50500-50513

FINANCIAL CODE
SECTION 50500-50513




50500.  Any person who willfully violates any provision of this
division, or any rule or order under this division, shall, upon
conviction, be subject to a fine of not more than ten thousand
dollars ($10,000) or imprisonment in the state prison or in a county
jail for not more than one year, or to both that fine and
imprisonment. No person may be imprisoned for the violation of any
rule or order unless he or she had knowledge of the rule or order.
Conviction under this section shall not preclude the commissioner
from exercising the authority provided in Section 50320.




50501.  (a) Any person who violates a provision of this division, or
any rule or order under this division, shall be liable for a civil
penalty not to exceed two thousand five hundred dollars ($2,500) for
each violation. This penalty shall be assessed and recovered in a
civil action brought in the name of the people of the State of
California by the commissioner in any court of competent
jurisdiction.
   (b) As applied to the penalties for acts in violation of this
division, the remedies provided by this section and by other sections
of this division are not exclusive, and may be sought and employed
in any combination to enforce the provisions of this division.



50502.  It is a violation of this division for any person to make
any untrue statement of a material fact in any document filed with
the commissioner under this division or rules adopted thereunder, or
to omit any material fact which is required to be stated in any
document.



50503.  (a) It is a violation for any person subject to this law or
any director, partner, shareholder controlling an ownership interest
of 10 percent or more, trustee, officer, agent, or employee of any
such person to do any of the following:
   (1) Knowingly or recklessly disburse or cause the disbursal of
trust funds, except as permitted by Section 50202, or knowingly or
recklessly to direct, participate in, or aid or abet in a material
way, any activity that constitutes theft or fraud in connection with
any trust fund transaction.
   (2) Knowingly or recklessly make or cause to be made any
misstatement or omission of a material fact, pertaining to a loan or
loan servicing.
   (b) Any director, officer, partner, shareholder controlling an
ownership interest of 10 percent or more, trustee, or employee of a
residential mortgage loan servicer who abstracts or misappropriates
money, funds, trust obligations, or property deposited with a
licensee, commits a violation of this section. If a violation results
in a criminal conviction, the court shall, in addition to any other
punishment imposed, order the person to make full restitution.
Nothing in this section shall be deemed or construed to repeal,
amend, or impair any existing provision of law prescribing a
punishment for such an offense.



50504.  (a) If an amount other than or in excess of the charges
permitted by this division is willfully charged, contracted for, or
received, in addition to any other penalties or remedies, the
commissioner may order the licensee to refund to all borrowers
charged the excess amount, the excess amount and the amount of the
charge, both with interest at the rate of 10 percent per annum,
calculated from the date the improper charge was imposed.
   (b) If interest on the principal amount of a loan in excess of the
amount authorized by this division is willfully charged, contracted
for, or received, in addition to any other penalties or remedies, the
commissioner may order the licensee to refund the excess interest
amount to all borrowers charged the excess amount, with interest at
the rate of 10 percent per annum, calculated from the date the
improper charge was imposed.



50505.  Any person who violates any provision of any of the
following federal acts or regulations violates this division:
   (a) The federal Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act, as amended
(12 U.S.C. Sec. 2601 et seq.).
   (b) The federal Truth in Lending Act, as amended (15 U.S.C. Sec.
1601 et seq.).
   (c) The federal Home Ownership Equity Protection Act (15 U.S.C.
Sec. 1639).
   (d) Any regulation promulgated under any of the federal acts in
subdivision (a), (b), or (c).



50506.  Any director, officer, partner, trustee, or employee of a
licensee, its holding company, or its affiliates who knowingly
receives or appropriates any of the licensee's property, other than
in payment of a just demand or with intent to defraud, or who omits
to make or causes an omission to be made in the full and true entry
thereof in its books and accounts or concurs in omitting to make any
material entry thereof, violates this division.



50507.  Any director, officer, partner, trustee, or employee of a
licensee, its holding company, or its affiliates who knowingly makes
or concurs in making or publishing any false entry in its books or
records, any written report, exhibit, or statement of its affairs or
pecuniary condition containing any material statement which is false,
or having the custody of its books, willfully refuses or neglects to
make any proper entry in the books as required by law or to allow
the books to be inspected by the commissioner or his or her deputies
or investigators, violates this division.



