AB 1636: California Finance Lenders Law: California Deferred Deposit Transaction Law.

(1)Existing law, the California Finance Lenders Law, provides for the licensure and regulation of finance lenders and brokers by the Commissioner of Business Oversight.

Existing law requires each finance lender and broker licensee to file an annual report with the commissioner giving relevant information concerning the business and operations conducted by the licensee within the state during the preceding calendar year for each licensed place of business. Existing law authorizes the commissioner to, by order, summarily suspend or revoke the license of any licensee if that person fails to file that report within 10 days after notice by the commissioner that the report is due and not filed.

This bill would authorize the commissioner, except in certain circumstances, to impose, by order, a penalty on any licensee who fails to either provide the commissioner with any report required by law or any material information required by the commissioner to be included in a report. The bill would prohibit the penalty from exceeding $100 for each business day the report or information is overdue for the first 5 business days and thereafter from exceeding $500 for each day the report or information is overdue, not to exceed $25,000 in the aggregate. The bill would specify the due date for these penalties under specified circumstances. The bill would authorize a licensee ordered to pay the penalty to request in writing a hearing to challenge that order and would require that hearing to be held under specified administrative proceedings.

(2)Existing law, the California Deferred Deposit Transaction Law, requires each licensee to file a specified annual report with the Commissioner of Business Oversight and requires the report to be kept confidential. Existing law requires the annual consolidated report to be prepared by the commissioner and made available to the public.

This bill would instead require those annual reports to be made available to the public for inspection, except as specified, and would also require the reports to include any other information reasonably required by the commissioner.

(3)Existing constitutional provisions require that a statute that limits the right of access to the meetings of public bodies or the writings of public officials and agencies be adopted with findings demonstrating the interest protected by the limitation and the need for protecting that interest.

This bill would make legislative findings to that effect.