Guide to Texas Consumer Protection Laws
We've collected links to the basic consumer protection laws of Texas. The actual text of the statutes is not maintained by the section. Some of the publicly available sources of statutes take a while to post updates when the statutes are amended. You should check with the source of each statute to find out whether the source is current and up to date.
Deceptive Trade Practices-Consumer Protection Act. This is the basic consumer protection statute in Texas. It prohibits a laundry list of deceptive trade practices and gives consumers the right to sue for damages. It requires that consumers who win deceptive trade practice lawsuits be awarded their attorney's fees and in some cases provides for damages of up to three times a consumer's actual damages. Many of the other consumer protection statutes in Texas tie-in to the Deceptive Trade Practices Act and allow consumers to sue under the Act for violation of those statutes.
Chapter 541 of the Texas Insurance Code (formerly Art. 21.21). This statute, which only applies to insurance related transactions, contains many of the same protections as the Deceptive Trade Practices Act. Like the Deceptive Trade Practices Act, many of the other provisions of the Insurance Code and the Department of Insurance's regulations are tied into Chapter 541, so that consumers injured by violations of those other laws may sue under Chapter 541 The Department of Insurance has adopted regulations spelling out in more detail the obligations under Chapter 541 and related provisions of the insurance code.
Debt Collection Act. The Debt Collection Act prohibits unfair, abusive and deceptive practices by debt collectors. It is broader in scope than the federal debt collection statute, which only covers third party debt collectors. The Texas Debt Collection Act also applies to creditors collecting their own debts.
Lemon Law: Motor Vehicle Warranty Performance Obligations. Under certain circumstances, the lemon law gives the owner of a defective car the right to force the manufacturer to buy back the car. The Department of Transportation has adopted regulations which spell out the obligtions of manufacturers under the Lemon Law in greater detail. Note: (The regulations are in an Adobe Acrobat file. Adobe Acrobat Reader is free and can be downloaded from adobe.com.)
Manufactured Housing Standards Act. This statute gives consumers of manufactured homes important warranty and other rights.
Chapters 2 and 2A of the Business and Commerce Code. The Business and Commerce Code is the basic commercial law of the State of Texas. It is a uniform law, which means to the greatest extent possible, each state has adopted the same code. Chapter 2 applies to sales of goods and gives consumers important rights, especially with respect to warranties. Chapter 2A provides many similar rights to consumers who lease goods.
Chapter 9 of the Business and Commerce Code. Chapter 9 of the code governs secured transactions, transactions in which a creditor has the right to take collateral if a debt is not paid. For consumers, it provides important rights when a car or other personal property is reposessed.
Title 4 of the Finance Code: Consumer Loans, Pawn Shops, Credit Sales of Goods and Services, Motor Vehicles and Manufactured Housing. These parts of the Finance Code offer important protections to consumers who borrow money or finance purchases of goods or services.
Chapter 91 and Chapter 92 of the Property Code: Landlord and Tenant. The Landlord and Tenant provisions of the Property Code give consumers protections against security deposit abuses, utility cutoffs, retaliation, and other practices, and requires security devices and smoke detectors.
Residential Construction Commission Act. This statute sets forth important procedures that consumers must follow if to make a claim against a home builder. The Residential Construction Commission was created in the 2003 Legislature. The Commission is charged with making rules concerning home warranties and performance standards, registering home builders, and administering a state inspection and dispute resolution process.
Texas Fair Housing Act. This law protects consumers from discrimination in the housing market.
Regulated Professions and Industries. All kinds of professionals, from Acupuncturists to Veterinarians are regulated by the State. These regulations are collected together in the Occupations Code. This code also contains regulations for a variety of different industries. These regulations often contain important consumer protections.
The Timeshare Act, Contest and Gift Giveaway Act, Business Opportunity Act, Health Spa Act, Home Solicitation Sales Act, Telephone Solicitation Act, Regulation of Telephone Solicitation Act, Regulation of Consumer Reporting Agencies Act, and the Credit Services Organizations Act all give consumers protections from illegal practices that may occur in specific industries or with specific types of transactions.