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House Bill 2223 |
House Author: Giddings et al. |
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Effective: 9-1-05 |
Senate Sponsor: Ellis |
House Bill 2223 amends the Business & Commerce Code to define "victim of identity theft" as a person who has filed with an appropriate law enforcement agency a criminal complaint alleging the fraudulent use of identification and to provide that if such a person closes an account at a financial institution as a result of the identity theft, notifies the financial institution that the theft is the reason for the closure, provides the financial institution with a copy of the criminal complaint, and requests that the financial institution return checks with the notation "forgery," the financial institution must process as forgeries the checks received after the customer takes those actions, in accordance with the financial institution's customary procedures. The bill prohibits the requester from asserting that the financial institution is liable for wrongfully dishonoring a check that is subsequently returned and holds the financial institution harmless for acting in accordance with the request.