H.B. No. 3621

	AN ACT
	relating to certain charges included in a motor vehicle installment
	agreement.
	BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
	SECTION 1.  Section 348.006, Finance Code, is amended to
	read as follows:
	Sec. 348.006.  PRINCIPAL BALANCE; INCLUSION OF DOCUMENTARY
	FEE. (a)  The principal balance under a retail installment contract
	is computed by:
	(1)  adding:
	(A)  the cash price of the motor vehicle;
	(B)  each amount included in the retail
	installment contract for an itemized charge; and
	(C)  subject to Subsection (c), a documentary fee
	for services rendered for or on behalf of the retail buyer in
	[preparing,] handling[,] and processing documents relating to the
	motor vehicle sale [and to the closing of the retail installment
	transaction]; and
	(2)  subtracting from the results under Subdivision (1)
	the amount of the retail buyer's down payment in money, goods, or
	both.
	(b)  The computation of the principal balance may include an
	amount authorized under Section 348.404(b).
	(c)  For a documentary fee to be included in the principal
	balance of a retail installment contract:
	(1)  the retail seller must charge the documentary fee
	to cash buyers and credit buyers;
	(2)  the documentary fee may not exceed:
	(A)  [$50] for a motor vehicle retail installment
	contract other than a contract for a commercial vehicle, [or] a
	reasonable amount agreed to by the retail seller and retail buyer
	for the documentary services; or
	(B)  for a [heavy] commercial vehicle retail
	installment contract, an amount agreed to in writing by the retail
	seller and retail buyer; and
	(3)  except for a buyer's order or retail installment
	contract for a commercial vehicle, the buyer's order and the retail
	installment contract must include:
	(A)  a statement of the amount of the documentary
	fee; and
	(B)  in reasonable proximity to the place in each
	where the amount of the documentary fee is disclosed, the following
	notice in type that is bold-faced, capitalized, underlined, or
	otherwise conspicuously set out from surrounding written material:
	"A DOCUMENTARY FEE IS NOT AN OFFICIAL FEE. A DOCUMENTARY FEE
	IS NOT REQUIRED BY LAW, BUT MAY BE CHARGED TO BUYERS FOR HANDLING
	DOCUMENTS [AND PERFORMING SERVICES] RELATING TO THE [CLOSING OF A]
	SALE. A DOCUMENTARY FEE MAY NOT EXCEED [$50 FOR A MOTOR VEHICLE
	CONTRACT OR] A REASONABLE AMOUNT AGREED TO BY THE PARTIES [FOR A
	HEAVY COMMERCIAL VEHICLE CONTRACT]. THIS NOTICE IS REQUIRED BY
	LAW."
	(d)  A retail seller shall post the documentary fee notice
	prescribed in Subsection (c) so that it is clearly visible in each
	place where a vehicle sale is finalized.  If the language primarily
	used in an oral sales presentation is not the same as the language
	in which the retail installment contract is written, the retail
	seller shall furnish to the retail buyer a written statement
	containing the notice set out in Subsection (c)(3)(B) in the
	language primarily used in the oral sales presentation.
	(e)  Prior to increasing the maximum amount of the
	documentary fee the retail seller charges, a retail seller shall
	provide written notice to the commissioner of the maximum amount of
	the documentary fee the retail seller intends to charge.  The
	commissioner may review the amount of a documentary fee for
	reasonableness.  In determining whether a fee charged by a retail
	seller is reasonable, the commissioner may consider the resources
	required by the retail seller to perform the retail seller's duties
	under state and federal law with respect to the handling and
	processing of documents relating to the sale and financing of a
	motor vehicle.  If the commissioner determines that a documentary
	fee charged is not reasonable, the commissioner may require that
	the documentary fee charged be reduced or suspended.
	(f)  A documentary fee charged in accordance with this
	section before September 1, 2009, is considered reasonable for
	purposes of this section.
	(g)  This section does not:
	(1)  create a private right of action; or
	(2)  require that the commissioner approve a specific
	documentary fee amount before a retail seller charges the fee.
	(h)  The finance commission may adopt rules, including rules
	relating to the standards for a reasonableness determination or
	disclosures, necessary to enforce this section.  A rule adopted
	under this subsection may not require a retail seller to submit to
	the commissioner for prior approval the amount of a documentary fee
	that the retail seller intends to charge under this section.
	(i)  The commissioner has exclusive jurisdiction to enforce
	this section.
	(j)  Subsections (d), (e), and (h) do not apply with respect
	to a retail installment transaction for the purchase of a
	commercial vehicle.
	SECTION 2.  To the extent of conflict and regardless of the
	relative dates of enactment, this Act prevails over any other bill,
	including House Bill 4361 and Senate Bill 1965, enacted by the 81st
	Legislature, Regular Session, 2009.
	SECTION 3.  This Act takes effect September 1, 2009.
	______________________________	______________________________
	President of the Senate	Speaker of the House
	I certify that H.B. No. 3621 was passed by the House on May
	11, 2009, by the following vote:  Yeas 146, Nays 0, 3 present, not
	voting; that the House refused to concur in Senate amendments to
	H.B. No. 3621 on May 29, 2009, and requested the appointment of a
	conference committee to consider the differences between the two
	houses; and that the House adopted the conference committee report
	on H.B. No. 3621 on May 31, 2009, by the following vote:  Yeas 143,
	Nays 1, 1 present, not voting.
	______________________________
	Chief Clerk of the House
	I certify that H.B. No. 3621 was passed by the Senate, with
	amendments, on May 25, 2009, by the following vote:  Yeas 30, Nays
	1; at the request of the House, the Senate appointed a conference
	committee to consider the differences between the two houses; and
	that the Senate adopted the conference committee report on H.B. No.
	3621 on June 1, 2009, by the following vote:  Yeas 30, Nays 1.
	______________________________
	Secretary of the Senate
	APPROVED: __________________
	Date
	__________________
	Governor