BILL NUMBER: AB 545INTRODUCED BILL TEXT INTRODUCED BY Assembly Member Salas FEBRUARY 25, 2009 An act to add Section 23024.5 to the Financial Code, relating to deferred deposit transactions. LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST AB 545, as introduced, Salas. Deferred deposit transactions. Existing law, the California Deferred Deposit Transaction Law, provides for the licensure and regulation by the Commissioner of Corporations of persons engaged in the business of making or negotiating deferred deposit transactions, as defined. A willful violation of the California Deferred Deposit Transaction Law is a crime. This bill would authorize the commissioner, by contract with a vendor or service provider or otherwise, to develop and implement a system that enables a licensee to receive specified information regarding a consumer's history with deferred deposit transactions. The bill would authorize the commissioner to adopt rules to establish the system and for the retention, archiving, and deletion of the information entered into, or stored by, the system. The bill would authorize the operator of the system to charge licensees a fee, as specified. The bill would also impose various requirements on licensees relative to information that would be required to be reported to the system, if it is developed and implemented. Because a violation of these requirements by a licensee would be a crime under the California Deferred Deposit Transaction Law, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program. 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. Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: yes. State-mandated local program: yes. THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS: SECTION 1. Section 23024.5 is added to the Financial Code, to read: 23024.5. (a) The commissioner may, by contract with a vendor or service provider or otherwise, develop and implement a system that enables a licensee to receive the following information regarding a consumer seeking the licensee's services: (1) Whether the consumer has any existing obligations pursuant to any deferred deposit transactions entered into under this division. (2) Whether a consumer has entered into any extensions or repayment plans for any deferred deposit transactions entered into under this division. (3) Whether a consumer has failed to meet its obligations under a deferred deposit transaction, extension, or repayment plan. (4) The dates on which the consumer entered into any deferred deposit transaction, extension, or repayment plan described in paragraphs (1) and (2). (b) The commissioner may adopt rules specifying the form and content of the system described in this section. The system shall, at a minimum, do the following: (1) Make the information entered into, or stored by, the system accessible to, and useable by, licensees and the commissioner from any location in the state. (2) Secure information in the system against public disclosure, tampering, theft, or unauthorized acquisition or use. (c) A vendor or service provider that operates or administers the system described in this section may charge licensees a fee for access to, or use of, the system in amounts approved by the commissioner. (d) (1) If the system described in this section is developed and implemented, a licensee shall enter or update the information specified under subdivision (a) within one business day after conducting a deferred deposit transaction, extension, or repayment plan. (2) If a licensee ceases to make deferred deposit transactions, the licensee shall continue to enter and update the information specified under subdivision (a) for those deferred deposit transactions that are outstanding or have not yet expired. (3) Within 10 business days after ceasing to make deferred deposit transactions, a licensee shall submit an approval plan to the commissioner for continued compliance with this subdivision. The commissioner may require a licensee to modify that plan in order to ensure compliance with this subdivision. (e) The commissioner shall adopt rules establishing requirements for the retention, archiving, and deletion of the information entered into, or stored by, the system described in this section. SEC. 2. No reimbursement is required by this act pursuant to Section 6 of Article XIII B of the California Constitution because the only costs that may be incurred by a local agency or school district will be incurred because this act creates a new crime or infraction, eliminates a crime or infraction, or changes the penalty for a crime or infraction, within the meaning of Section 17556 of the Government Code, or changes the definition of a crime within the meaning of Section 6 of Article XIII B of the California Constitution.