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AB-3151 Escrow agents: asset requirements.(2019-2020)

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Date Published: 02/21/2020 09:00 PM
AB3151:v99#DOCUMENT


CALIFORNIA LEGISLATURE— 2019–2020 REGULAR SESSION

Assembly Bill
No. 3151

Introduced by Assembly Member O’Donnell

February 21, 2020

An act to amend Section 17210 of the Financial Code, relating to escrow agents.


LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


AB 3151, as introduced, O’Donnell. Escrow agents: asset requirements.
Existing law, the Escrow Law, requires people engaging in business as escrow agents to be organized as corporations for that purpose, as specified, and appropriately licensed by the Commissioner of Business Oversight. Existing law requires an escrow agent licensed on or after January 1, 1986, to maintain a tangible net worth of $50,000, including liquid assets of at least $25,000 in excess of current liabilities. Existing law required an escrow agent licensed before January 1, 1986, to maintain an increasing tangible net worth pursuant to a prescribed schedule, the amounts of which, by 1993, matched the requirements for escrow agents licensed on and after January 1, 1986.
This bill would delete obsolete provisions by deleting the tangible net worth schedule for escrow agents licensed before January 1, 1986, as described above, and the distinctions in this context based on when an agent was licensed.
Vote: MAJORITY   Appropriation: NO   Fiscal Committee: NO   Local Program: NO  

The people of the State of California do enact as follows:


SECTION 1.

 Section 17210 of the Financial Code is amended to read:

17210.
 (a) An escrow agent licensed on or after January 1, 1986, shall maintain at all times a tangible net worth of fifty thousand dollars ($50,000), including liquid assets of at least twenty-five thousand dollars ($25,000) in excess of current liabilities.

(b)An escrow agent licensed prior to January 1, 1986, shall maintain at all times a tangible net worth according to the following schedule:

(1)Ten thousand dollars ($10,000) from January 1, 1986, through June 30, 1986, including liquid assets of at least ten thousand dollars ($10,000) in excess of current liabilities.

(2)Fifteen thousand dollars ($15,000) as of July 1, 1986, including liquid assets of at least fifteen thousand dollars ($15,000) in excess of current liabilities.

(3)Twenty thousand dollars ($20,000) as of July 1, 1987, including liquid assets of at least twenty thousand dollars ($20,000) in excess of current liabilities.

(4)Twenty-five thousand dollars ($25,000) as of July 1, 1988, including liquid assets of at least twenty-five thousand dollars ($25,000) in excess of current liabilities.

(5) Thirty thousand dollars ($30,000) as of July 1, 1989, including liquid assets of at least twenty-five thousand dollars ($25,000) in excess of current liabilities.

(6) Thirty-five thousand dollars ($35,000) as of July 1, 1990, including liquid assets of at least twenty-five thousand dollars ($25,000) in excess of current liabilities.

(7) Forty thousand dollars ($40,000) as of July 1, 1991, including liquid assets of at least twenty-five thousand dollars ($25,000) in excess of current liabilities.

(8)Forty-five thousand dollars ($45,000) as of July 1, 1992, including liquid assets of at least twenty-five thousand dollars ($25,000) in excess of current liabilities.

(9)Fifty thousand dollars ($50,000) as of July 1, 1993, and thereafter, including liquid assets of at least twenty-five thousand dollars ($25,000) in excess of current liabilities.

(c)

(b) The commissioner may determine by rule as to which assets constitute liquid assets and may also determine in an individual case by a specific written ruling whether a particular asset is a liquid asset within the meaning of this section.

(d)

(c) In the case of a licensed branch office, a tangible net worth in addition to that required by subdivision (a) shall be maintained at an amount equal to 50 percent of the tangible net worth required by subdivision (a), except that licensees operating or applying for more than one branch office shall maintain an additional tangible net worth of at least 25 percent of the amount required by subdivision (a) for each branch office licensed after the first branch office location.