | ||
Date | ||
__________________ | ||
Governor |