HB4738

HB4738 removes provisions allowing part of certain loan administrative fees to be deposited with the Texas comptroller: $1 from covered non-real-property loan fees and 50 cents from covered secondary-mortgage loan fees. Signed June 20, 2025, it took effect January 1, 2026.

Those deposits supported the Finance Commission’s financial-services research responsibilities under Finance Code Section 11.3055. HB4738 removes that remittance mechanism, not the commission’s underlying research authority. The former statutory sentences said these amounts may be deposited; they should not be described as an unconditional tax on every borrower.

The act does not abolish the administrative fee charged to the borrower or require it to fall by $1 or 50 cents. Existing fee authority, treatment as earned and nonrefundable, and refinancing-frequency limits remain. Under the amended provisions, the usual refinancing limit remains once in 180 days; the specified Section 342.201(e) interest-charge loans retain the once-in-365-days limit. Other statutory and rule-based fee limits still matter. See 342.201 and 342.308.

The act expressly preserves tax liabilities accruing before January 1, 2026, along with the former law for collection and civil or criminal enforcement. It does not forgive those earlier liabilities.