SB 1235: Commercial financing: disclosures.

(1)Existing law, the California Financing Law (CFL), provides for the licensure and regulation of finance lenders and brokers and, beginning on January 1, 2019, program administrators, by the Commissioner of Business Oversight. The CFL prohibits anyone from engaging in the business of a finance lender or broker without obtaining a license. Existing law defines a finance lender as any person who is engaged in making consumer loans or commercial loans, as defined. The CFL prohibits a licensee from making a materially false or misleading statement to a borrower about the terms or conditions of a loan. The CFL authorizes the commissioner to bring an action to enjoin, as specified, against a person who, in the commissioners estimation, has violated or is about to violate the CFL, and authorizes the imposition of civil penalties to that effect. A willful violation of the CFL is a crime, except as specified.

This bill would require a provider who facilitates commercial financing to a recipient, as defined, to disclose specified information relating to that transaction to the recipient at the time of extending a specific offer of commercial financing, and to obtain the recipients signature on that disclosure before consummating the commercial financing transaction. The bill would require that disclosure to include specified information, including the total amount of funds provided, information related to the payments to be made, and the total dollar cost of the financing. The bill would, until January 1, 2024, additionally require a provider to disclose the total cost of financing expressed as an annualized rate. The bill would authorize a provider who offers financing that is factoring or asset-based lending to, in lieu of those disclosure requirements, provide an alternative disclosure that meets specified requirements, including that the disclosure may be based on an example of a transaction that could occur under the general agreement for a given amount of accounts receivables. The bill would require the commissioner to adopt regulations governing these disclosure requirements, and would require those regulations to include specified information and determinations. The bill would provide that a provider is not subject to these provisions until those regulations become effective. The bill would provide that the provisions of this bill do not apply to specified entities or financing arrangements, including a provider who is a depository institution, which this bill would define to include specified state and federal financial institutions, a commercial financing transaction secured by real property, and a commercial financing transaction in which the recipient is a dealer or vehicle rental company and meets specified requirements, or a provider who makes a specified number of commercial financing transactions in California during a 12-month period and meets other requirements.

This bill would require a provider who is licensed under the CFL to be subject to the examination and enforcement authority of the commissioner granted under the CFL with respect to any violations of these provisions, and would make a conforming change to that effect. By expanding the scope of an existing crime with regard to willful violations of the CFL, this bill would impose a state-mandated local program.

(2)The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse local agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that reimbursement.

This bill would provide that no reimbursement is required by this act for a specified reason.