H.B. No. 1344
 
AN ACT
relating to the regulation of refund anticipation loans; providing
an administrative penalty.
       BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
       SECTION 1.  Subtitle B, Title 4, Finance Code, is amended by
adding Chapter 351 to read as follows:
CHAPTER 351. TAX REFUND ANTICIPATION LOANS
       Sec. 351.001.  DEFINITIONS. In this chapter:
             (1)  "Borrower" means an individual who receives the
proceeds of a refund anticipation loan.
             (2)  "Facilitator" means a person who processes,
receives, or accepts for delivery an application for a refund
anticipation loan, delivers a check in payment of refund
anticipation loan proceeds, or in any other manner acts to allow the
making of a refund anticipation loan.
             (3)  "Lender" means a person who extends credit to a
borrower in the form of a refund anticipation loan.
             (4)  "Refund anticipation loan" means a loan borrowed
by a taxpayer based on the taxpayer's anticipated federal income
tax refund.
             (5)  "Refund anticipation loan fee" means a fee imposed
or other consideration required by the facilitator or the lender
for a refund anticipation loan. The term does not include a fee
usually imposed or other consideration usually required by the
facilitator in the ordinary course of business for services not
related to the making of loans, including a fee imposed for tax
return preparation or for the electronic filing of a tax return.
       Sec. 351.002.  RESTRICTION ON ACTING AS FACILITATOR. (a) A
person may not, individually or in conjunction or cooperation with
another person, act as a facilitator unless the person is:
             (1)  engaged in the business of preparing tax returns,
or employed by a person engaged in the business of preparing tax
returns;
             (2)  primarily involved in financial services or tax
preparations;
             (3)  authorized by the Internal Revenue Service as an
e-file provider; and
             (4)  registered with the commissioner as a facilitator
under Section 351.003.
       (b)  This section does not apply to:
             (1)  a bank, thrift, savings association, industrial
bank, or credit union operating under the laws of the United States
or this state;
             (2)  an affiliate that is a servicer of a person
described by Subdivision (1) operating under the name of that
person; or
             (3)  any person who acts solely as an intermediary and
does not interact directly with a taxpayer in the making of the
refund anticipation loan.
       Sec. 351.003.  REGISTRATION OF FACILITATORS. (a) To
register as a facilitator, a person must provide to the
commissioner, on or before December 31 preceding each calendar year
in which the person seeks to act as a facilitator:
             (1)  a list of each location in this state at which
e-file providers authorized by the Internal Revenue Service file
tax returns on behalf of borrowers for whom the facilitator acts to
allow the making of a refund anticipation loan; and
             (2)  a processing fee for each location included on the
list furnished under Subdivision (1).
       (b)  The commissioner shall prescribe the processing fee in
an amount necessary to cover the costs of administering this
section.
       (c)  After the December 31 deadline, a facilitator may amend
the registration required under Subsection (a) to reflect any
change in the information provided by the registration.
       (d)  The commissioner shall make available to the public a
list of facilitators registered under this section.
       (e)  The commissioner may prescribe the registration form.
       Sec. 351.004.  DISCLOSURE REQUIREMENTS. (a) A facilitator
to which Section 351.002 applies shall discuss with and clearly
disclose to a borrower, after the borrower's tax return has been
prepared and before the loan is closed:
             (1)  the refund anticipation loan fee schedule;
             (2)  a written statement disclosing:
                   (A)  that a refund anticipation loan is a loan and
is not the borrower's actual income tax refund;
                   (B)  that the taxpayer may file an income tax
return electronically without applying for a refund anticipation
loan;
                   (C)  that the borrower is responsible for
repayment of the loan and related fees if the tax refund is not paid
or is insufficient to repay the loan;
                   (D)  any fee that will be charged if the loan is
not approved;
                   (E)  the average time, as published by the
Internal Revenue Service, within which a taxpayer can expect to
receive a refund for an income tax return filed:
                         (i)  electronically, and the refund is:
                               (a)  deposited directly into the
taxpayer's bank account; or
                               (b)  mailed to the taxpayer; and
                         (ii)  by mail, and the refund is:
                               (a)  deposited directly into the
taxpayer's financial institution account; or
                               (b)  mailed to the taxpayer;
                   (F)  that the Internal Revenue Service does not
guarantee:
                         (i)  payment of the full amount of the
anticipated refund; or
                         (ii)  a specific date on which it will mail a
refund or deposit the refund into a taxpayer's financial
institution account; and
                   (G)  the estimated time within which the proceeds
of the refund anticipation loan will be paid to the borrower if the
loan is approved; and
             (3)  the following information, specific to the
borrower:
                   (A)  the estimated total fees for the loan; and
                   (B)  the estimated annual percentage rate for the
loan, calculated using the guidelines established under the Truth
in Lending Act (15 U.S.C. Section 1601 et seq.).
