Department of Business Oversight: financial service providers: costs of licensing and regulations.

Existing law authorizes the Commissioner of Business Oversight to require certain financial service providers that are licensed and regulated by the Department of Business Oversight, including, among others, check sellers, proraters, escrow agents, finance lenders and brokers, residential mortgage lenders or servicers, and businesses making deferred deposit transactions, to pay their pro rata share of the costs and expenses of the department's licensing and regulating activities. A violation of the licensing laws applicable to these financial service providers is a crime. This bill would revise these provisions to require a licensee under the supervision of the department to pay to the commissioner its pro rata share of all costs and expenses in an amount sufficient, in the commissioner's judgment, to meet the expenses of the department in administering the applicable licensing law for the next year that includes, but shall not be limited to, the cost of routine examinations and the provision of a reasonable reserve for contingencies, with a consideration of any deficit or less any surplus actually incurred in the prior fiscal year, as specified. The bill would make May 31 the uniform date for the commissioner to notify these licensees of the amount assessed for the next year, and generally give 30 days to all of these licensees to pay the assessment. The bill would authorize the commissioner, whenever he or she found it is necessary or advisable, to conduct a nonroutine examination of, or to devote any extraordinary attention to, any licensee and charge and collect from that licensee the department's expenses, including, but not limited to, hourly wages and travel costs, for doing so. The bill would authorize the commissioner to maintain an action for the recovery of these costs in any court of competent jurisdiction. This bill would raise the minimum assessment for a licensee under the Check Sellers, Bill Payers and Proraters Law from $150 to $1,000, and the California Finance Lenders Law from $250 to $800. The bill would modify the minimum calculation of an assessment for a licensee under the Escrow Law based on $5,000 per main office and $3,500 per each branch location, and the California Residential Mortgage Lending Act, based on mortgages loan originated by the licensee.