(a) A licensing agency may, after appropriate notice and opportunity for hearing, by order levy administrative penalties against a person who violates any provision of this division, and the person shall be liable for administrative penalties of not more than two thousand five hundred dollars ($2,500) for each violation. Except for licensing agencies exempt from the provisions of the Administrative Procedure Act, any hearing shall be held in accordance with the Administrative Procedure Act (Chapter 5 (commencing with Section 11500) of Part 1 of Division 3 of Title 2 of the Government Code), and the licensing agency shall have all the powers granted under that act.
(b) Any person who willfully and knowingly violates any provision of this division shall be liable for a civil penalty of not more than twenty-five thousand dollars ($25,000) for each violation which shall be assessed and recovered in a civil action brought in the name of the people of the State of California by the licensing agency in any court of competent jurisdiction.
(c) Nothing in this section requires exhaustion of administrative remedies prior to an injured party bringing a civil action.
(d) If the licensing agency determines that it is in the public interest, the licensing agency may include, in any action for penalties authorized by subdivision (b), a claim for relief in addition to the penalties, including a claim for restitution or disgorgement, and the court shall have jurisdiction to award the additional relief.
(e) Nothing in this section shall be construed to impair or impede the Attorney General from representing a licensing agency in bringing an action to enforce this division at the request and on behalf of the licensing agency.
(f) In any action brought by the licensing agency, or the Attorney General acting at the request and on behalf of the licensing agency, under this division in which a judgment against a person is rendered, the licensing agency or the Attorney General shall be entitled to recover costs which, in the discretion of the court, may include an amount representing reasonable attorney’s fees and investigative expenses for services rendered for deposit in the appropriate fund of that licensing agency.
(g) The amounts collected under subdivisions (a) and (b) shall be deposited in the appropriate fund of the licensing agency to be used by that licensing agency, subject to appropriation by the Legislature, for the purposes of education and enforcement in connection with abusive lending practices.
(Amended by Stats. 2001, Ch. 733, Sec. 5. Effective January 1, 2002. Applicable, by Sec. 10 of Ch. 733, only to covered loans applied for on or after July 1, 2002.)