| (a) Purpose and delivery. The purpose of this section
is to provide a standard form for the disclosure of equity that a
retail seller must provide to the retail buyer before accepting a
trade-in motor vehicle for an ordinary motor vehicle sold under a
retail installment sales contract. The disclosure of equity standard
form is not required for transactions where a single cash payment
is made for the sale of the motor vehicle. This section prescribes
the form and content of the standard form under Texas Finance Code, §348.0091.
This section does not apply to retail installment sales transactions
for commercial vehicles.
(b) Required elements. A disclosure of equity standard
form to be provided to the retail buyer before accepting a trade-in
motor vehicle for a motor vehicle sold under a retail installment
sales contract must contain the required elements as provided in Texas
Finance Code, §348.0091(c).
(c) Single page required. The disclosure of equity
standard form must fit on one standard-size sheet of paper (8 1/2
by 11 inches).
(d) Font. The disclosure of equity standard form must
be printed in an easily readable font and type size. If other state
or federal law requires a different type size for a specific disclosure
or contractual provision, the type size specified by the other law
should be used.
(e) Typeface. The text of the disclosure of equity
standard form must be set in an easily readable typeface. Typefaces
considered to be readable include: Arial, Calibri, Caslon, Century
Schoolbook, Garamond, Helvetica, Scala, and Times New Roman.
(f) Typeface size. Typeface size is referred to in
points. Because different typefaces in the same point size are not
of equal size, typeface is not strictly defined but is expressed as
a minimum size in the Times New Roman typeface for visual comparative
purposes. Generally, the typeface for the text of the disclosure of
equity standard form must be at least as large as 10 point in the
Times New Roman typeface. A point is generally viewed as 1/72nd of
an inch.
(g) Co-buyers. If the motor vehicle being sold under
a retail installment sales contract is being purchased by co-buyers,
the signature of one co-buyer will verify delivery of a disclosure
under this section.
(h) Required standard form. The required disclosure
of equity standard form under Texas Finance Code, §348.0091 to
be provided to the retail buyer before accepting a trade-in motor
vehicle for a motor vehicle sold under a retail installment sales
contract is presented in the following figure.
Attached Graphic
(i) Permissible changes. A retail seller must use the
required disclosure of equity standard form, but may consider making
only limited technical changes in the disclosure paragraph required
by Texas Finance Code, §348.0091(c)(1)(H), as provided by the
following exclusive list:
(1) substituting the following for the words "the dealer":
(A) the retail seller's name;
(B) the pronoun "we"; or
(C) "the seller";
(2) substituting the following words for the pronoun
"you":
(A) "the buyer";
(B) "the retail buyer"; or
(C) "the retail buyer(s)";
(3) substituting the article "the" for the pronoun
"your";
(4) appropriate changes to verbs in order to maintain
proper grammar.
(j) Benefit under trade-in credit agreement. A retail
seller may not include a benefit under a trade-in credit agreement
in the "Dealership Allowance for Trade-In" section of the disclosure
of equity standard form.
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| Source Note: The provisions of this §84.204 adopted to be effective January 7, 2010, 35 TexReg 64; amended to be effective November 8, 2012, 37 TexReg 8780; amended to be effective September 7, 2017, 42 TexReg 4462 |
