Department of Business Oversight: unsecured consumer loans.

Existing law, the California Finance Lenders Law, provides for the licensure and regulation of finance lenders and brokers by the Commissioner of Business Oversight and makes a willful violation of its provisions a crime. Existing law regulates the terms and conditions under which a lender may make consumer loans. Under existing law, "consumer loan" means a loan, whether secured by either real or personal property, or both, or unsecured, the proceeds of which are intended by the borrower for use primarily for personal, family, or household purposes. Existing law, until January 1, 2018, establishes the Pilot Program for Increased Access to Responsible Small Dollar Loans for the purpose of allowing greater access for responsible installment loans in principal amounts of at least $300 and less than $2,500. This bill would require the Department of Business Oversight to establish, by regulation, a licensure program for the provision of unsecured consumer loans. In developing this program, the bill would authorize the department to consider certain factors, as specified.