Acceptance of Money and/or Reservations for Transient Occupancy - Responsibility to Maintain Records and Give Accountings
1864. Any person or entity, including a person employed by a real estate broker, who, on behalf of another or others, solicits or arranges, or accepts reservations or money, or both, for transient occupancies described in paragraphs (1) and (2) of subdivision (b) of Section 1940, in a dwelling unit in a common interest development, as defined in Section 4100, in a dwelling unit in an apartment building or complex, or in a single-family home, shall do each of the following:
(a) Prepare and maintain, in accordance with a written agreement with the owner, complete and accurate records and books of account, kept in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles, of all reservations made and money received and spent with respect to each dwelling unit. All money received shall be kept in a trust account maintained for the benefit of owners of the dwelling units.
(b) Render, monthly, to each owner of the dwelling unit, or to that owner’s designee, an accounting for each
month in which there are any deposits or disbursements on behalf of that owner, however, in no event shall this accounting be rendered any less frequently than quarterly.
(c) Make all records and books of account with respect to a dwelling unit available, upon reasonable advance notice, for inspection and copying by the dwelling unit’s owner. The records shall be maintained for a period of at least three years.
(d) Comply fully with all collection, payment, and recordkeeping requirements of a transient occupancy tax ordinance, if any, applicable to the occupancy.
(e) In no event shall any activities described in this section subject the person or entity performing those activities in any manner to Part 1 (commencing with Section 10000) of Division 4 of the Business and Professions Code. However, a real estate licensee subject to this section may satisfy the requirements of this section by compliance with the Real Estate Law.
Broker Exemption from Interest Rate Limitation 1916.1. The restrictions upon rates of interest contained in Section 1 of Article XV of the California Constitution shall not apply to any loan or forbearance made or arranged by any person licensed as a real estate broker by the State of California, and secured, directly or collaterally, in whole or in part by liens on real property. For purposes of this section, a loan or forbearance is arranged by a person licensed as a real estate broker when the broker (1) acts for compensation or in expectation of compensation for soliciting, negotiating, or arranging the loan for another, (2) acts for compensation or in expectation of compensation for selling, buying, leasing, exchanging, or negotiating the sale, purchase, lease, or exchange of real property or a business for another and (A) arranges a loan to pay all or any portion of the purchase price of, or of an improvement to, that property or business or (B) arranges a forbearance, extension, or refinancing of any loan in connection with that sale, purchase, lease, exchange of, or an improvement to, real property or a business, or (3) arranges or negotiates for another a forbearance, extension, or refinancing of any loan secured by real property in connection with a past transaction in which the broker had acted for compensation or in expectation of compensation for selling, buying, leasing, exchanging, or negotiating the sale, purchase, lease, or exchange of real property or a business. The term “made or arranged” includes any loan made by a person licensed as a real estate broker as a principal or as an agent for others, and whether or not the person is acting within the course and scope of such license.