ARTICLE 1. Definitions [22200. - 22204.]

Cal. Financial Code - FIN 1.

in effect

Cal. Financial Code - FIN § 22200. Section 22200.

“Charges” include the aggregate interest, fees, bonuses, commissions, brokerage, discounts, expenses, and other forms of costs charged, contracted for, or received by a licensee or any other person in connection with the investigating, arranging, negotiating, procuring, guaranteeing, making, servicing, collecting, and enforcing of a loan or forbearance of money, credit, goods, or things in action, or any other service rendered.

Cal. Financial Code - FIN § 22201. Section 22201.

“Charges” include any profit or advantage of any kind that a licensee may contract for, collect, receive, or obtain by a collateral sale, purchase, or agreement, in connection with negotiating, arranging, making, or otherwise in connection with any loan.

Cal. Financial Code - FIN § 22202. Section 22202.

“Charges” do not include any of the following: (a) Commissions received as a licensed insurance agent or broker in connection with insurance written as provided in Section 22313. (b) Amounts not in excess of the amounts specified in subdivision (c) of Section 3068 of the Civil Code paid to holders of possessory liens, imposed pursuant to Chapter 6.5 (commencing with Section 3067) of Title 14 of Part 4 of Division 3 of the Civil Code, to release motor vehicles that secure loans subject to this division. (c) Court costs, excluding attorney’s fees, incurred in a suit and recovered against a debtor who defaults on the debtor’s loan. (d) Amounts received by a licensee from a seller, from whom the borrower obtains money, goods, labor, or services on credit, in connection with a transaction under an open-end credit program that are paid or deducted from the loan proceeds paid to the seller at the direction of the borrower and that are an obligation of the seller to the licensee for the privilege of allowing the seller to participate in the licensee’s open-end credit program. Amounts received by a licensee from a seller pursuant to this subdivision may not exceed 6 percent of the loan proceeds paid to the seller at the direction of the borrower. (e) Actual and necessary fees not exceeding five hundred dollars ($500) paid in connection with the repossession of a motor vehicle to repossession agencies licensed pursuant to Chapter 11 (commencing with Section 7500) of Division 3 of the Business and Professions Code provided that the licensee complies with Sections 22328 and 22329, and actual fees paid to a licensee in conformity with Sections 26751 and 41612 of the Government Code in an amount not exceeding the amount specified in those sections of the Government Code. (f) Moneys paid to, and commissions and benefits received by, a licensee for the sale of goods, services, or insurance, whether or not the sale is in connection with a loan, that the buyer by a separately signed authorization acknowledges is optional, if sale of the goods, services, or insurance has been authorized pursuant to Section 22154.

Cal. Financial Code - FIN § 22203. Section 22203.

“Consumer loan” means a loan, whether secured by either real or personal property, or both, or unsecured, the proceeds of which are intended by the borrower for use primarily for personal, family, or household purposes. For purposes of determining whether a loan is a consumer loan, the lender may rely on any written statement of intended purposes signed by the borrower. The statement may be a separate statement signed by the borrower, or may be contained in a loan application or other document signed by the borrower. The lender shall not be required to ascertain that the proceeds of the loan are used in accordance with the statement of intended purposes. Nothing in this section shall authorize the taking of real property as security, except as specified in Section 22330.

Cal. Financial Code - FIN § 22204. Section 22204.

(a) In addition to the definition of consumer loan in Section 22203, a “consumer loan” also means a loan of a principal amount of less than five thousand dollars ($5,000), the proceeds of which are intended by the borrower for use primarily for other than personal, family, or household purposes. For purposes of determining whether a loan is or is not a consumer loan, the lender may rely on any written statement of intended purposes signed by the borrower. The statement may be a separate statement signed by the borrower or may be contained in a loan application or other document signed by the borrower. The lender shall not be required to ascertain that the proceeds of the loan are used in accordance with the statement of intended purposes. (b) A consumer loan under this section is a loan secured in the manner provided for in this division if it is secured, in whole or in part, by any lien on, security interest in, assignment of, or power of attorney relative to income arising from the operation of a business by the borrower, such as accounts, and chattel paper, including the right to payment for accounts or chattel paper sold by the borrower prior to or contemporaneously with the making of the loan.

Source: CA Legislative Counsel Bulk DataURL: https://downloads.leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/pubinfo_2025.zipFetched: 6/27/2026