Essential Elements of a DTPA Claim in Texas

DECEPTIVE TRADE PRACTICES: 
   
What does a successful DTPA claim require? 

To prevail on a DTPA claim, the plaintiff must demonstrate (1) the plaintiff’s status as a consumer, (2) the defendant can be sued under the DTPA, (3) the defendant committed a wrongful act under the DTPA, and (4) the defendant’s actions were a producing cause of the plaintiff’s damages. Tex. Bus. & Com. Code §17.50(a) (West 2011); Amstadt v. U.S. Brass Corp., 919 S.W.2d 644, 649 (Tex. 1996) (“A consumer must, in order to prevail on a DTPA claim, . . . establish that each defendant violated a specific provision of the Act, and that the violation was a producing cause of the claimant’s injury.”).

To prove a DTPA action for failure to disclose information, the plaintiff must show (1) a failure to disclose, (2) which was known at the time of the transaction, (3) which was intended to induce the plaintiff into a transaction, and (4) that the plaintiff otherwise would not have entered the transaction if the information had been disclosed. Colonial Cnty. Mut. Ins. Co. v. Valdez, 30 S.W.3d 514, 517–18 (Tex. App.—Corpus Christi 2000, no pet.).

SOURCE: HOUSTON COURT OF APPEALS - 01-10-00672-CV - 12/1/11

Limitations Period for Claim under the Texas Deceptive Trade Practices Act (DTPA)

The statute of limitations for a DTPA claim is two years. Tex. Bus. & Com. Code Ann. § 17.565 (West 2011). A DTPA claim accrues when (1) the false, misleading, or deceptive act or practice occurred, or (2) the consumer discovered or in the exercise of reasonable diligence should have discovered the false, misleading, or deceptive act or practice. Id.

SOURCE: HOUSTON COURT OF APPEALS - 01-10-00672-CV - 12/1/11 

WHEN A BORROWER IS NOT A CONSUMER UNDER THE DTPA