11800. It shall be unlawful for any person to act as a vehicle
salesperson without having first procured a license or temporary
permit issued by the department or when that license or temporary
permit issued by the department has been canceled, suspended,
revoked, or invalidated or has expired.
11802. (a) The department shall prescribe and provide forms to be
used for application for licenses to be issued under this article and
require of applicants, as a condition of the issuance of a license,
that information concerning the applicant's character, honesty,
integrity, and reputation as it considers necessary. Every
application for a vehicle salesperson's license shall contain, in
addition to that information which the department requires, a
statement of all of the following facts:
(1) The name and address of the applicant.
(2) Whether the applicant has ever had a court judgment rendered
for which he or she has been liable as a result of his or her
activities in conjunction with an occupational license issued under
this division, and whether that judgment remains unpaid or
unsatisfied.
(3) Whether the applicant ever had a license, issued under this
division, revoked, suspended, or subjected to other disciplinary
action and whether the applicant was ever a partner in a partnership
or an officer, director, or stockholder in a corporation licensed
under this division, the license of which was revoked, suspended, or
subjected to other disciplinary action.
(b) The department shall issue a license bearing a fullface
photograph of the licensee and the following information:
(1) Name and address.
(2) Physical description.
(3) The licensee's usual signature.
(4) Distinguishing vehicle salesperson's license number.
11803. Pending the satisfaction of the department that the
applicant has met the requirements of this chapter, it may issue a
temporary permit to any person applying for a vehicle salesperson's
license. The temporary permit shall permit the operation by the
salesperson for a period of not more than 120 days while the
department is completing its investigation of the applicant for the
license. If the department determines to its satisfaction that the
temporary permit was issued upon a fraudulent application or
determines or has reasonable cause to believe that the application is
incorrect or incomplete or the temporary permit was issued in error,
the department may cancel the temporary permit, effective
immediately. The temporary permit shall become invalid when canceled
or when the applicant's license has been issued or refused.
11804. The department may issue or, for reasonable cause shown,
refuse to issue, a license to any applicant applying for a vehicle
salesperson's license.
11806. The department, after notice and hearing, may refuse to
issue, or may suspend or revoke, a vehicle salesperson's license when
it makes any of the following findings and determinations:
(a) The applicant or licensee has outstanding an unsatisfied final
court judgment rendered in connection with an activity licensed
under this division.
(b) The applicant or licensee has failed to pay funds or property
received in the course of employment to a dealer entitled thereto.
(c) The applicant or licensee has failed to surrender possession
of, or failed to return, any vehicle to a dealer lawfully entitled
thereto upon termination of employment.
(d) A cause for refusal, suspension, or revocation exists under
any provision of Sections 11302 to 11909, inclusive.
(e) The applicant was previously the holder of an occupational
license issued by another state authorizing the same or similar
activities of a license issued under this division; and that license
was revoked or suspended for cause and was never reissued, or was
suspended for cause, and the terms of suspension have not been
fulfilled.
(f) The applicant or licensee has acted as a dealer by purchasing
or selling vehicles while employed by a licensed dealer without
reporting that fact to the dealer or without utilizing the report of
sale documents issued to the dealer.
(g) The applicant or licensee has acted as a vehicle salesperson
or engaged in that activity for, or on behalf of, more than one
licensed dealer whose business does not have identical ownership and
structure. Nothing in this section restricts the number of
dealerships of which a person may be an owner, officer, or director,
or precludes a vehicle salesperson from working at more than one
location of one licensed dealer if the business of that dealer has
identical ownership and structure.
(h) The applicant or licensee has acted as a vehicle salesperson
without having first complied with Section 11812.
(i) The applicant or licensee was a managerial employee of a
dealer during the time a person under the direction or control of the
managerial employee committed wrongful acts which resulted in the
suspension or revocation of the dealer's license.
(j) The applicant or licensee has acted as a dealer by purchasing
or selling any vehicle and using the license, report of sale books,
purchase drafts, financial institution accounts, or other supplies of
a dealer to facilitate that purchase or sale, when the applicant or
licensee is not acting on behalf of that dealer.
11808. Every hearing provided for in this article shall be
conducted pursuant to Chapter 5 (commencing with Section 11500) of
Part 1 of Division 3 of Title 2 of the Government Code.
11808.5. (a) After the filing of an accusation under this article,
the director may enter into a stipulated compromise settlement
agreement with the consent of the licensee on terms and conditions
mutually agreeable to the director, the respondent licensee, and the
accuser without further hearing or appeal. The agreement may
include, but is not limited to, a period of probation or monetary
penalties, or both. Except as provided in Section 11728, the
monetary penalty shall not exceed five hundred dollars ($500) for
each violation, and it shall be based on the nature of the violation
and the effect of the violation on the purposes of this article.
(b) A compromise settlement agreement may be entered before,
during, or after the hearing, but is valid only if executed and filed
pursuant to subdivision (d) before the proposed decision of the
hearing officer, if any, is adopted or the case is decided.
