More than 800 new laws go into effect in Texas today, thanks to the most recent legislative session. They range from everything to legalizing brass knuckles and lemonade stands to making porch piracy a felony, and even a new law impacting sellers disclosures for homes in floodplains.
Chances are, the bulk of the 800 new laws won’t have a hugely noticeable impact on day-to-day living in Texas. But we did pick five real estate-related highlights.
Waiving deductibles now prohibited. House Bill 2102 puts the kibosh on waiving deductibles — a common practice especially in the roofing industry, where a new roof would be promised for “free,” meaning the contractor would waive the deductible, but often wouldn’t tell the homeowner that by not telling the insurance company that the deductible portion of the claim had not been incurred, they could be committing insurance fraud. The new law appears to make it illegal to pay, waive, absorb, rebate or credit the cost of a deductible, and allows insurance companies to ask for reasonable proof that the deductible has been paid before making a replacement cost holdback payment.
Contractors can’t act as adjusters. While the law has previously applied to the unauthorized practice of public adjusting (or UPPA) by roofing contractors, the new law also includes other types of contractors by eliminating the word “roofing” and broadening the scope of the original law. The law also says a contractor can’t use an assignment of benefits or power of attorney to avoid the new law.
Expanded rules for sellers disclosures in floodplains. Thanks to Senate Bill 339, the rules on sellers disclosures were expanded when selling a home in a 500-year floodplain, flood pool, or if the home is adjacent to a reservoir to also require sellers to disclose if the home has been flooded in a catastrophic event. Prior to today, sellers only had to do this if their home was in a 100-year floodplain.
Porch piracy now a felony. Porch pirates beware, stealing packages off porches now comes with a much tougher penalty. Previously, stealing a package off someone’s porch was a Class C or Class B misdemeanor. Now it’s a felony, with a penalty of six months to 10 years in prison and fines up to $10,000. Under the new law, stealing from 10 people or fewer will be a state felony charge. Stealing from 20-50 people would be a second-degree felony, and stealing from more than 50 people will be a first-degree felony.
Spoof number use by telemarketers illegal. Been getting a ton of fake number calls from telemarketers? As of today, that practice is banned in Texas. HB 1992 prohibits the practice of tampering with information transmitted to caller IDs with the intention of duping people into answering the call.
