79R520 RMB-F

By:  Deuell                                                       S.B. No. 513



A BILL TO BE ENTITLED

AN ACT

relating to the prosecution of the offense of credit card or debit 
card abuse.
	BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:                        
	SECTION 1.  Section 32.31(b), Penal Code, is amended to read 
as follows:     
	(b)  A person commits an offense if:                                           
		(1)  with intent to obtain a benefit fraudulently, he 
possesses, presents, or uses a credit card or debit card [with 
knowledge that:
			[(A)  the card, whether or not expired, has not 
been issued to him and is not used with the effective consent of the 
cardholder; or
			[(B)  the card has expired or has been revoked or 
cancelled];
		(2)  with intent to obtain a benefit, he uses or 
possesses a fictitious credit card or debit card or the pretended 
number or description of a fictitious card;
		(3)  he receives a benefit that he knows has been 
obtained in violation of this section;
		(4)  he steals a credit card or debit card or, with 
knowledge that it has been stolen, receives or possesses a credit 
card or debit card [with intent to use it, to sell it, or to transfer 
it to a person other than the issuer or the cardholder];
		(5)  he buys a credit card or debit card from a person 
who he knows is not the issuer;
		(6)  not being the issuer, he sells a credit card or 
debit card;            
		(7)  he uses or induces the cardholder to use the 
cardholder's credit card or debit card to obtain property or 
service for the actor's benefit for which the cardholder is 
financially unable to pay;
		(8)  not being the cardholder, and without the 
effective consent of the cardholder, he possesses [signs or writes 
his name or the name of another on] a credit card or debit card [with 
intent to use it];
		(9)  he possesses two or more incomplete credit cards 
or debit cards that have not been issued to him with intent to 
complete them without the effective consent of the issuer.  For 
purposes of this subdivision, a card is incomplete if part of the 
matter that an issuer requires to appear on the card before it can 
be used, other than the signature of the cardholder, has not yet 
been stamped, embossed, imprinted, or written on it;
		(10)  being authorized by an issuer to furnish goods or 
services on presentation of a credit card or debit card, he, with 
intent to defraud the issuer or the cardholder, furnishes goods or 
services on presentation of a credit card or debit card obtained or 
retained in violation of this section or a credit card or debit card 
that is forged, expired, or revoked; or
		(11)  being authorized by an issuer to furnish goods or 
services on presentation of a credit card or debit card, he, with 
intent to defraud the issuer or a cardholder, fails to furnish goods 
or services that he represents in writing to the issuer that he has 
furnished.
	SECTION 2.  (a)  The change in law made by this Act applies 
only to an offense committed on or after the effective date of this 
Act.  For purposes of this section, an offense is committed before 
the effective date of this Act if any element of the offense occurs 
before the effective date.
	(b)  An offense committed before the effective date of this 
Act is covered by the law in effect when the offense was committed, 
and the former law is continued in effect for that purpose.
	SECTION 3.  This Act takes effect September 1, 2005.