It is a peculiar hubris of California's legislators that they often presume to extend the application of the state's laws beyond its legal borders. Corporations Code Section 2115, for example, presumes to apply multiple...more
Each year, licensees under the California Financing Law (Cal. Fin. Code § 22000 et seq.) must file an annual report with the Department of Financial Protection & Innovation. The report is due on the Ides of March (the Ides...more
Lenders and brokers licensed under the California Finance Lenders Law must file an annual report by the Ides of March (i.e., March 15) of each year. Cal. Fin. Code § 22159. This is a hard deadline and the Department of...more
The California Financing Law currently requires the licensing of "finance lenders" and "brokers". Cal. Fin. Code § 22100. A "finance lender" is defined to include "any person who is engaged in the business of making...more
Does California's usury limitations constitute a "strong public policy"? Seemingly, that question was decided over a half-century ago by the First District Court of Appeal in Ury v. Jewelers Acceptance Corp., 227 Cal. App....more
Sometimes cases go off in directions that I simply do not expect. In most cases, I would expect to see the plaintiff contend that it was injured in some way. However, that was not the case in Lagrisola v. North Am. Fin....more
The California Financing Law (fka Finance Lenders Law) requires that persons engaged in the business of making loans be licensed by the Department of Financial Protection & Innovation (fka Department of Business Oversight fka...more
As mentioned in my post last week, the Department of Business Oversight issued a press release shortly after Christmas announcing that it had issued a "legal opinion" concerning whether a point-of-sale product constitute...more
Late last month, the California Department of Business Oversight took the unusual step of issuing a press release announcing that it had denied an application by Sezzle Inc. for a lender's license under the California...more
The Fair Access to Credit Act (AB 539) was signed into law by California Governor Gavin Newsom on October 10, 2019. The act requires California Finance Law (CFL) licensed lenders making consumer loans from at least $2,500 to...more
The California Administrative Procedure Act provides that an agency's decision in an adjudicative proceeding "may not be expressly relied on as precedent unless it is designated as a precedent decision by the agency". Cal....more
On Wednesday, June 26, 2019, the California Senate Banking Committee will take up AB 642, which would add certain lead generation activities to the definition of “broker” under the California Financing Law (Cal. Fin. Code §...more
Bank partnership lending programs have existed for years and have played a significant role in the growth of the online lending industry and the fintech sector. In a bank partnership lending program, a non-bank partner...more
The California Financing Law (fka Finance Lenders Law) prohibits anyone from engaging in the business of a finance lender without obtaining a license from the California Commissioner of Business Oversight (unless exempt). ...more
The California Supreme Court ruled on Monday, August 18, that an interest rate on a consumer loan in California could be deemed illegally high even if the loan is not subject to the state’s usury law. Consumer loans of...more
On August 13, 2018, the California Supreme Court answered a question certified to it by the Ninth Circuit, holding that a loan with a high interest rate can be unconscionable, even if the legislature specifically declined to...more
On August 13, 2018, the California Supreme Court in Eduardo De La Torre, et al. v. CashCall, Inc., held that interest rates on consumer loans of $2,500 or more could be found unconscionable under section 22302 of the...more
Resolving an ambiguity in the California Finance Lender’s Law (CFLL), the California Supreme Court unanimously held that borrowers may use the unconscionability doctrine to challenge the interest rate on consumer loans of...more
Resolving an ambiguity in the California Finance Lender's Law (CFLL), the California Supreme Court unanimously held that borrowers may use the unconscionability doctrine to challenge the interest rate on consumer loans of...more
California's default lender licensing law is the California Financing Law, a law which had until recently been known as the California Finance Lenders Law. The CFL generally prohibits anyone from engaging in the business of...more
The California Department of Business Oversight administers and enforces the California Financing Law (fka Finance Lenders Law). Visitors to the DBO's website will find a basic description of the CFL, including the following...more
I have often remarked that the California Financing Law (fka Finance Lenders' Law) imposes virtually no substantive lending requirements. That will change if Steve Glazer succeeds in enacting SB 1235. This bill would...more
In a change that escaped my notice, the legislature has seen fit to rename the venerable California Finance Lenders Law as the California Financing Law. This legislation, Stats. 2017, ch. 475 (AB 1284 (Dababneh)), was...more
A loan is “table funded” when at settlement it is contemporaneously assigned to the person that provides the funds. Is table funding an illegal business practice under the California Finance Lenders Law? The Fourth District...more
Is your California securities broker-dealer a licensed personal property broker? Does it need to have such a license to make loans to its customers? Anyone reading California Corporations Code Section 25217(c) would...more