By: Dutton H.B. No. 2480
73R6729 RWS-D
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
1-1 AN ACT
1-2 relating to provisions in an automobile rental agreement.
1-3 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
1-4 SECTION 1. Section 4(a), Article 9026, Revised Statutes, is
1-5 amended to read as follows:
1-6 (a) A rental company in a rental agreement may not offer for
1-7 sale in this state a loss damage waiver under which the rental
1-8 company agrees to limit the amount of the renter's liability to the
1-9 rental company unless the renter agrees to the loss damage waiver
1-10 in writing at the time the rental agreement is executed. A rental
1-11 company is not required to exclude any type of damage from its loss
1-12 damage waiver. However, should a rental company choose to exclude
1-13 some types of damage, the agreement may contain only the following
1-14 exclusions and no others:
1-15 (1) damage is caused intentionally by an authorized
1-16 driver or as a result of wilful and wanton misconduct of an
1-17 authorized driver;
1-18 (2) damage arises out of any authorized driver's
1-19 operation of a private passenger automobile while legally
1-20 intoxicated or under the influence of any illegal drug or chemical
1-21 as defined or determined under the law of the state in which the
1-22 damage occurred;
1-23 (3) damage is caused while the authorized driver is
1-24 engaged in a speed contest;
2-1 (4) the rental transaction is based on information
2-2 supplied by the renter with the intent to defraud the rental
2-3 company;
2-4 (5) damage arises out of the use of the private
2-5 passenger automobile while committing or otherwise engaged in a
2-6 criminal act in which the automobile usage is substantially related
2-7 to the nature of the criminal activity;
2-8 (6) damage arises out of the use of the private
2-9 passenger automobile to transport persons or property for hire;
2-10 (7) damage arises out of the use of the private
2-11 passenger automobile outside the United States or Canada unless the
2-12 use is specifically authorized by the rental agreement;
2-13 (8) damage arises out of the use of the private
2-14 passenger automobile while towing or pushing anything; <or>
2-15 (9) damage is caused to the vehicle while it is being
2-16 driven other than on a regularly maintained roadway; or
2-17 (10) the private passenger automobile is stolen and
2-18 the renter has facilitated the theft by leaving the ignition key in
2-19 the automobile while the automobile is unoccupied.
2-20 SECTION 2. This Act applies to the rental of private
2-21 passenger automobiles by rental companies under rental agreements
2-22 executed on and after the effective date of this Act. Rental of
2-23 private passenger automobiles by rental companies under rental
2-24 agreements executed before the effective date of this Act are
2-25 governed by the law as it existed at the time the parties executed
2-26 the rental agreement and that law is continued in effect for that
2-27 purpose.
3-1 SECTION 3. This Act takes effect September 1, 1993.
3-2 SECTION 4. The importance of this legislation and the
3-3 crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
3-4 emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
3-5 constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
3-6 days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended.