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SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Three bills aimed at regulating
buy-here, pay-here dealers in California like never done before now are up
for final votes on the floor of the entire state legislature.

All three measures made their way to approval through
committee hearings during the past seven days, meaning if they are to gain
majority votes sometime before the end of the month, only Gov. Jerry Brown
stands between Senate Bill 956 as Assembly Bills 1447 and 1534 from becoming
law.

To recap, here are the objectives of each of these measures.

Senate Bill 956 has three main goals:

—Impose first-ever regulations on dealers offering buy-here,
pay-here installment loans by requiring them to obtain a California Finance
Lender's license.

—Limit used-vehicle installment loans to an interest rate of
no more than 17.25 percent, which would give California the strongest cap in
the nation.

—Change the way BHPH dealers are able to repossess vehicles
to include grace periods and make it easier for buyers to reinstate a
repossessed unit.

Some of the regulations Assembly Bill 1447 would create
include:

—Require BHPH dealers to provide a limited warranty that
covers most major components and lasts for at least 30 days or 1,000 miles.

—Prohibit BHPH dealers from requiring a buyer to make
regular payments in person.

—Require BHPH dealers receive written consent from the buyer
prior to selling a vehicle with an electronic tracking device.

—Require BHPH dealers to provide notice to the buyer of the
presence of ignition shutdown technology in the vehicle and that such
technology be set to provide advance warnings to the driver to help avoid
stranding drivers.

Furthermore, Assembly Bill 1534 received would require a
BHPH dealer to display a label on any used vehicle offered for retail sale that
states the "reasonable market value" of the unit. The bill would require the
label to contain specified information used to determine the vehicle's
reasonable market value and the date the value was determined.

Moreover, AB 1534 would require a BHPH dealer to provide to
a prospective buyer of the used vehicle a copy of any information obtained from
a nationally recognized pricing guide the dealer utilized to determine the
reasonable market value of the vehicle.

According to the latest legislative analysis, lawmakers are
defining BHPH dealers as retailers that enter into conditional sales or lease
contracts assigns less than 90 percent of all unrescinded conditional sales
contracts and lease contracts to unaffiliated third-party finance or leasing
sources within 60 days of the consummation of those contracts.

The analysis also mentioned a dealer would not be classified
as a BHPH store if they certify 100 percent of vehicle inventory and maintains
an on-site service and repair facility that is licensed by the state's Bureau
of Automotive Repair and employs a minimum of five master technicians who are certified by the
National Institute for Automotive Service Excellence.