       (b)  A refund anticipation loan fee schedule required by
Subsection (a)(1) must be a listing or table of refund anticipation
loan fees charged by the lender for refund anticipation loan
amounts. The schedule shall:
             (1)  list separately each fee imposed related to the
making of a refund anticipation loan;
             (2)  list the total amount of fees imposed related to
the making of a refund anticipation loan; and
             (3)  include, for each stated loan amount, the
estimated annual percentage rate for the loan, calculated using the
guidelines established under the Truth in Lending Act (15 U.S.C.
Section 1601 et seq.).
       (c)  A facilitator who advertises or markets refund
anticipation loans in Spanish shall offer any borrower the option
of receiving a Spanish-language printed disclosure and loan
contract. A facilitator who negotiates a loan with a borrower in
Spanish shall offer that borrower the option of receiving a
Spanish-language printed disclosure and loan contract.
       Sec. 351.005.  INVESTIGATION BY COMMISSIONER. The
commissioner shall:
             (1)  monitor the operations of a facilitator to ensure
compliance with this chapter; and
             (2)  receive and investigate complaints against a
facilitator or a person acting as a facilitator.
       Sec. 351.006.  REVOCATION OF REGISTRATION. (a) The
commissioner may revoke the registration of a facilitator if the
commissioner concludes that the facilitator has violated this
chapter. The commissioner shall recite the basis of the decision in
an order revoking the registration.
       (b)  If the commissioner proposes to revoke a registration,
the facilitator is entitled to a hearing before the commissioner or
a hearings officer, who shall propose a decision to the
commissioner. The commissioner or hearings officer shall prescribe
the time and place of the hearing. The hearing is governed by
Chapter 2001, Government Code.
       (c)  A facilitator aggrieved by a ruling, order, or decision
of the commissioner is entitled to appeal to a district court in the
county in which the hearing was held. An appeal under this
subsection is governed by Chapter 2001, Government Code.
       Sec. 351.007.  ADMINISTRATIVE PENALTY. The commissioner may
assess an administrative penalty of $500 against a person for each
knowing and wilful violation of this chapter.
       Sec. 351.008.  PREEMPTION OF LOCAL ORDINANCE. This chapter
preempts a local ordinance or rule regulating refund anticipation
loans.
       SECTION 2.  (a) Except as provided by Subsection (b) of this
section, this Act takes effect September 1, 2007.
       (b)  The requirement under Section 351.002(a), Finance Code,
as added by this Act, that a person who facilitates refund
anticipation loans be registered under Section 351.003, Finance
Code, as added by this Act, takes effect January 1, 2008.
____________________________________________________________
   President of the SenateSpeaker of the House      
       I certify that H.B. No. 1344 was passed by the House on April
12, 2007, by the following vote:  Yeas 140, Nays 1, 2 present, not
voting; and that the House concurred in Senate amendments to H.B.
No. 1344 on May 7, 2007, by the following vote:  Yeas 142, Nays 0, 2
present, not voting.
______________________________
Chief Clerk of the House   
       I certify that H.B. No. 1344 was passed by the Senate, with
       I certify that H.B. No. 1344 was passed by the Senate, with
amendments, on May 2, 2007, by the following vote:  Yeas 30, Nays 0.
______________________________
Secretary of the Senate   
APPROVED: __________________
APPROVED: __________________
                Date       
 
 
         __________________
              Governor