(c) The department shall adopt, by regulation, a schedule of
maximum and minimum amounts of monetary penalties, the payment of
which may be included as a term or condition of a compromise
settlement agreement entered under subdivision (a). Any monetary
penalty included in a compromise settlement agreement shall be within
the range of monetary penalties in that schedule.
(d) Any compromise settlement agreement entered under this section
shall be signed by the director, the respondent licensee, and the
accuser, or by their authorized representatives. The director shall
file, or cause to be filed, the agreement with the Office of
Administrative Hearings, together with the department's notice of
withdrawal of the accusation or statement of issues upon which the
action was initiated.
(e) If the respondent licensee fails to perform all of the terms
and conditions of the compromise settlement agreement, the agreement
is void and the department may take any action authorized by law,
notwithstanding the agreement, including, but not limited to,
refiling the accusation or imposing license sanctions.
11810. (a) The department may, pending a hearing, temporarily
suspend the license issued to a vehicle salesperson for a period of
not more than 30 days if the director finds that action to be
required in the public interest. In that case, a hearing shall be
held and a decision thereon issued within 30 days after notice of the
temporary suspension.
(b) Except where the provisions of this code require the refusal
to issue a license, the department may issue a probationary license
subject to conditions to be observed by the licensee in the exercise
of the privilege granted. The conditions to be attached to the
exercise of the privilege shall be those which may, in the judgment
of the department, be in the public interest and suitable to the
qualifications of the applicant, as disclosed by the application and
investigation by the department of the information contained in the
application.
(c) If the department issues or renews a vehicle salesperson's
license requiring conditions of probation or if the department
refuses to issue a vehicle salesperson's license, the applicant may
demand in writing a hearing before the director or the director's
representative within 60 days after notice of refusal to issue or
issuance of the probationary license.
(d) A person whose license has been revoked or whose application
for a license has been denied may reapply for a license after not
less than one year has elapsed from the effective date of the
decision revoking the license or denying the application, except that
if the decision was based upon subdivision (a) of Section 11806, an
earlier reapplication may be made accompanied by evidence
satisfactory to the department that those grounds for revocation or
denial of the license no longer exist.
11812. (a) Every vehicle salesperson licensed under this article
shall, at the time of employment, deliver to his or her employing
dealer his or her salesperson's license to be posted in a place
conspicuous to the public on the premises where he or she is actually
engaged in the selling of vehicles for the employing dealer.
(b) The license shall be displayed continuously during the
employment. If a vehicle salesperson's employment is terminated, the
license shall be returned to the salesperson.
(c) Every vehicle salesperson licensed pursuant to this article
shall report in writing to the department every change of residence
address within five days of the change.
(d) Any person currently or previously licensed under this article
who no longer resides at the address last filed with the department
may be served with process issued pursuant to Chapter 5 (commencing
with Section 11500) of Part 1 of Division 3 of Title 2 of the
Government Code by registered mail at that residence, unless the
person has notified the department in writing of another address
where service may be made.
11814. (a) Every original vehicle salesperson's license issued, and
every vehicle salesperson's license renewed pursuant to subdivision
(b), shall be valid for a period of three years from the date of
issuance unless canceled, suspended, or revoked by the department.
(b) Renewal of a vehicle salesperson's license may be made prior
to the expiration date. In no event may a vehicle salesperson renew
his or her license after the date of expiration.
(c) A salesperson's license may be renewed by mail if that license
was not renewed by mail for the immediately preceding period.
(d) A salesperson shall obtain a duplicate license when the
original is either lost or mutilated.
11819. It is unlawful for any person:
(a) To lend a salesperson's license to any other person or
knowingly permit its use by another.
(b) To display or represent any salesperson's license not issued
to the person as being his or her license.
(c) To fail or refuse to surrender to the department, upon its
lawful demand, any salesperson's license which has been suspended,
revoked or canceled.
(d) To permit any unlawful use of a salesperson's license issued
to him or her.
(e) To photograph, photostat, duplicate, or in any way reproduce
any salesperson's license or facsimile thereof in such a manner that
it could be mistaken for a valid license, or to display or have in
possession any such photograph, photostat, duplicate, reproduction,
or facsimile unless authorized by this code.
11820. The following fees shall be paid to the department:
(a) Except as provided by Section 42231, a nonrefundable fee for
the original issuance of a license, fifty dollars ($50).
(b) Fee for license renewal, fifty dollars ($50).
(c) Fee for a duplicate license, fifteen dollars ($15).
11822. The vehicle salesperson's license or any permit provided in
this article shall be automatically canceled upon the failure of a
licensee to pay the required fees or to file an application for
renewal of the license or permit before the date of expiration of the
current license or permit.
11824. The suspension, expiration, or cancellation of a vehicle
salesperson's license issued under this article does not prevent the
filing of an accusation for the revocation or suspension of the
suspended, expired, or canceled license as provided in Section 11806,
and the department's decision that the license should be suspended
or revoked. That determination may be considered in granting or
refusing to grant any subsequent license authorized by this division
to that licensee.
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