50508.  Any director, officer, partner, trustee, or employee of a
licensee, its holding company, or its affiliates who makes a false
entry in any book or record of the business, or in connection with
any transaction of the business, with intent to deceive any officer,
director, or employee thereof, or any agent or examiner, employed or
lawfully appointed to examine into its condition or any of its
affairs or transactions, or to any public officer who has authority
to examine into its affairs or transactions, or who, with like
intent, omits to make a new entry of any matter particularly
pertaining to the business property condition, or transactions of the
entity in any document of the licensee, or who, with like intent,
makes unavailable any document of the licensee made, written, or
kept, or required to be made, written, or kept by him or her under
his or her direction, violates this division.



50509.  Any officer, director, partner, trustee, or employee of any
entity who abstracts or misapplies any of the money, funds, or
property of a licensee, or misapplies its credit, or abstracts or
misapplies money, funds, trust obligations, or property deposited
with a licensee, violates this division. If a violation results in a
criminal conviction, the court shall, in addition to any other
punishment imposed, order the person to make full restitution to the
licensee. Nothing in this section shall be deemed or construed to
repeal, amend, or impair any existing provision of law prescribing a
punishment for such an offense.


50510.  Nothing in this chapter shall be construed to authorize a
criminal prosecution for a violation of a civil statute incorporated
by reference into this division. Civil monetary penalties and fines
shall not be imposed under this law for a violation of subdivision
(e) or (j) of Section 50204 or Section 50505 if a licensee
demonstrates that it has paid a civil monetary penalty or fine for
the same act or transaction, as a violation of Section 17200 or 17500
of the Business and Professions Code, Section 2941 of the Civil
Code, or provisions of the Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act (12
U.S.C.A. Sec. 2601 et seq.).


50511.  The commissioner may, subject to the requirements of
subdivisions (b), (c), and (d) of Section 50318, suspend for a period
not to exceed 12 months or bar a person from any position of
employment with a licensee if the commissioner finds that the person
has willfully used or claimed without authority a designation or
certification of special education, practice, or skill that the
person has not attained, or willfully held out to the public a
confusingly similar designation or certification for the purpose of
misleading the public regarding his or her qualifications or
experience.



50512.  (a) It is unlawful for any person to knowingly alter,
destroy, mutilate, conceal, cover up, falsify, or make a false entry
in any record, document, or tangible object with the intent to
impede, obstruct, or influence the administration or enforcement of
any provision of this division.
   (b) It is unlawful for any person to knowingly make an untrue
statement to the commissioner during the course of licensing,
investigation, or examination, with the intent to impede, obstruct,
or influence the administration or enforcement of any provision of
this division.



50513.  (a) The commissioner may do one or more of the following:
   (1) Deny, suspend, revoke, condition, or decline to renew a
mortgage loan originator license for a violation of this division, or
any rules or regulations adopted thereunder.
   (2) Deny, suspend, revoke, condition, or decline to renew a
mortgage loan originator license if an applicant or licensee fails at
any time to meet the requirements of Section 50141 or 50144, or
withholds information or makes a material misstatement in an
application for a license or license renewal.
   (3) Order restitution against a mortgage loan originator or any
residential mortgage lender or servicer licensee employing a mortgage
loan originator for a violation of this division.
   (4) Impose fines on a mortgage loan originator or any residential
mortgage lender or servicer licensee employing a mortgage loan
originator pursuant to subdivisions (b), (c), and (d).
   (5) Issue orders or directives to mortgage loan originators under
this division as follows:
   (A) Order or direct a mortgage loan originator or any residential
mortgage lender or servicer licensee employing a mortgage loan
originator to desist and refrain from conducting business, including
immediate temporary orders to desist and refrain.
   (B) Order or direct a mortgage loan originator or any residential
mortgage lender or servicer licensee employing a mortgage loan
originator to cease any harmful activities or violations of this
division, including immediate temporary orders to desist and refrain.
   (C) Enter immediate temporary orders to cease business under a
license issued pursuant to the authority granted under Section 50002
if the commissioner determines that the license was erroneously
granted or the mortgage loan originator is currently in violation of
this division.
   (D) Order or direct any other affirmative action as the
commissioner deems necessary.
   (b) The commissioner may impose a civil penalty on a mortgage loan
originator or any residential mortgage lender or servicer licensee
employing a mortgage loan originator, if the commissioner finds, on
the record after notice and opportunity for hearing, that the
mortgage loan originator or any residential mortgage lender or
servicer licensee employing a mortgage loan originator has violated
or failed to comply with any requirement of this division or any
regulation prescribed by the commissioner under this division or
order issued under authority of this division.
   (c) The maximum amount of penalty for each act or omission
described in subdivision (b) shall be twenty-five thousand dollars
($25,000).
   (d) Each violation or failure to comply with any directive or
order of the commissioner is a separate and distinct violation or
failure.