On June 16, 2016, the Texas Attorney General released Opinion KP-0095 (2016) on “Whether a rental property owner’s use of an online payment option that is accompanied by a convenience fee involves the imposition of a credit-card surcharge in violation of state law.”
The summary to the opinion states:
“A court is likely to conclude that a fee uniformly charged to all online means of payment by an arms-length third-party vendor does not violate the surcharge prohibitions of Finance Code subsection 339.00I(a) or Business and Commerce Code section 604A.002. Whether a rental property owner or operator and a third-party vendor of online payment processing services have a true arms-length relationship is a question of fact that cannot be answered in the opinion process.”
To read the Opinion, click on the link below.
https://www.texasattorneygeneral.gov/opinions/opinions/51paxton/op/2016/kp0095.pdf