HBA-JLV H.B. 1684 77(R)BILL ANALYSIS Office of House Bill AnalysisH.B. 1684 By: Solomons Financial Institutions 7/17/2001 Enrolled BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE Current law provides that the seller of certain insurance products may charge a policy or agent fee to defray the costs incurred in the writing and processing of the insurance product. Prior to the 77th Legislature, state law did not provide that a policy or agent fee may be financed under a retail installment contract. This is important to the purchaser of an insurance product purchased to protect the person during the term of a retail installment contract. While such an insurance product may be legally financed along with everything else under the retail installment contract, under the terms of the Finance Code, an accompanying policy fee could not be financed causing the holder to pay cash out of pocket. House Bill 1684 provides that a policy fee may be financed along with other legal charges under a retail installment agreement. RULEMAKING AUTHORITY It is the opinion of the Office of House Bill Analysis that this bill does not expressly delegate any additional rulemaking authority to a state officer, department, agency, or institution. ANALYSIS House Bill 1684 amends the Finance Code to authorize a holder of a motor vehicle retail installment contract to include, as a separate charge in the contract, a policy or agent fee charged in connection with insurance provided to the holder as additional protection for the contract. EFFECTIVE DATE September 1, 2001.