By: Zaffirini	S.B. No. 1500

	A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
	AN ACT
	relating to certain vehicle protection products.
	BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
	SECTION 1.  Section 17.45, Business & Commerce Code, is
	amended by adding Subdivisions (14), (15), and (16) to read as
	follows:
	(14)  "Vehicle protection product":
	(A)  means a product or system, including a
	written warranty:
	(i)  that is:
	(a)  installed on or applied to a
	vehicle; and
	(b)  designed to prevent loss or damage
	to a vehicle from a specific cause; and
	(ii)  under which, after installation or
	application of the product or system described by Subparagraph (i),
	if loss or damage results from the failure of the product or system
	to perform as represented in the warranty, the warrantor, to the
	extent agreed on as part of the warranty, is required to pay
	expenses to the person in this state who purchases or otherwise
	possesses the product or system for the loss of or damage to the
	vehicle; and
	(B)  may also include identity recovery, as
	defined by Section 1304.003, Occupations Code, if the product or
	system described by Paragraph (A) is financed under Chapter 348 or
	353, Finance Code.
	(15)  "Warrantor" means a person named under the terms
	of a vehicle protection product warranty as the contractual obligor
	to a person in this state who purchases or otherwise possesses a
	vehicle protection product.
	(16)  "Loss of or damage to the vehicle," for purposes
	of Subdivision (14)(A)(ii), may also include unreimbursed
	incidental expenses that may be incurred by the warrantor,
	including expenses for a replacement vehicle, temporary vehicle
	rental expenses, and registration expenses for replacement
	vehicles.
	SECTION 2.  Section 17.46(b), Business & Commerce Code, as
	amended by Chapters 1023 (H.B. 1265) and 1080 (H.B. 2573), Acts of
	the 84th Legislature, Regular Session, 2015, is reenacted and
	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 does not;
	(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 or 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 neither knew or had reason to 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;
	(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;
	(29) [(28)]  delivering or distributing a solicitation
	in connection with a good or service that:
	(A)  represents that the solicitation is sent on
	behalf of a governmental entity when it is not; or
	(B)  resembles a governmental notice or form that
	represents or implies that a criminal penalty may be imposed if the
	recipient does not remit payment for the good or service;
	(30) [(29)]  delivering or distributing a solicitation
	in connection with a good or service that resembles a check or other
	negotiable instrument or invoice, unless the portion of the
	solicitation that resembles a check or other negotiable instrument
	or invoice includes the following notice, clearly and conspicuously
	printed in at least 18-point type:
	"SPECIMEN-NON-NEGOTIABLE";
	(31) [(30)]  in the production, sale, distribution, or
	promotion of a synthetic substance that produces and is intended to
	produce an effect when consumed or ingested similar to, or in excess
	of, the effect of a controlled substance or controlled substance
	analogue, as those terms are defined by Section 481.002, Health and
	Safety Code:
	(A)  making a deceptive representation or
	designation about the synthetic substance; or
	(B)  causing confusion or misunderstanding as to
	the effects the synthetic substance causes when consumed or
	ingested; [or]
	(32) [(31)]  a licensed public insurance adjuster
	directly or indirectly soliciting employment, as defined by Section
	38.01, Penal Code, for an attorney, or a licensed public insurance
	adjuster entering into a contract with an insured for the primary
	purpose of referring the insured to an attorney without the intent
	to actually perform the services customarily provided by a licensed
	public insurance adjuster, provided that this subdivision may not
	be construed to prohibit a licensed public insurance adjuster from
	recommending a particular attorney to an insured; or
	(33)  a warrantor of a vehicle protection product
	warranty using, in connection with the product, a name that
	includes "casualty," "surety," "insurance," "mutual," or any other
	word descriptive of an insurance business, including property or
	casualty insurance, or a surety business.
	SECTION 3.  Subchapter A, Chapter 348, Finance Code, is
	amended by adding Section 348.014 to read as follows:
	Sec. 348.014.  TRANSACTION CONDITIONED ON PURCHASE OF
	VEHICLE PROTECTION PRODUCT PROHIBITED. (a) In this section,
	"vehicle protection product" has the meaning assigned by Section
	17.45, Business & Commerce Code.
	(b)  A retail seller may not require as a condition of a
	retail installment transaction or the cash sale of a motor vehicle
	that the buyer purchase a vehicle protection product that is not
	installed on the vehicle at the time of the transaction.
	(c)  A violation of this section is a false, misleading, or
	deceptive act or practice within the meaning of Section 17.46,
	Business & Commerce Code, and is actionable in a public or private
	suit brought under Subchapter E, Chapter 17, Business & Commerce
	Code.
	SECTION 4.  Subchapter A, Chapter 353, Finance Code, is
	amended by adding Section 353.017 to read as follows:
	Sec. 353.017.  TRANSACTION CONDITIONED ON PURCHASE OF
	VEHICLE PROTECTION PRODUCT PROHIBITED. (a) In this section,
	"vehicle protection product" has the meaning assigned by Section
	17.45, Business & Commerce Code.
	(b)  A retail seller may not require as a condition of a
	retail installment transaction or the cash sale of a commercial
	vehicle that the buyer purchase a vehicle protection product that
	is not installed on the vehicle at the time of the transaction.
	(c)  A violation of this section is a false, misleading, or
	deceptive act or practice within the meaning of Section 17.46,
	Business & Commerce Code, and is actionable in a public or private
	suit brought under Subchapter E, Chapter 17, Business & Commerce
	Code.
	SECTION 5.  Chapter 2306, Occupations Code, is repealed.
	SECTION 6.  (a)  On the effective date of this Act:
	(1)  an action, including a disciplinary or
	administrative proceeding, pending under Chapter 51 or 2306,
	Occupations Code, on the effective date of this Act related to an
	alleged violation of Chapter 2306, Occupations Code, as that
	chapter existed immediately before the effective date of this Act,
	is dismissed;
	(2)  the Vehicle Protection Product Warrantor Advisory
	Board is abolished; and
	(3)  a registration issued under former Chapter 2306,
	Occupations Code, expires.
	(b)  As soon as practicable after the effective date of this
	Act, the Texas Commission of Licensing and Regulation shall repeal
	all rules regarding the regulation of vehicle protection product
	warrantors adopted under former Chapter 2306, Occupations Code.
	(c)  An administrative penalty assessed by the Texas
	Commission of Licensing and Regulation or the executive director of
	the Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation related to a
	violation of Chapter 2306, Occupations Code, as that chapter
	existed immediately before the effective date of this Act, may be
	collected as provided by Chapter 51, Occupations Code.
	(d)  The repeal by this Act of Chapter 2306, Occupations
	Code, does not affect the validity or terms of a vehicle protection
	product warranty that was issued or renewed before the effective
	date of this Act.
	SECTION 7.  Section 17.46(b), Business & Commerce Code, as
	amended 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 8.  Sections 348.014 and 353.017, Finance Code, as
	added by this Act, apply only to a transaction for the purchase of a
	motor vehicle or commercial vehicle, as applicable, that occurs on
	or after the effective date of this Act. A transaction for the
	purchase of a motor vehicle or commercial vehicle that occurs
	before the effective date of this Act is governed by the law in
	effect on the date the transaction occurred, and the former law is
	continued in effect for that purpose.
	SECTION 9.  To the extent of any conflict, this Act prevails
	over another Act of the 85th Legislature, Regular Session, 2017,
	relating to nonsubstantive additions to and corrections in enacted
	codes.
	SECTION 10.  This Act takes effect September 1, 2017.