This chapter of the Business and Professions Code constitutes the chapter on repossessors. It may be cited as the Collateral Recovery Act....
The following terms as used in this chapter have the meaning expressed in this section. (a) Person includes any individual, partnership, limited liability company, or corporation. ...
A repossession agency means and includes any person who, for any consideration whatsoever, engages in business or accepts employment to locate or recover collateral, including, but not limited...
A repossession agency shall not include any of the following: (a) Any bank subject to the jurisdiction of the Commissioner of Financial Institutions of the State of California under...
There is in the Department of Consumer Affairs a Bureau of Security and Investigative Services. The bureau is under the supervision and control of the director. The director shall administer...
Protection of the public shall be the highest priority for the Bureau of Security and Investigative Services in exercising its licensing, regulatory, and disciplinary functions....
The Governor shall appoint a chief of the bureau at a salary to be fixed in accordance with Section 12080.3 of the Government Code. The chief shall serve under the direction and supervision...
Every power and duty granted to or imposed upon the director under this chapter may be delegated to the chief, except that the director may not delegate authority to adopt or otherwise act...
The director, in accordance with the State Civil Service Act, and Section 159.5, may appoint and fix the compensation of such clerical, inspection, investigation, and auditing personnel,...
The chief shall gather evidence of violations of this chapter and of any rule or regulation established pursuant to this chapter by persons engaged in the business of repossession who...
It shall be the duty of the chief to initiate and conduct investigations into the business and affairs of licensees on the chief's own motion....
The director may establish and enforce such rules and regulations as may be reasonable and necessary for the examination and licensing of applicants, for the conduct of licensees, and for the...
If, upon investigation, the director determines that a licensee, a qualified certificate holder, or a registrant is in violation of Section 7508.1, 7508.2, 7508.3, 7508.4, 7508.5, or 7508.6,...
(a) When considering the denial of a license, registration, or certificate under Section 7503.5, for which application has been made under this chapter, the director, in...
No person shall engage within this state in the activities of a repossession agency as defined in Section 7500.2 unless the person holds a valid repossession agency license or is...
(a) Any person who violates any provision of this chapter, or who conspires with another person to violate any provision of this chapter, or who knowingly engages a nonexempt unlicensed...
(a) Any financial institution that knowingly engages a nonexempt unlicensed person to repossess collateral on its behalf is guilty of a misdemeanor, and is punishable by a fine of...
Any person who knowingly falsifies the fingerprints or photographs required by any provision of this chapter is guilty of a felony....
In addition to the remedy provided for in Section 125.5, the superior court for the county in which any licensee licensed under this chapter has engaged or is about to engage in any...
The provisions of this chapter do not prevent the local authorities in any city, county, or city and county, by ordinance and within the exercise of the police power of the city, county, or...
(a) The superior court in and for the county wherein any person carries on, or attempts to carry on, business as a repossession agency without first having obtained a license pursuant to...
An application for a repossession agency license shall be made in writing to, and filed with, the bureau in the form that may be required by the director and shall be accompanied by...
(a) Each individual applicant for examination and each manager, partner of a partnership, and officer of a corporation shall submit with the application, one personal identification form provided...
If the applicant for license is an individual, the application shall state the full residence address of the applicant and that the applicant is to be personally and actively in charge...
If the applicants for license are copartners, the application shall state the true names and addresses of all partners and the name of the partner to be actively in charge of the...
(a) If the applicant for a license is a corporation, the application shall state the true names and complete residence addresses of all officers. The application shall also state the...
If the director determines that the applicant, if an individual, or if the applicant is a person other than an individual, that its manager and any of its officers and partners have...
No license may be issued to any applicant pending final disposition of any disciplinary action by the director previously filed against the person or applicant or against any partner or officer....
The form and content of the license shall be determined by the director in accordance with Section 164....
Each repossession agency license or duplicate license, together with current renewal license, if any, shall at all times be conspicuously displayed at the place of business on record...
