Sec. 345.251. DOCUMENTARY FEE FOR CERTAIN VEHICLES. (a) A retail seller may charge a documentary fee for services rendered to, for, or on behalf of a retail buyer in handling and processing documents relating to the sale of a motorcycle, moped, all-terrain vehicle, boat, boat motor, boat trailer, or towable recreational vehicle.

(b) If a documentary fee is charged under this section the fee:

(1) must be charged to cash buyers and credit buyers;

(2) may not exceed a reasonable amount agreed to by the retail seller and retail buyer for the documentary services, subject to a reasonable maximum amount set by rule by the finance commission; and

(3) must be disclosed on the buyer's order or retail installment contract as a separate itemized charge.

(c) A preliminary work sheet on which a sale price is computed and that is shown to the retail buyer, an order from the buyer, or a retail installment contract must include in reasonable proximity to the place on the document where the documentary fee is disclosed:

(1) the amount of the fee; and

(2) the following notice in type that is bold-faced, capitalized, or underlined or otherwise conspicuously set out from the surrounding written material:

"A DOCUMENTARY FEE IS NOT AN OFFICIAL FEE. A DOCUMENTARY FEE IS NOT REQUIRED BY LAW, BUT MAY BE CHARGED TO BUYERS FOR HANDLING DOCUMENTS RELATING TO THE SALE. A DOCUMENTARY FEE MAY NOT EXCEED A REASONABLE AMOUNT AGREED TO BY THE PARTIES THAT IS NOT MORE THAN THE MAXIMUM AMOUNT ALLOWED BY THE STATE. THIS NOTICE IS REQUIRED BY LAW."

(d) If the language primarily used in an oral sales presentation is not the same as the language in which the retail installment contract is written, the retail seller shall furnish to the retail buyer a written statement containing the notice set out in Subsection (c) in the language primarily used in the oral sales presentation.

(e) The finance commission may adopt rules necessary to implement and enforce this section.

Acts 1997, 75th Leg., ch. 1008, Sec. 1, eff. Sept. 1, 1997.

Amended by:

Acts 2013, 83rd Leg., R.S., Ch. 43 (S.B. 1248), Sec. 1, eff. September 1, 2013.

Acts 2019, 86th Leg., R.S., Ch. 882 (H.B. 3171), Sec. 2.01, eff. September 1, 2019.