HB 176 — Remedies against defendants not lawfully present in the

90R499 AMF-D By: Holt H.B. No. 176 relating to remedies against defendants not lawfully present in the United States in civil actions arising from a motor vehicle collision.

SECTION 1. Chapter 72, Civil Practice and Remedies Code, is amended by adding Subchapter C to read as follows: SUBCHAPTER C. MOTOR VEHICLE COLLISIONS INVOLVING DEFENDANTS NOT LAWFULLY PRESENT Sec. 72.101. RECOVERY OF TREBLE DAMAGES. (a) This section applies to a civil action to recover damages for injury, death, or loss caused in a motor vehicle collision. (b) A court shall award a claimant who successfully asserts a claim described by Subsection (a) against a defendant who was unlawfully present in the United States at the time of the collision three times the claimant's actual damages.

SECTION 2. Section 72.101, Civil Practice and Remedies Code, as added by this Act, applies only to a cause of action that accrues on or after the effective date of this Act. A cause of action that accrued before the effective date of this Act is governed by the law as it existed immediately before the effective date of this Act, and that law is continued in effect for that purpose.

SECTION 3. This Act takes effect September 1, 2027.