Sec. 147.048. OFFER TO SETTLE. (a) A defendant receiving notice under Section 147.044 may offer to settle the claim. The offer may include an offer to cure or correct the computer date failure.

(b) The offer must be accepted by the claimant not later than the 30th day after the date the offer is made or the offer is rejected.

(c) A defendant may file a rejected offer to settle with the court with an affidavit certifying its rejection.

(d) If the court finds that the amount tendered in a rejected offer to settle filed with the court is the same as, substantially the same as, or more than the damages found by the trier of fact, the claimant may not recover any amount in excess of the lesser of:

(1) the amount of damages tendered in the settlement offer; or

(2) the amount of damages found by the trier of fact.

(e) Subsection (d) does not apply if the court finds that the defendant making the offer:

(1) could not perform the offer when the offer was made; or

(2) substantially misrepresented the value of the offer.

(f) In this section, the term "damages" does not include attorney's fees or litigation expenses.

Added by Acts 1999, 76th Leg., ch. 128, Sec. 2, eff. May 19, 1999.