Texas Legal Entities
Texas Deceptive Trade Practices Act
The Texas Deceptive Trade Practices Act, also known as the DTPA, was an act that was written to help protect the consumers from unfair or misleading actions by the businesses. This was enacted in 1973, and is enforceable in both the public and private areas of business. The Texas Attorney General’s Office and private lawyers are the enforcers of this act. This act includes certain actions such as fraud, breaches of warranty, and false statements. If you are starting your own business, you will need to be well versed in this act.
What the DTPA covers?
Any Breach of warranty is unlawful under this act. This means that the good can do what it would normally be used for, the good can do what the sales person said it would do, and the written or verbal warranty of the business is not violated in any way.
Any unconscionable acts are unlawful under this act. This means that the seller cannot take advantage of the customer’s ignorance about the product or service, their ability, experience, or capacity to very unfair level.
Any false, misleading, or dishonest actions are unlawful under this act. This is the more complicated portion of the DTPA, because the wording in the act itself, it is constantly being understood in many different ways. First it includes advertisement of any kind that is false, which includes making false statements having to do with price discounts, facts of the product, or misleading ideas about the quality of the product. The DTPA also states that a business cannot misrepresent the authority of any salesman or business agent to negotiate any customer business deal.
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