Amended in Assembly May 13, 2013

Amended in Assembly April 29, 2013

Amended in Assembly March 19, 2013

California Legislature—2013–14 Regular Session

Assembly Bill No. 791

Introduced by Assembly Member Hagman

February 21, 2013

An act to amend Sections begin delete 7506.5, 7507.4, end delete begin insert 7507.4 end insert and 7508.2 of, and to add Sections 7508.7 and 7508.8 to, the Business and Professions Code, relating to repossessors.

LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL’S DIGEST

AB 791, as amended, Hagman. Collateral recovery: repossessors.

(1) Existing law, the Collateral Recovery Act, provides for the licensure and regulation of repossession agencies by the Bureau of Security and Investigative Services under the supervision and control of the Director of Consumer Affairs. Existing law requires an applicant for an initial registration or a reregistration to submit an application to the bureau and include certain personal information in the application that is confidential and is prohibited from being disclosed to the public, except for the registrant’s full name, the licensee’s name and address, and the registration number.

begin delete

This bill would delete those exceptions from the requirement that the information in the application be confidential. The

end delete

begin insert end insert begin insert This end insert bill would begin delete also end delete prohibit begin insert , except as otherwise provided by law, end insert a repossession agency from disclosing to the public, without a court order, the residence address, residence telephone number, cellular telephone number, driver’s license number, work schedule, past, present, or future location, or any other personal information of any licensee, registrant, employee, or independent begin delete contractor. end delete begin insert contractor that it employs. end insert

(2) Existing law allows a licensed repossession agency or its registrants to make demand for payment in lieu of repossession.

This bill would prohibit a licensed repossession agency or its registrants from making a demand for payment in lieu of repossession, and would also prohibit a repossession agency from selling collateral recovered under the provisions of the act. The bill would make conforming changes.

The bill would also allow a person affiliated with a repossession agency to wear a badge, cap insignia, or jacket label if it bears on its face begin insert all or end insert a substantial part of the repossession agency’s name, the license number issued by the Director of Consumer Affairs to that individual or agency, and begin delete a end delete begin insert the end insert word begin delete referring to the individual as a repossessor. end delete begin insert “repossessor.” The bill would require all badges, cap insignias, and jacket labels worn by a repossessor to be a standard design approved by the director and to be clearly visible. The bill would prohibit a repossessor from wearing a badge on his or her belt. The bill would make these provisions inapplicable to a holder of a temporary registration, as specified. end insert The bill would authorize the director to assess a fine of $25 per violation of these provisions.

Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee:  begin delete no end delete begin insert yes end insert . State-mandated local program: no.

The people of the State of California do enact as follows:

begin delete

SECTION 1.  

Section 7506.5 of the Business and Professions
Code is amended to read:

7506.5.  

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 the Civil Code). The application shall be verified and shall
include the following:

(a) The full name, residence address, residence telephone
number, date and place of birth, and driver’s license number of
the applicant or registrant.

(b) A statement listing any and all names used by the applicant
or registrant, other than the name by which he or she is currently
known. If the applicant or registrant has never used a name other
than his or her true name, this fact shall be set forth in the
statement.

(c) The name and address of the licensee and the date the
employment or contract commenced.

(d) The title of the position occupied by the applicant or
registrant and a description of his or her duties.

(e) Two recent photographs of the applicant or registrant, of a
type prescribed by the chief, and two classifiable sets of his or her
fingerprints, one set of which shall be forwarded to the Federal
Bureau of Investigation for purposes of a background check.

(f) The bureau may impose a fee not to exceed three dollars
($3) for processing classifiable fingerprint cards submitted by
applicants, excluding those submitted into an electronic fingerprint
system using electronic fingerprint technology.

end delete

begin delete SEC. 2. end delete
begin insert SECTION 1. end insert   

Section 7507.4 of the Business and Professions
Code is amended to read:

7507.4.  

A licensed repossession agency or its registrants shall
not make demand for payment in lieu of repossession and shall
not sell collateral recovered under this chapter.

begin delete SEC. 3. end delete
begin insert SEC. 2. end insert   

Section 7508.2 of the Business and Professions Code
is amended to read:

7508.2.  