(a) Except as provided in this section, a repossession agency license issued under this chapter is not assignable. (b) A repossession agency may apply to the chief for consent and, upon receipt...
(a) An original repossession agency license shall expire one year following the date of issuance, unless renewed as provided in this chapter. (b) A renewal repossession agency license...
An expired license may be reinstated within one year of the date of expiration upon compliance with the provisions of this chapter, application by the licensee, and payment of any and...
A suspended repossession agency license is subject to expiration and shall be renewed as provided in this article, but renewal of the license does not entitle the licensee, while...
A revoked repossession agency license is subject to expiration as provided in this article, but it may not be renewed. If it is reinstated after its expiration, the licensee, as a condition...
A repossession agency license which is not renewed within three years after its expiration may not be renewed, restored, reinstated, or reissued thereafter. The holder of the...
(a) Except as otherwise provided in this chapter, an applicant for a qualification certificate shall comply with all of the following: (1) Be at least 18 years of age. (2) Have been, for...
The director may refuse to issue a qualification certificate, or may suspend or revoke a previously issued qualification certificate, if the individual has committed any act which, if committed...
Examinations and reexaminations shall be given at least once every other month at such places and on such specific dates as the chief may from time to time determine and fix....
In order to be eligible for an initial examination, an applicant shall have completed and filed his or her application together with the application fee prescribed by this chapter in the office...
If an applicant fails to pass an initial examination, he or she shall not be eligible for any subsequent examination except upon payment of the reexamination fee for each...
All applicants shall be examined concerning their competency, experience, and qualifications by the chief and the chief may take testimony of anyone in regard thereto under oath....
If an applicant fails to complete his or her application within one year after it has been filed, or fails to take the examination within a one-year period after becoming eligible therefor,...
(a) Except as provided in this section, every qualification certificate issued or renewed under this chapter on or after July 1, 1998, is subject to the same renewal provisions that apply...
A licensee desiring to operate a repossession business at a location other than the address shown on his or her license shall apply and qualify for a license for each additional location....
Every office licensed as a repossession agency shall be under the active charge of a qualified certificate holder....
(a) Whenever a qualified certificate holder actively in charge of an office ceases to be in charge, the licensee shall file with the bureau notice, in writing, within 30 days from...
Except as herein otherwise provided, no person shall be in charge of any licensed office if the person has ever had a license revoked or suspended or has ever been denied registration...
The person deemed to be actively in charge of an office shall be the holder of a qualification certificate and the certificate, together with the current renewal certificate, shall...
As used in this article: (a) Licensee means a repossession agency licensed under this chapter. (b) Multiple licensee means a repossession agency holding more than one...
Except as otherwise provided in this article, every person entering the employ of, or contracting with, a licensee or multiple licensee after the effective date of this article...
The application for an initial registration or a reregistration under this article shall be on a form prescribed by the director and shall be accompanied by the fee provided for in Section 7511....
All information obtained on the application shall be confidential pursuant to the Information Practices Act (Chapter 1 (commencing with Section 1798) of Title 1.8 of Part 4 of Division 3 of...
Qualified certificate holders who comply with other provisions of this chapter are not required to register under this article....
Employees of a licensee who are engaged exclusively in stenographic, typing, filing, clerical, in-office skip tracing, or other office activities are not required to register under this article....
(a) The director may refuse to register any applicant if the individual has failed to pay any or all fines assessed pursuant to Section 7501.7 and not resolved in accordance with that section, or...
(a) Upon the issuance of the initial registration, reregistration or renewal, the chief shall issue to the registrant a suitable pocket identification card. At the request of the registrant,...
(a) Every initial registration shall expire one year following the date of issuance, unless renewed as provided in this section, except for those registrations issued on or after January...
(a) Each registration is valid until the registrant ceases performing services for the licensee indicated on the registration card or until the registration expires. (b) Each person...
