Wage-based, work-based, and income-based advances.

(1) Existing law provides for licensure and regulation of various financial institutions by the Commissioner of Business Oversight. Existing law, the California Deferred Deposit Transaction Law, provides for the licensure and regulation by the Commissioner of Business Oversight of persons engaged in the business of making or arranging deferred deposit transactions, also known as payday loans, which are transactions whereby a person defers depositing a customer's personal check until a specific date pursuant to a written agreement for a fee or other charge. Existing law, the California Financing Law (CFL) , provides for the licensure and regulation of finance lenders and brokers by the Commissioner of Business Oversight. The act authorizes several exemptions from its provisions. The act also requires specified licensees to make an annual report to the commissioner, as specified. This bill would, beginning July 1, 2020, prohibit a person from engaging in business as a provider, defined as a person engaged in the business of providing wage-based, work-based, or income-based advances without first obtaining a license from the commissioner and would require a provider to comply with certain disclosure requirements. The bill would require a provider to, among other things, deliver funds to a consumer in a manner mutually agreed upon and prohibit the provider from charging certain fees. The bill would require an applicant for a provider license to file with its application financial statements, as specified, that indicate a net worth of at least $250,000. The bill would require a provider to make an annual report to the commissioner containing specified information, including the total number of waged-based, work-based, and income-based advances made and the total number of workers and consumers served. The bill would exempt wage-based, work-based, and income-based advances from specified provisions under state law, including the California Deferred Deposit Transaction Law. This bill would make a person who willfully violates these provisions subject to a fine of not more than $10,000, imprisonment in a county jail for not more than one year, or by both, as specified. The bill would additionally make a provider subject to a civil suit, as specified. By creating a new crime, this bill would create a state-mandated local program. The bill would repeal these provisions on January 1, 2023. (2) The CFL prohibits a licensee from placing an advertisement disseminated primarily in this state unless the licensee discloses the license, in the printed or oral text of the advertisement, under which the advertised loan or assessment contract, as applicable, would be made. This bill would authorize the commissioner to exempt, by rule or order, an advertisement from those requirements if the advertising medium limits the characters of an advertisement or otherwise renders compliance with those requirements impracticable. The bill would also make conforming changes to those provisions. (3) The CFL authorizes the commissioner to order a person engaged in business regulated by the CFL without a license to desist and to refrain from engaging in the business and further continuing that violation. This bill would authorize the commissioner to include a claim for ancillary relief, as specified, in an order to desist or refrain. (4) This bill would provide that the provisions of the CFL are severable until January 1, 2023. (5) 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.