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 to, collateral registered under
the Vehicle Code, that has been sold under a security agreement
before a signed or telegraphic authorization has been received from
the legal owner, debtor, lienholder, lessor, or repossession agency
acting on behalf of the legal owner, debtor, lienholder, or lessor
of the collateral. A telephonic assignment is acceptable if the legal
owner, debtor, lienholder, lessor, or repossession agency acting
on behalf of the legal owner, debtor, lienholder, or lessor is known
to the licensee and a written authorization from the legal owner,
debtor, lienholder, lessor, or repossession agency acting on behalf
of the legal owner, debtor, lienholder, or lessor is received by the
licensee within 10 working days or a request by the licensee for a
written authorization from the legal owner, debtor, lienholder,
lessor, or repossession agency acting on behalf of the legal owner,
debtor, lienholder, or lessor is made in writing within 10 working
days. Referrals of assignments from one licensee to another
licensee are acceptable. The referral of an assignment shall be
made under the same terms and conditions as in the original
assignment. The fine shall be twenty-five dollars ($25) for each
of the first five violations and one hundred dollars ($100) for each
violation thereafter, per audit.

(b) Using collateral or personal effects, which have been
recovered, for the personal benefit of a licensee, or officer, partner,
manager, registrant, or employee of a licensee. The fine shall be
twenty-five dollars ($25) for the first violation and one hundred
dollars ($100) for each violation thereafter. This subdivision does
not apply to personal effects disposed of pursuant to subdivision
(c) of Section 7507.9. Nothing in this subdivision prohibits the
using or taking of personal property connected, adjoined, or affixed
to the collateral through an unbroken sequence if that use or taking
is reasonably necessary to effectuate the recovery in a safe manner
or to protect the collateral or personal effects.

(c) Selling collateral recovered under this chapter. The fine shall
be one hundred dollars ($100) for the first violation and five
hundred dollars ($500) for each violation thereafter, per audit.

(d) Unlawfully entering any private building or secured area
without the consent of the owner, or of the person in legal
possession thereof, at the time of repossession. The fine shall be
five hundred dollars ($500) for each violation.

(e) Committing unlawful assault or battery on another person.
The fine shall be five hundred dollars ($500) for each violation.

(f) Falsification or alteration of an inventory. The fine shall be
twenty-five dollars ($25) for each violation.

(g) Soliciting from the legal owner the recovery of specific
collateral registered under the Vehicle Code or under the motor
vehicle licensing laws of other states after the collateral has been
seen or located on a public street or on public or private property
without divulging the location of the vehicle. The fine shall be one
hundred dollars ($100) for the first violation and two hundred fifty
dollars ($250) for each violation thereafter.

begin delete SEC. 4. end delete
begin insert SEC. 3. end insert   

Section 7508.7 is added to the Business and Professions
Code, to read:

7508.7.  

begin delete A end delete begin insert Except as otherwise provided by law, a end insert repossession
agency shall not disclose to the public, without a court order, the
residence address, residence telephone number, cellular telephone
number, driver’s license number, work schedule, past, present, or
future location, or any other personal information of any licensee,
registrant, employee, or independent contractor that it employs.

begin delete SEC. 5. end delete
begin insert SEC. 4. end insert   

Section 7508.8 is added to the Business and Professions
Code, to read:

7508.8.  

(a) A badge, cap insignia, or jacket label may be worn
by a licensee, officer, director, partner, manager, independent
contractor, or employee of a repossession agency. If a badge, cap
insignia, or jacket label is worn, it shall bear on its face all of the
following:

(1)  begin delete A end delete begin insert All or a end insert substantial part of the repossession agency’s name.

(2) The license number issued by the director to that individual
or agency.

(3)  begin delete A word referring to the individual as a repossessor. end delete begin insert The word
“repossessor.” end insert

begin insert

(b) A repossessor shall not wear a badge on his or her belt.

end insert begin insert

(c) All badges, cap insignias, and jacket labels worn by a
repossessor shall be a standard design approved by the director
and shall be clearly visible.

end insert begin insert

(d) This section shall not apply to a holder of temporary
registration pursuant to Section 7506.9.

end insert begin delete

(b)

end delete

begin insert (e) end insert  The director may assess a fine of twenty-five dollars ($25)
per violation of begin delete subdivision (a) end delete begin insert this section end insert .