republic-os/legislation/us/states/va/2019/hb-2038.md

---
type: "Bill"
title: "Extended service contract providers; bonding requirement, remedies, civil penalty."
description: "Eliminates the requirement that extended service contract providers file and maintain a bond or letter of credit with the Commissioner of the Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services (VDACS). The bill also (i) requires service contracts to include a disclosure advising a purchaser that he may file a complaint with VDACS if an obligor denies or does not honor a promise made in a contract within 60 days after a request; (ii) authorizes the Commissioner of VDACS, upon receiving a complaint regarding such a request, to investigate whether there has been an improper denial or failure of a purchaser's request and require the obligor to rectify or justify any improper denial or failure; and (iii) authorizes the Commissioner to (a) issue a cease and desist order; (b) deny, suspend, or revoke the obligor's registration; or (c) assess a civil penalty if the denial or failure is not rectified or sufficiently justified. The bill includes procedural provisions concerning the Commissioner's powers to deny, suspend, or revoke an obligor's registration. This bill is identical to"
jurisdiction: "us/states/va"
legislature: "Virginia General Assembly"
session: "2019"
identifier: "HB 2038"
citation: "Virginia HB 2038 (2019)"
classification: ["bill"]
subjects: ["Trade and Commerce"]
status: "enacted"
primary_sponsors: ["Margaret B. Ransone"]
version_count: 5
action_count: 17
vote_count: 5
first_action: "2019-01-07"
last_action: "2019-03-14"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/e2eb26a7-2557-496e-b206-a053859ddd8a"
source_url: "http://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?191+sum+HB2038"
source_hash: "75d7dc84de19d5dd32e722ea67965e0946d3acff0815c824c0bc46e487dea259"
vintage: "2026-07-01"
source_snapshot: "https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump"
retrieved_at: "2026-07-06"
confidence: "reported"
tags: ["legislation", "bill", "us-va"]
---

# Virginia HB 2038 (2019) — Extended service contract providers; bonding requirement, remedies, civil penalty.

Eliminates the requirement that extended service contract providers file and maintain a bond or letter of credit with the Commissioner of the Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services (VDACS). The bill also (i) requires service contracts to include a disclosure advising a purchaser that he may file a complaint with VDACS if an obligor denies or does not honor a promise made in a contract within 60 days after a request; (ii) authorizes the Commissioner of VDACS, upon receiving a complaint regarding such a request, to investigate whether there has been an improper denial or failure of a purchaser's request and require the obligor to rectify or justify any improper denial or failure; and (iii) authorizes the Commissioner to (a) issue a cease and desist order; (b) deny, suspend, or revoke the obligor's registration; or (c) assess a civil penalty if the denial or failure is not rectified or sufficiently justified. The bill includes procedural provisions concerning the Commissioner's powers to deny, suspend, or revoke an obligor's registration. This bill is identical to

## Version chain

The bill's text revisions, in order — the diff chain from filing to enrollment.

1. **Governor: Acts of Assembly Chapter text (CHAP0396)** (committee substitute) — [source](http://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?191+ful+CHAP0396)
2. **House amendments adopted** (committee substitute) — [source](http://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?191+amd+HB2038AH)
3. **House: Bill text as passed House and Senate (HB2038ER)** (committee substitute) — [source](http://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?191+ful+HB2038ER)
4. **House: Prefiled and ordered printed; offered 01/09/19 19104036D** (committee substitute) — [source](http://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?191+ful+HB2038)
5. **House: Printed as engrossed 19104036D-E** (committee substitute) — [source](http://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?191+ful+HB2038E)

## Votes

- Reported from Commerce and Labor with amendment — **22–0** (pass) · lower
- Reported from Commerce and Labor — **13–0** (pass) · upper
- Read third time and passed House BLOCK VOTE — **97–0** (pass) · lower
- Passed Senate — **40–0** (pass) · upper
- Constitutional reading dispensed — **39–0** (pass) · upper

## Sponsors

- Margaret B. Ransone — primary (person)

## Timeline

The legislative action history — every referral, reading, and vote.

- **2019-01-07** Prefiled and ordered printed; offered 01/09/19 19104036D `introduction`
- **2019-01-07** Referred to Committee on Commerce and Labor `referral-committee`
- **2019-01-17** Read first time `reading-1`
- **2019-01-18** Read second time `reading-2`
- **2019-01-18** Committee amendment agreed to
- **2019-01-18** Engrossed by House as amended HB2038E
- **2019-01-18** Printed as engrossed 19104036D-E
- **2019-01-21** Read third time and passed House BLOCK VOTE (97-Y 0-N) `passage, reading-3`
- **2019-01-22** Constitutional reading dispensed
- **2019-01-22** Referred to Committee on Commerce and Labor `referral-committee`
- **2019-02-14** Read third time `reading-3`
- **2019-02-19** Enrolled
- **2019-02-19** Signed by Speaker
- **2019-02-20** Signed by President
- **2019-02-21** Enrolled Bill communicated to Governor on February 21, 2019
- **2019-02-21** Governor's Action Deadline Midnight, March 26, 2019
- **2019-03-14** Approved by Governor-Chapter 396 (effective 7/1/19) `executive-signature`

## Source

OpenStates / OpenCivicData bulk snapshot [2026-07-01](https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump); origin `ocd-bill/e2eb26a7-2557-496e-b206-a053859ddd8a`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official Virginia legislature records).