From the 86th: State Agencies and Regulation Bills

HB 2101 - Relating to the regulation of reroofing contractors.

First, this bill did not pass.  It failed to pass in the House when it came up for a vote. 

We mention it here only to say that TMHA worked with the bill author and amended the bill coming out of committee to make sure manufactured home retailers were excluded from this new proposed registration and TDLR regulation for “reroofers.” 

Specifically, we were able to convince the necessary people that the following should be added to the list of exemptions to these newly proposed requirements:

” (5)  a person who is licensed as a retailer of manufactured homes under Chapter 1201 and is performing a reroofing project on a manufactured home as defined by Section 1201.003.”

Ultimately, the amendment wasn’t necessary when the entire bill failed on the House floor.  But Texas retailers were protected because of our committee amendment pass or fail.

HB 2452 - Relating to the Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation complaint review process.

When the Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation (TDLR) investigates complaints, technical or industry-specific knowledge may be required to understand and resolve issues fully. While TDLR does employ some licensed professionals, it may be necessary at times to contract with trusted outside parties for additional expertise.

H.B. 2452 was signed into law and became effective on May 29.  The law change allows TDLR to contract with third-party experts when investigating complaints and provides immunity to those experts for their assistance unless the contracted party engages in fraudulent behavior. The bill also now allows TDLR to accept anonymous complaints.

This new law became effective immediately on May 29, 2019.

SB 2330 - Relating to the temporary authority of certain individuals to engage in business as a residential mortgage loan originator.

S.B. 2330 would amend the Texas SAFE Act to allow a person who becomes employed by an entity licensed or registered in Texas to engage in the business of residential mortgage loan origination to have temporary authority to act as a mortgage loan originator for 120 days. There are numerous conditions the bill lays out required in order to gain the temporary authority.

In addition to making changes to the Texas SAFE Act, the bill also makes conforming changes to the various lending laws, including the manufactured home lending laws in Chapter 347, Finance Code.  The Chapter 347 changes merely allow for the temporary authority provisions to apply to the space of originating loans for manufactured homes. 

The effective date of this bill is not the typical September 1, 2019, but rather November 24, 2019.