AB 2106: Sellers of travel: registration.

Existing law regulates sellers of travel, as defined, and requires their registration with the Attorney General. Under existing law, the Travel Consumer Restitution Corporation provides restitution to a person aggrieved by the failure of a seller of travel to refund payments for air or sea transportation or travel services, subject to specified restrictions. Existing law requires the Travel Consumer Restitution Corporation to assess, as specified, sellers of travel for the corporations operations fund and the Travel Consumer Restitution Fund.

Existing law requires sellers of travel to register by filing with the Consumer Law Section specified fees for each location of business and specified information about the seller of travel including its business form, its place of organization, and certain personal identification numbers of each of its owners and principals.

This bill would also require sellers of travel to file with the Consumer Law Section the name, address, and telephone number of the sole member or the sole shareholder of a limited liability company or S corporation, as described, with which the seller of travel contracts and the file number assigned to the seller of travel by the Secretary of State or the Franchise Tax Board.

Existing law prohibits the issuance, approval, or renewal of registration of a seller of travel until specified filing and late fees have been paid.

The bill additionally would prohibit the issuance, approval, or renewal of registration until the seller of travel has paid any outstanding assessments due to the Travel Consumer Restitution Corporation.

Existing law requires the Attorney General to suspend the registration of a seller of travel who fails to make required payments to the Travel Consumer Restitution Corporation or who submits a check in payment of a registration fee or late fee that is not honored by the institution on which it is drawn.

The bill would require the Attorney General to suspend the registration of a seller of travel who fails to provide the Consumer Law Section the file number assigned to the seller of travel by the Secretary of State or the Franchise Tax Board.

Existing law restricts refund payments from the Travel Consumer Restitution Fund to persons aggrieved by sellers of travel who, at the time of sale, were paid-up participants in the fund. Under existing law, any person aggrieved who files a claim for payment from the fund thereby waives his or her right to bring an action at law or equity against the seller of travel as to that claim, as specified, unless the seller of travel was not a paid-up participant.

The bill would instead allow refund payments to persons aggrieved by sellers of travel who had been paid-up participants at any time during the period commencing with the 18 months previous to the time of sale, and ending with the expiration of the applicable time period provided for filing an action. Under the bill, any person aggrieved who files a claim for payment from the fund would thereby waive his or her right to bring an action at law or equity against the seller of travel as to that claim, as specified, unless the seller of travel had not been a paid-up participant at any time during that time period.

Existing law exempts from the provisions regulating sellers of travel an individual, natural person who meets specified conditions.

This bill instead would exempt from those provisions a person who is an individual, a single-member limited liability company whose sole member is an individual, or a single-shareholder S corporation whose sole shareholder is an individual that meets specified conditions.

The bill would correct an incorrect cross-reference and make other nonsubstantive changes.

This bill would incorporate additional changes to Section 17550.20 of the Business and Professions Code proposed by AB 2138 that would become operative if this bill and AB 2138 are enacted and this bill is enacted last.