The proceedings under this article shall be conducted in accordance with Chapter 5 (commencing with Section 11500) of Part 1 of Division 3 of Title 2 of the Government Code, and the...
(a) The licensee shall at all times be responsible for ascertaining that his or her registrants are currently registered or have made proper application for registration as provided...
If the chief determines that continued services by an applicant for registration in his or her current capacity may present undue hazard to public safety, the licensee, upon...
A licensee shall notify the bureau within 30 days of any change of its corporate officers or of the addition of any partners. Applications, on forms prescribed by the director, shall...
A licensee or a qualified certificate holder shall, within 30 days after such change, notify the bureau of any change of his or her address. The principal place of business may be at a...
(a) A licensee is responsible for those actions that are performed in violation of this chapter by his or her registrants, including his or her manager, when acting within the course and...
A repossession agency shall be required to keep and maintain adequate records of all transactions, including, but not limited to, assignment forms; vehicle report of repossession...
A licensed repossession agency or its registrants may make demand for payment in lieu of repossession, if the demand is made pursuant to an assignment for repossession. In making demand upon...
No charge shall be made for services incurred in connection with the recovery, transportation, and storage of collateral except under terms agreed to by the legal owner at the time...
Within seven days after a violent act has occurred involving a licensee, or any officer, partner, qualified certificate holder, registrant or employee of a licensee, while acting within...
Within seven days after receiving a final civil court judgment filed against the licensee or any officer, partner, qualified certificate holder, or registrant of a licensee, for an amount of...
Every advertisement by a licensee, soliciting or advertising business, shall contain the licensee's name, address, and license number as they appear in the records of the bureau....
If personal effects or other personal property, not covered by a security agreement, are contained in or on collateral at the time it is recovered, the effects shall be removed from...
Each licensee shall serve a debtor with a notice of seizure as soon as possible after the recovery of collateral and not later than 48 hours, except that if the 48-hour period...
Any written report to a client shall be submitted by the licensee, the qualified certificate holder, or a person authorized by one or either of them, and the person submitting the...
With regard to collateral subject to registration under the Vehicle Code, a repossession occurs when the repossessor gains entry to the collateral or when the collateral becomes connected to...
(a) A licensed repossession agency is not liable for the act or omission of a legal owner, debtor, lienholder, lessor, or lessee in making an assignment to it or for accepting an...
The director may assess administrative fines against any repossession agency licensee, qualified certificate holder, or registrant for any of the prohibited acts outlined in this article....
The director may assess administrative fines for the following prohibited acts: (a) Knowingly making any false report to his or her employer or client for whom information was being obtained....
The director may assess administrative fines for any of the following prohibited acts: (a) Recovering collateral or making any money demand in lieu thereof, including, but not limited...
A licensee, or any of his or her registrants or employees, or a qualified certificate holder, shall be prohibited from using any false or misleading representation during the course of...
The director may assess administrative fines for any of the following prohibited acts: (a) Conducting business from any location other than that location to which a license was issued...
The director may assess administrative fines against a repossession agency registrant for the following acts, in addition to fines imposed pursuant to any other section in this article....
The director may assess administrative fines against any repossession agency licensee, qualified certificate holder, or registrant for failure to notify the bureau within 30 days of any change...
Except as otherwise required to comply with the provisions of this chapter, the proceedings under this article shall be conducted in accordance with Chapter 5 (commencing with Section 11500)...
In addition to any other remedies authorized by this chapter, the director may suspend or revoke a repossession agency license, a qualification certificate, or registration issued under this...
(a) Any licensee, or any officer, partner, registrant, employee, or manager of a licensee, who is found by the director to have committed any acts prohibited by Section 7510.1,...
The record of conviction, or a certified copy thereof, shall be conclusive evidence of such conviction. A plea or verdict of guilty or a conviction following a plea of nolo contendere is...
Effective July 1, 1998, the bureau shall establish and assess fees and penalties for licensure and registration as displayed in this section. The fees prescribed by this chapter are as follows: ...