BILL NUMBER: AB 791 AMENDED
BILL TEXT
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY MAY 13, 2013
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY APRIL 29, 2013
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY MARCH 19, 2013
INTRODUCED BY Assembly Member Hagman
FEBRUARY 21, 2013
An act to amend Sections 7506.5, 7507.4,
7507.4 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.
This bill would delete those exceptions from the requirement that
the information in the application be confidential. The
This bill would also
prohibit , except as otherwise provided by law, 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 contractor.
contractor that it employs.
(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 all or 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 a
the word referring to the individual as a repossessor.
"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. The bill would authorize
the director to assess a fine of $25 per violation of these
provisions.
Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: no
yes . State-mandated local program: no.
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
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.
SEC. 2. SECTION 1. 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.
SEC. 3. SEC. 2. 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.
SEC. 4. SEC. 3. Section 7508.7 is
added to the Business and Professions Code, to read:
7508.7. A Except as otherwise provided by
law, a 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.
SEC. 5. SEC. 4. 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) A All or a substantial part of
the repossession agency's name.
(2) The license number issued by the director to that individual
or agency.
(3) A word referring to the individual as a repossessor.
The word "repossessor."
(b) A repossessor shall not wear a badge on his or her belt.
(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.
(d) This section shall not apply to a holder of temporary
registration pursuant to Section 7506.9.
(b)
(e) The director may assess a fine of twenty-five
dollars ($25) per violation of subdivision (a)
this section .