BILL NUMBER: AB 2324	AMENDED
	BILL TEXT

	AMENDED IN SENATE  JUNE 25, 2012
	AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY  APRIL 23, 2012
	AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY  MARCH 29, 2012

INTRODUCED BY   Assembly Member Gatto

                        FEBRUARY 24, 2012

   An act to amend Section  2984.1 of the Civil Code,
relating to vehicle sales contracts.   4456.5 of the
Vehicle Code, relating to vehicles, and declaring the urgency
thereof, to take effect immediately. 



	LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


   AB 2324, as amended, Gatto.  Vehicle sales contracts.
  Vehicles: first-line service provider: dealer charges.
 
   Existing law establishes a first-line service provider as an
industry partner that receives information from the Department of
Motor Vehicles and then transmits it to another industry partner.
Existing law authorizes the director of the department to establish,
through the adoption of regulations, the maximum amount that a
qualified private industry partner may charge its customers in
providing services for license plate processing, postage,
registration, and titling transactions.  
   This bill would instead prohibit a first-line service provider
from charging a dealer more than $22 for providing the specified
services unless the director determines that this amount is
insufficient, and by regulation increases the maximum amount that a
first-line service provider may charge a dealer. 
   Existing law requires every conditional sale contract for the
purchase of a motor vehicle to contain a specified statement
regarding minimum public liability insurance, and a specified warning
regarding coverage for the vehicle being purchased. Existing
Department of Insurance regulations require a selling dealer to
provide to a vehicle purchaser a specified Statement of Insurance
relative to all insurance charged to the purchaser or placed upon the
motor vehicle.  
   This bill would require the contract to also contain a statement
that any insurance policy obtained by the dealer will not fulfill the
purchaser's legal obligation.  
   The bill would declare that it would take effect immediately as an
urgency statute. 
   Vote:  majority   2/3  . Appropriation:
no. Fiscal committee: no. State-mandated local program: no.


THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:

   SECTION 1.    Section 4456.5 of the  
Vehicle Code   is amended to read: 
   4456.5.  (a) A dealer may charge the purchaser or lessee of a
vehicle the following charges:
   (1) A document processing charge for the preparation and
processing of documents, disclosures, and titling, registration, and
information security obligations imposed by state and federal law.
The dealer document processing charge shall not be represented as a
governmental fee.
   (A) If a dealer has a contractual agreement with the department to
be a private industry partner pursuant to Section 1685, the document
processing charge shall not exceed eighty dollars ($80).
   (B) If a dealer does not have a contractual agreement with the
department to be a private industry partner pursuant to Section 1685,
the document processing charge shall not exceed sixty-five dollars
($65).
   (2) An electronic filing charge, not to exceed the actual amount
the dealer is charged by a first-line service provider for providing
license plate processing, postage, and the fees and services
authorized pursuant to subdivisions (a) and (d) of Section 1685.
 The director may establish, through the adoption of
regulations, the maximum amount that a first-line service provider
may charge a dealer.  The electronic filing charge shall not
be represented as a governmental fee. 
   (b) A first-line service provider shall not charge a dealer more
than twenty-two dollars ($22) for providing license plate processing,
postage, and the fees and services authorized pursuant to
subdivision (a) or (d) of Section 1685. If the department determines
that this amount is insufficient, the director may increase, through
the adoption of regulations, the maximum amount that a first-line
service provider may charge a dealer.  
   (b) 
    (c)  As used in this section, the term "first-line
service provider" shall have the same meaning as defined in
subdivision (b) of Section 1685. 
   (c) This section shall become operative on July 1, 2012. 

  SECTION 1.    Section 2984.1 of the Civil Code is
amended to read:
   2984.1.  Every conditional sale contract shall contain a statement
in contrasting red print in at least 8-point bold type which shall
satisfy the requirements of Section 5604 of the Vehicle Code and be
signed or initialed by the buyer, as follows:

THE MINIMUM PUBLIC LIABILITY INSURANCE LIMITS PROVIDED IN LAW MUST
BE MET BY EVERY PERSON WHO PURCHASES A VEHICLE. UNLESS OTHERWISE
SPECIFIED, ANY INSURANCE POLICY OBTAINED BY THE DEALER WILL NOT
FULFILL YOUR LEGAL OBLIGATION. IF YOU ARE UNSURE WHETHER OR NOT YOUR
CURRENT INSURANCE POLICY WILL COVER YOUR NEWLY ACQUIRED VEHICLE IN
THE EVENT OF AN ACCIDENT, OR WHETHER THAT COVERAGE IS SUFFICIENT FOR
YOUR NEEDS, YOU SHOULD CONTACT YOUR INSURANCE AGENT.

WARNING:
YOUR PRESENT POLICY MAY NOT COVER COLLISION DAMAGE OR MAY NOT
PROVIDE FOR FULL REPLACEMENT COSTS FOR THE VEHICLE BEING PURCHASED.

THE BUYER SHALL SIGN TO ACKNOWLEDGE THAT HE/SHE UNDERSTANDS THESE
PUBLIC LIABILITY TERMS AND CONDITIONS.
s/s ____________.

   No person shall print for use as a sales contract form, any form
that does not comply with this section. 
   SEC. 2.    This act is an urgency statute necessary
for the immediate preservation of the public peace, health, or safety
within the meaning of Article IV of the Constitution and shall go
into immediate effect. The facts constituting the necessity are:
 
   In order to establish, as soon as possible, an electronic filing
charge that a first-line service provider may reasonably charge for
providing specified services to vehicle dealers, it is necessary that
this act take effect immediately.