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House Bill 2438 |
House Author: McCall |
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Effective: 9-1-09 |
Senate Sponsor: Carona |
House Bill 2438 amends the Finance Code to provide that a retail installment transaction in which a retail buyer purchases a commercial vehicle is subject only to certain specifically enumerated statutes. The bill prohibits a retail seller from accepting a trade-in motor vehicle for a motor vehicle sold under a retail installment contract unless the seller provides to the retail buyer, before the buyer signs the contract, a completed disclosure of trade-in equity form. The bill requires the Finance Commission of Texas to adopt by rule a standard form for such disclosure; sets forth minimum requirements for the form; and exempts a retail seller from having to comply with the above requirement until the commission prescribes the form. The retail seller is solely responsible for the form's content and delivery and an assignee of a retail installment contract may not be held responsible for a retail seller's failure to comply.
House Bill 2438 specifies that an advertised price regarding a motor vehicle installment sale does not necessarily establish a cash price and increases from 15 to 16 the minimum number of days of a month that may be considered a full month for the purpose of computing the time price differential for motor vehicle retail installment contracts with equal monthly successive payments. The bill authorizes a retail seller to advance money to retire the retail buyer's outstanding obligation under a retail installment transaction, to include in the contract any money advanced to retire such obligation or to retire an amount owed against a trade-in vehicle or a vehicle declared a total loss by an insurer only if the advance is included as an itemized charge, and to disclose money advanced in any manner permitted by the federal Truth in Lending Act.
House Bill 2438 requires a retail seller of motor vehicles to pay in full the outstanding balance of a trade-in vehicle not later than the 25th day after the date the buyer signs the retail installment contract and receives delivery of the motor vehicle and the retail seller receives both delivery of the trade-in vehicle and the documents to transfer title from the buyer. A person required to hold a license for motor vehicle installment sales must ensure that each office at which retail installment transactions are made, serviced, held, or collected is licensed or otherwise authorized to engage in such activity.
House Bill 2438 extends the authority of the consumer credit commissioner or the commissioner's representative to administer oaths and examine persons under oath on certain matters to apply during an investigation as well as during an examination, and extends the period for a license holder's mandatory retention of the records of each retail installment transaction from the third anniversary of the date the last payment was made on the transaction to the fourth anniversary of that transaction date, if that anniversary date is later than the second anniversary of the date on which the final entry is made in the record.