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Fraud in Consumer Sales and Insurance Claims

Texas has a special set of laws that protect buyers in sales transactions known as the Deceptive Trace Practices Act, or the DTPA for short. The DTPA is a series of consumer protection laws that protects Texas citizens—both ordinary consumers and small businesses—against all types of sales and services fraud and misrepresentation. The DTPA protects consumers against insurance companies who refuse or delay in paying valid claims and against sellers who misrepresent their services or products, including the sale of homes and other real property.

Misrepresentation and misleading information in the sale of goods and services includes withholding important information. For example, if you purchased a home with foundation problems or defects, and the seller did not tell the buyer about the foundation problems before selling the home, the seller is liable to the buyer for the cost of repair under the DTPA.

And under the DTPA, misrepresentation is still misrepresentation even if the seller did not intend to misrepresent the quality of the item or the nature of the services. The DTPA protects buyers even if the seller made a mistake. As a seller, he or she the greatest opportunity to know the quality of the product they are selling or the scope of their services, so the seller or his agent is liable if something has been misrepresented, not the consumer.

If something you purchased something that turned out to be different from what it was represented to be, or you are having trouble getting your insurance company to pay a valid claim, please contact an attorney at Frankenberry Law for a free consultation. The DTPA is one of sections of the Texas Code that allow attorneys to collect attorneys fees from the other side in the case, so there is a substantial likelihood that you will not have to pay any attorney’s fees at all—up front, or in the end—while being able to recoup every dime that the misrepresentation cost you.