§ 134.005.Recovery

The provision that makes the Act worth pleading, and the one that makes it risky.

Against a person who commits theft: the amount of actual damages found by the trier of fact, and in addition damages found by the trier of fact not to exceed $1,000.

Against a parent or other person with the duty of control: the amount of actual damages found by the trier of fact, not to exceed $5,000.

The two caps do different work. The $1,000 is an additional award on top of actual damages, statutory in character and not tied to proof of further loss. The $5,000 is a ceiling on the actual damages themselves.

So a parent facing a $40,000 theft is liable for $5,000; a thief facing the same theft is liable for $40,000 plus up to $1,000 more.

Subsection (b) is the operative feature of the whole chapter: each person who prevails shall be awarded court costs and reasonable and necessary attorney’s fees.

"Shall" makes it mandatory and "each person who prevails" makes it two-way. A defendant who defeats the claim is entitled to fees as of right — which is why pleading the Act alongside a weak conversion claim is a decision with a cost attached.

The fees are frequently the largest number in the case. A $2,000 theft claim can carry a fee award many times the damages, which is the point: the Act exists so that small thefts are worth litigating.