By Marchant                                           H.B. No. 1586
                                 A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
    1-1                                AN ACT
    1-2  relating to certain agreements under a retail installment contract
    1-3  for the purchase of a motor vehicle.
    1-4        BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
    1-5        SECTION 1.  Section (9), Article 7.06, Title 79, Revised
    1-6  Statutes (Article 5069-7.06, Vernon's Texas Civil Statutes), is
    1-7  amended to read as follows:
    1-8        (9)  A buyer and seller may agree to include motor vehicle
    1-9  property damage or bodily injury liability insurance, mechanical
   1-10  breakdown insurance, motor vehicle theft protection plans,
   1-11  insurance to reimburse the buyer the difference, if any, between
   1-12  the proceeds of the buyer's basic collision policy on the vehicle
   1-13  and the amount owed on the vehicle, in the event that the vehicle
   1-14  has been rendered a total loss, or a warranty or service contract
   1-15  relating to the motor vehicle as a separate charge in a contract
   1-16  for the sale of a motor vehicle.  A buyer and seller may agree to
   1-17  include in a contract for the sale of a motor vehicle a separate
   1-18  charge for a debt cancellation contract or waiver by which the
   1-19  seller or holder agrees that, if the vehicle is rendered a total
   1-20  loss because of theft or collision, the seller or holder will waive
   1-21  the difference, if any, between the actual cash value of the
   1-22  vehicle immediately before the loss and the amount owed on the
   1-23  vehicle.  In addition to other liability incurred under a debt
   1-24  cancellation contract or waiver included in a contract as provided
    2-1  by this section, a seller or holder may agree to waive the
    2-2  deductible amount, if any, the buyer is required to pay under the
    2-3  buyer's personal auto policy.  A debt cancellation contract or
    2-4  waiver included in a contract as provided by this section is not
    2-5  insurance or an insurance product or service and is not subject to
    2-6  regulation by the commissioner of insurance or the Texas Department
    2-7  of Insurance.  If a charge is added to a contract as provided by
    2-8  this section, the contract shall clearly and conspicuously disclose
    2-9  that fact.  A charge added to a contract as provided by this
   2-10  section shall be reasonable.
   2-11        SECTION 2.  The importance of this legislation and the
   2-12  crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
   2-13  emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
   2-14  constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
   2-15  days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended,
   2-16  and that this Act take effect and be in force from and after its
   2-17  passage, and it is so enacted.