(a) A seller shall maintain the following documents for at least seven years or the length of the conditional sales contract, whichever is longer:

(1) A copy of each buyer‘s conditional sales contract.

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Terms Used In California Civil Code 2984.5

  • Buyer: means the person who buys or hires a motor vehicle under a conditional sale contract. See California Civil Code 2981
  • Contract: A legal written agreement that becomes binding when signed.
  • Credit report: A detailed report of an individual's credit history prepared by a credit bureau and used by a lender in determining a loan applicant's creditworthiness. Source: OCC
  • Credit Score: A number, roughly between 300 and 800, that measures an individual's credit worthiness. The most well-known type of credit score is the FICO score. This score represents the answer from a mathematical formula that assigns numerical values to various pieces of information in your credit report. Source: OCC
  • Seller: means a person engaged in the business of selling or leasing motor vehicles under conditional sale contracts. See California Civil Code 2981

(2) Any documents relied upon by the seller to determine a buyer’s creditworthiness, including, but not limited to, any consumer credit report, as defined in Section 1785.3, or any other document containing a buyer’s credit score, as defined in Section 1785.15.1.

(3) If the conditional sales contract is sold, assigned, or otherwise transferred, a copy of the terms of that sale, assignment, or transfer.

(b) A seller that unlawfully fails to comply with a court order to produce the documents described in subdivision (a) shall be liable in an action brought by the Attorney General for a civil penalty of five thousand dollars ($5,000) per violation. The penalties provided by this section are in addition to all rights and remedies that are otherwise available under law.

(Added by Stats. 2003, Ch. 59, Sec. 1. Effective January 1, 2004.)