HB3081 - Relating to certain civil penalties under the Deceptive Trade Practices-Consumer Protection Act.

  89R9727 SCR-D     By: Holt H.B. No. 3081       A BILL TO BE ENTITLED   AN ACT   relating to certain civil penalties under the Deceptive Trade   Practices-Consumer Protection Act.          BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:          SECTION 1.  Section 17.47(c), Business & Commerce Code, is   amended to read as follows:          (c)  In addition to the request for a temporary restraining   order, or permanent injunction in a proceeding brought under   Subsection (a) of this section, the consumer protection division   may request, and the trier of fact may award, a civil penalty to be   paid to the state in an amount of:                (1)  not more than $20,000 [ $10,000 ] per violation; and                (2)   an additional amount of not more than $250,000 if   the act or practice that is the subject of the proceeding was   calculated to acquire or deprive money or other property from a   consumer who was :                       (A)   65 years of age or older when the act or   practice occurred ;                       (B)     not fluent in the language in which the act or   practice occurred; or                       (C)  a person with an intellectual disability [ , an   additional amount of not more than $250,000 ].          SECTION 2.  The change in law made by this Act to Section   17.47, Business & Commerce Code, applies only to an action brought   under that section on or after the effective date of this Act.  An   action brought under Section 17.47, Business & Commerce Code,   before the effective date of this Act is governed by the law in   effect on the date the action was brought, and the former law is   continued in effect for that purpose.          SECTION 3.  This Act takes effect September 1, 2025.