This action concerns a recently enacted Texas Statute codified at
Tex. Bus. & Comm.Code §§ 17.921–
17.926 (the “Act”), entitled “An Act relating to regulating the collection or solicitation of donated goods subsequently sold by for-profit entities or individuals.” Acts 2009, 81st Leg., ch. 1368, § 1. The Act requires for-profit entities that solicit and resell donations on behalf of charitable organizations, “professional resellers,” to make certain disclosures when they collect clothing or other household goods through public receptacles, or through telephonic, mail, or in-person solicitations.
See generally Tex. Bus. & Comm.Code §§ 17.922–
17.924. These disclosures apply in three situations. The “no-charitable-organization disclosure sections,”
§§ 17.922(b),
17.923(b),
17.924(b), require professional resellers to disclose if no money will go to a charitable organization. The “percentage disclosure sections,”
§§ 17.922(c),
17.923(c),
17.924(c), require professional resellers who pay a percentage of the proceeds from the sale of donated items to disclose the percentage that will be paid to the charitable organization. Finally, the “flat fee disclosure sections,”
§§ 17.922(d),
17.923(d),
17.924(d), require professional resellers who pay a charitable organization a flat fee for use of the charitable organization's name to disclose the flat fee that will be paid to the charitable organization.