SB1341

The act removes section 1201.164’s separate requirement that, for financed transactions outside the federal Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act and its regulations, a retailer deliver a completed, retailer-signed contract at least 24 hours before full execution. It also removes that section’s associated 24-hour acceptance wait and 72-hour offer-withdrawal provision. This describes the deleted Texas provision; it does not determine whether a particular loan is covered by federal law or eliminate other federal requirements. Final law, section 5; Prior advance-contract and offer rules.

The emergency waiver provision remains, focused on modifying or waiving rescission. Before signing the contract, the consumer must give a dated written statement describing a genuine personal emergency requiring immediate purchase, specifically modifying or waiving rescission, and signed by all consumers entitled to that right. The retailer must immediately provide required disclosures, and the department must verify the emergency before issuing the statement of ownership. The act does not authorize an unexplained routine waiver. Final law, section 5.

Separate cancellation provisions remain in the code. Section 1201.1521 provides distinct three-day periods tied to cash-contract signing or credit-document signing, with specified appraisal/title-work expenses excepted from the no-penalty rule. Section 1201.162(c) also addresses cancellation after disclosure and its cessation when a third party’s lien is filed with the department. Because these provisions have conditions, SB1341 should not be read as either removing every cancellation right or guaranteeing an unconditional three-day right in every situation. Existing rescission provision; Disclosure and lien-related limits; Final law.

Manufacturers, retailers, brokers and installers may keep required records at their principal office or another designated location without the former in-state limitation. They may keep records electronically if they can produce them for department review on request. This changes storage options, not the duty to maintain and produce the records. Final law, section 3; Prior licensing and record-location rule.

The Business & Commerce Code’s manufactured-home definition and the Occupations Code’s HUD-code manufactured-home definition now refer to 42 U.S.C. section 5402(6). That federal definition retains the permanent-chassis and dwelling criteria and the alternative size thresholds—eight body feet wide, forty body feet long, or 320 square feet erected on site. It includes qualifying smaller structures through voluntary certification and standards compliance, and excludes self-propelled recreational vehicles. Replacing Texas’s separately written definition does not mean every small or movable structure qualifies. Final law, sections 1–2; Federal manufactured-home definition, paragraph (6); Prior commercial-code definition; Prior housing-code definition.

The Occupations Code also retains an exclusion for recreational vehicles, updating its federal rule citation to 24 C.F.R. section 3282.15(b). That rule concerns vehicles not certified as manufactured homes, designed only for recreation rather than primary residence or permanent occupancy, and meeting its specified certification or self-propulsion conditions. The prior Texas HUD-code definition’s express June 15, 1976 construction-date language is replaced by the federal cross-reference; this alone is not a finding that any particular older structure satisfies every applicable requirement. Final law; Federal recreational-vehicle rule.

All five substantive versions match, and the official amendment index lists no separate amendments. The definitions, record-storage change and sales-timing revisions were present from introduction through the final act. Introduced bill; Senate committee text; Senate-passed text; House committee text; Text index; Amendment index; Final law.

Compare the published text versions in the official text index. A change is not attributed to a specific amendment here without a verified record.

Licensees gain flexibility in record storage, and some sales can proceed without the removed statutory advance waits. Buyers still receive disclosures but may have less guaranteed time to review the specified paperwork before agreeing. Faster transactions are a possible benefit, not proof of lower prices; shorter review time is a practical tradeoff, not evidence that every buyer will be harmed. Emergency waiver and remaining cancellation conditions still matter. Final law.

The March 21 fiscal note anticipates no significant state or local fiscal impact and assumes state costs can be absorbed with existing resources. It does not quantify business savings, consumer borrowing costs or effects on disputes. The act makes no appropriation. Fiscal note; Final law.