(a) A licensee who is approved by the commissioner to participate in the program may use the services of one or more finders as provided in this article. In addition to the fees and costs authorized by subdivision (b) of Section 22375 and subdivision (a) of Section 22377, the commissioner may charge a licensee who uses the services of one or more finders a fee, following the examination of the finder or finders, in an amount not to exceed that necessary to offset the commissioner’s costs to oversee the activities of that licensee’s finder or finders.

(b) For purposes of this article, a “finder” means an entity that, at the finder’s physical location for business, brings a licensee and a prospective borrower together for the purpose of negotiating a loan contract.

(c) An entity, whose sole means of bringing a licensee and a prospective borrower together at that entity’s physical location for business is via an electronic access point through which a prospective borrower may directly access the Internet Web site of a licensee is not a “finder” for purposes of this article.

(Amended by Stats. 2018, Ch. 1016, Sec. 3. (AB 237) Effective January 1, 2019. Repealed as of January 1, 2028, pursuant to Section 22381.)