H.B. No. 628
AN ACT
relating to debt collection after a consumer has filed a report with
a law enforcement agency.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Section 392.303, Finance Code, is amended by
amending Subsection (a) and adding Subsection (c) to read as
follows:
(a) In debt collection, a debt collector may not use unfair
or unconscionable means that employ the following practices:
(1) seeking or obtaining a written statement or
acknowledgment in any form that specifies that a consumer's
obligation is one incurred for necessaries of life if the
obligation was not incurred for those necessaries; [or]
(2) collecting or attempting to collect interest or a
charge, fee, or expense incidental to the obligation unless the
interest or incidental charge, fee, or expense is expressly
authorized by the agreement creating the obligation or legally
chargeable to the consumer; or
(3) collecting or attempting to collect an obligation
under a check, draft, debit payment, or credit card payment, if:
(A) the check or draft was dishonored or the
debit payment or credit card payment was refused because the check
or draft was not drawn or the payment was not made by a person
authorized to use the applicable account;
(B) the debt collector has received written
notice from a person authorized to use the account that the check,
draft, or payment was unauthorized; and
(C) the person authorized to use the account has
filed a report concerning the unauthorized check, draft, or payment
with a law enforcement agency, as defined by Article 59.01, Code of
Criminal Procedure, and has provided the debt collector with a copy
of the report.
(c) Subsection (a)(3) does not prohibit a debt collector
from collecting or attempting to collect an obligation under a
check, draft, debit payment, or credit card payment if the debt
collector has credible evidence, including a document, video
recording, or witness statement, that the report filed with a law
enforcement agency, as required by Subsection (a)(3)(C), is
fraudulent and that the check, draft, or payment was authorized.
SECTION 2. This Act takes effect September 1, 2005.
______________________________ ______________________________
President of the Senate Speaker of the House
I certify that H.B. No. 628 was passed by the House on April
28, 2005, by a non-record vote.
______________________________
Chief Clerk of the House
I certify that H.B. No. 628 was passed by the Senate on May
23, 2005, by the following vote: Yeas 31, Nays 0.
______________________________
Secretary of the Senate
APPROVED: _____________________
Date
_____________________
Governor