For purposes of this title, the following definitions apply:

(a) “Automated clearinghouse” means any federal reserve bank, or an organization established in agreement with the National Automated Clearing House Association, that operates as a clearinghouse for transmitting or receiving entries between banks or bank accounts and authorizes an electronic transfer of funds between these banks or bank accounts.

(b) (1) “Broker” means a person who is engaged in the business of performing any of the following acts in connection with commercial financing made by a provider:

(A) Transmitting confidential data about a prospective recipient to a provider with the expectation of compensation in connection with making a referral.

(B) Making a referral to a provider under an agreement with the provider that a prospective recipient referred by the person to the provider meet certain criteria involving confidential data.

(C) Participating in a negotiation of commercial financing between a provider and prospective recipient.

(D) Counseling, advising, or making recommendations to a prospective recipient about a commercial financing transaction based on the prospective recipient’s confidential data.

(E) (i) Participating in the preparation of any commercial financing documents, including, but not limited to, commercial financing applications, other than providing a prospective recipient blank copies of commercial financing documents.

(ii) Notwithstanding clause (i), transmitting information that is not confidential data to a provider at the request of a prospective recipient shall not, by itself, constitute participation in the preparation of commercial financing documents.

(F) Communicating to a prospective recipient a provider’s approval decisions related to a commercial financing transaction.

(G) Charging a fee to a prospective recipient for any services related to a prospective recipient’s application for a commercial financing transaction from a provider.

(2) Notwithstanding paragraph (1), a person is not a “broker” under this title solely because they take any of the following acts:

(A) Performing support tasks, including, but not limited to, typing, word processing, data entry, filing, billing, answering phone calls, taking and receiving messages, and scheduling, in support of the performance by a broker of any of the activities described in subparagraphs (E) to (G), inclusive, of paragraph (1).

(B) Furnishing a consumer report to a covered entity by a consumer reporting agency in accordance with subsection (a) or (c) of Section 1681b of Title 15 of the United States Code.

(C) Furnishing a consumer credit report, as defined in Section 1785.3, to a covered entity by a consumer credit reporting agency in accordance with subdivision (a) or paragraph (1) of subdivision (b) of Section 1785.11.

(D) Furnishing a prequalifying report, as defined in Section 1785.3, to a covered entity by a consumer credit reporting agency in accordance with paragraph (2) of subdivision (b) of Section 1785.11.

(E) Distributing or disseminating to a prospective recipient of a provider’s marketing materials or factual information about the provider, its lending activities, or its loan products, including, but not limited to, the provider’s interest rates, the provider’s minimum or maximum loan amounts or loan periods, or a general description of the provider’s underwriting criteria.

(c) “Commercial financing” has the same meaning as defined in § 22800 of the Financial Code.

(d) “Confidential data” means any of the following:

(1) A bank account number.

(2) A bank statement.

(3) A credit or debit card account number.

(4) A credit score, as defined in Section 1785.15.1.

(5) All or a portion of a social security number.

(6) Personal or business income information, including information self-reported by the person.

(7) A taxpayer or employer identification number.

(e) “Covered entity” means either of the following:

(1) A provider.

(2) A broker.

(f) “Depository institution” means any of the following:

(1) A bank, trust company, or industrial loan company doing business under the authority of, or in accordance with, a license, certificate, or charter issued by the United States, this state, or any other state, district, territory, or commonwealth of the United States that is authorized to transact business in this state.

(2) A federally chartered savings and loan association, federal savings bank, or federal credit union that is authorized to transact business in this state.

(3) A savings and loan association, savings bank, or credit union organized under the laws of this or any other state that is authorized to transact business in this state.

(g) “Provider” means a person who extends a specific offer of commercial financing to a recipient, including, but not limited to, a nondepository institution that enters into a written agreement with a depository institution to arrange for the extension of commercial financing by the depository institution to a recipient via an online lending platform administered by the nondepository institution. The fact that a provider extends a specific offer of commercial financing or lending on behalf of a depository institution shall not be construed to mean that the provider engaged in lending or originated that loan or financing.

(h) “Recipient” means a person who is presented a specific commercial financing offer by a provider that is equal to or less than five hundred thousand dollars ($500,000).

(i) “Referral” means the introduction of a prospective recipient to a provider or the delivery of a prospective recipient’s contact information to a provider for the purpose of making an introduction.

(j) “Small business” means an independently owned and operated business that is not dominant in its field of operation, the principal office of which is located in California, the officers of which are domiciled in California, and that, together with affiliates, has 100 or fewer employees and average annual gross receipts of fifteen million dollars ($15,000,000) or less over the previous three years.

(Added by Stats. 2023, Ch. 881, Sec. 1. (SB 666) Effective January 1, 2024.)