84R5255 EES-D
 
  By: Johnson, Hernandez H.B. No. 2573
 
 
 
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
 
AN ACT
  relating to a deceptive trade practice related to the use of certain
  words to imply that a person who is not an attorney is authorized to
  practice law and the prosecution of a cause of action arising from
  that practice.
         BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
         SECTION 1.  Section 17.46(b), Business & Commerce Code, is
  amended to read as follows:
         (b)  Except as provided in Subsection (d) of this section,
  the term "false, misleading, or deceptive acts or practices"
  includes, but is not limited to, the following acts:
               (1)  passing off goods or services as those of another;
               (2)  causing confusion or misunderstanding as to the
  source, sponsorship, approval, or certification of goods or
  services;
               (3)  causing confusion or misunderstanding as to
  affiliation, connection, or association with, or certification by,
  another;
               (4)  using deceptive representations or designations
  of geographic origin in connection with goods or services;
               (5)  representing that goods or services have
  sponsorship, approval, characteristics, ingredients, uses,
  benefits, or quantities which they do not have or that a person has
  a sponsorship, approval, status, affiliation, or connection which
  the person [he] does not;
               (6)  representing that goods are original or new if
  they are deteriorated, reconditioned, reclaimed, used, or
  secondhand;
               (7)  representing that goods or services are of a
  particular standard, quality, or grade, or that goods are of a
  particular style or model, if they are of another;
               (8)  disparaging the goods, services, or business of
  another by false or misleading representation of facts;
               (9)  advertising goods or services with intent not to
  sell them as advertised;
               (10)  advertising goods or services with intent not to
  supply a reasonable expectable public demand, unless the
  advertisements disclosed a limitation of quantity;
               (11)  making false or misleading statements of fact
  concerning the reasons for, existence of, or amount of price
  reductions;
               (12)  representing that an agreement confers or
  involves rights, remedies, or obligations which it does not have or
  involve, or which are prohibited by law;
               (13)  knowingly making false or misleading statements
  of fact concerning the need for parts, replacement, or repair
  service;
               (14)  misrepresenting the authority of a salesman,
  representative or agent to negotiate the final terms of a consumer
  transaction;
               (15)  basing a charge for the repair of any item in
  whole or in part on a guaranty or warranty instead of on the value of
  the actual repairs made or work to be performed on the item without
  stating separately the charges for the work and the charge for the
  warranty or guaranty, if any;
               (16)  disconnecting, turning back, or resetting the
  odometer of any motor vehicle so as to reduce the number of miles
  indicated on the odometer gauge;
               (17)  advertising of any sale by fraudulently
  representing that a person is going out of business;
               (18)  advertising, selling, or distributing a card
  which purports to be a prescription drug identification card issued
  under Section 4151.152, Insurance Code, in accordance with rules
  adopted by the commissioner of insurance, which offers a discount
  on the purchase of health care goods or services from a third party
  provider, and which is not evidence of insurance coverage, unless:
                     (A)  the discount is authorized under an agreement
  between the seller of the card and the provider of those goods and
  services or the discount or card is offered to members of the
  seller;
                     (B)  the seller does not represent that the card
  provides insurance coverage of any kind; and
                     (C)  the discount is not false, misleading, or
  deceptive;
               (19)  using or employing a chain referral sales plan in
  connection with the sale or offer to sell of goods, merchandise, or
  anything of value, which uses the sales technique, plan,
  arrangement, or agreement in which the buyer or prospective buyer
  is offered the opportunity to purchase merchandise or goods and in
  connection with the purchase receives the seller's promise or
  representation that the buyer shall have the right to receive
  compensation or consideration in any form for furnishing to the
  seller the names of other prospective buyers if receipt of the
  compensation or consideration is contingent upon the occurrence of
  an event subsequent to the time the buyer purchases the merchandise
  or goods;
               (20)  representing that a guaranty [guarantee] or
  warranty confers or involves rights or remedies which it does not
  have or involve, provided, however, that nothing in this subchapter
  shall be construed to expand the implied warranty of
  merchantability as defined in Sections 2.314 through 2.318 and
  Sections 2A.212 through 2A.216 to involve obligations in excess of
  those which are appropriate to the goods;
               (21)  promoting a pyramid promotional scheme, as
  defined by Section 17.461;
               (22)  representing that work or services have been
  performed on, or parts replaced in, goods when the work or services
  were not performed or the parts replaced;
               (23)  filing suit founded upon a written contractual
  obligation of and signed by the defendant to pay money arising out
  of or based on a consumer transaction for goods, services, loans, or
  extensions of credit intended primarily for personal, family,
  household, or agricultural use in any county other than in the
  county in which the defendant resides at the time of the
  commencement of the action or in the county in which the defendant
  in fact signed the contract; provided, however, that a violation of
  this subsection shall not occur where it is shown by the person
  filing such suit that the person [he] neither knew or had reason to
  know that the county in which such suit was filed was neither the
  county in which the defendant resides at the commencement of the
  suit nor the county in which the defendant in fact signed the
  contract;
               (24)  failing to disclose information concerning goods
  or services which was known at the time of the transaction if such
  failure to disclose such information was intended to induce the
  consumer into a transaction into which the consumer would not have
  entered had the information been disclosed;
               (25)  using the term "corporation," "incorporated," or
  an abbreviation of either of those terms in the name of a business
  entity that is not incorporated under the laws of this state or
  another jurisdiction;
               (26)  selling, offering to sell, or illegally promoting
  an annuity contract under Chapter 22, Acts of the 57th Legislature,
  3rd Called Session, 1962 (Article 6228a-5, Vernon's Texas Civil
  Statutes), with the intent that the annuity contract will be the
  subject of a salary reduction agreement, as defined by that Act, if
  the annuity contract is not an eligible qualified investment under
  that Act or is not registered with the Teacher Retirement System of
  Texas as required by Section 8A of that Act; [or]
               (27)  taking advantage of a disaster declared by the
  governor under Chapter 418, Government Code, by:
                     (A)  selling or leasing fuel, food, medicine, or
  another necessity at an exorbitant or excessive price; or
                     (B)  demanding an exorbitant or excessive price in
  connection with the sale or lease of fuel, food, medicine, or
  another necessity; or
               (28)  using the translation into a foreign language of
  a title or other word, including "attorney," "lawyer," "licensed,"
  "notary," and "notary public," in any written material, including
  an advertisement, a business card, a letterhead, or stationery, in
  reference to a person who is not an attorney in order to imply that
  the person is authorized to practice law.
         SECTION 2.  Section 17.48, Business & Commerce Code, is
  amended by adding Subsections (c) and (d) to read as follows:
         (c)  In an action prosecuted by a district or county attorney
  under this subchapter for a violation of Section 17.46(b)(28),
  three-fourths of any civil penalty awarded by a court must be paid
  to the county where the court is located.
         (d)  A district or county attorney is not required to obtain
  the permission of the consumer protection division to prosecute an
  action under this subchapter for a violation of Section
  17.46(b)(28), if the district or county attorney provides prior
  written notice to the division as required by Subsection (b).
         SECTION 3.  The change in law made by this Act applies only
  to a cause of action that accrues on or after the effective date of
  this Act. A cause of action that accrued before the effective date
  of this Act is governed by the law in effect immediately before the
  effective date of this Act, and that law is continued in effect for
  that purpose.
         SECTION 4.  This Act takes effect September 1, 2015.