Any person acting as a real estate broker, real estate salesperson, or mortgage loan originator without a license or license endorsement, or who advertises using words indicating that he or she is a real estate broker, real estate salesperson, or mortgage loan originator without being so licensed or without having obtained a license endorsement, shall be guilty of a public offense punishable by a fine not exceeding twenty thousand dollars ($20,000), or by imprisonment in the county jail for a term not to exceed six months, or by both fine and imprisonment; or if a corporation, be punished by a fine not exceeding sixty thousand dollars ($60,000). If a Real Estate Fraud Prosecution Trust Fund, as described in § 27388 of the Government Code, exists in the county where a person or corporation is convicted, any fine collected from the person in excess of ten thousand dollars ($10,000) or any fine collected from the corporation in excess of fifty thousand dollars ($50,000) shall be deposited in that Real Estate Fraud Prosecution Trust Fund.

(Amended by Stats. 2010, Ch. 287, Sec. 2. (SB 1137) Effective January 1, 2011.)