For purposes of this division:

(a) “Account” means a right to a payment of a monetary obligation.

(b) “Accounts receivable purchase transaction” means a transaction as part of an agreement requiring a recipient to forward or otherwise sell to the provider all or a portion of accounts, payment intangibles, or cash receipts that are owed to the recipient or are collected by the recipient during a specified period or in a specified amount.

(c) “Asset-based lending transaction” means a transaction in which advances are made from time to time contingent on a recipient forwarding payments received from one or more third parties for goods the recipient has supplied or services the recipient has rendered to that third party or parties.

(d) (1) “Commercial financing” means an accounts receivable purchase transaction, including factoring, asset-based lending transaction, commercial loan, commercial open-end credit plan, or lease financing transaction intended by the recipient for use primarily for other than personal, family, or household purposes.

(2) For purposes of determining whether financing is commercial financing within the meaning of this subdivision, the provider may rely on any written statement of intended purposes signed by the recipient. The statement may be a separate statement signed by the recipient or may be contained in a loan application or other document signed by the recipient. The provider shall not be required to ascertain that the proceeds of the commercial financing are used in accordance with the statement of intended purposes.

(e) “Commercial loan” means a loan of a principal amount of five thousand dollars ($5,000) or more, or any loan under an open-end credit plan, the proceeds of which are intended by the recipient for use primarily for other than personal, family, or household purposes.

(f) “Commercial open-end credit plan” means a provider’s plan for making open-end loans pursuant to a loan agreement that sets forth the terms and conditions governing the use of the open-end credit program, and provides that:

(1) The recipient may use the open-end credit program to obtain money, goods, labor, or services or credit, and the provider makes open-end loans to the recipient for the purpose of paying money to, or at the direction of, the recipient or paying obligations that the recipient creates through use of the open-end credit program.

(2) The amount of each advance and the charges and other permitted costs are debited to an account.

(3) The charges are computed from time to time on the unpaid balances of the recipient’s account, excluding from the computation any unpaid charges other than permitted fees, costs, and expenses.

(4) The recipient has the privilege of paying the account in full at any time.

(g) “Commissioner” means the Commissioner of Business Oversight.

(h) “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.

(i) “Factoring” means an accounts receivable purchase transaction that includes an agreement to purchase, transfer, or sell a legally enforceable claim for payment held by a recipient for goods the recipient has supplied or services the recipient has rendered that have been ordered but for which payment has not yet been made.

(j) (1) “Lease financing” means providing a lease for goods if the lease includes a purchase option that creates a security interest in the goods leased, as defined in paragraph (35) of subdivision (b) of Section 1201 and Section 1203 of the Commercial Code.

(2) The definition of lease financing in this Division shall not be construed to repeal or otherwise amend existing law related to the definition of leases and security interests under the Commercial Code.

(k) “Payment intangible” means a general intangible under which the account debtor’s principal obligation is a monetary obligation.

(l) “Person” means an individual, a corporation, a partnership, a limited liability company, a joint venture, an association, a joint stock company, a trust, or an unincorporated organization.

(m) “Provider” means a person who extends a specific offer of commercial financing to a recipient. “Provider” also includes a nondepository institution, which 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.

(n) “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).

(Added by Stats. 2018, Ch. 1011, Sec. 2. (SB 1235) Effective January 1, 2019.)