Fidelity Corporation shall establish and maintain the following funds for payment of claims and for payment of costs of administration: the membership fund, the operations fund, and the fidelity fund.

(a) An applicant or a licensee shall, at the time an application is filed for a license, pay to Fidelity Corporation a membership fee of three thousand dollars ($3,000) for each location for which a license is applied. If the application is denied, withdrawn, or abandoned, Fidelity Corporation may retain two hundred dollars ($200) from the membership fee to cover costs of administration.

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(1) The membership fund shall be reserved for payment of claims which exceed the fidelity fund balance and for payment of extraordinary operational costs.

(2) Any member who, on the effective date of this section, has an account balance which exceeds the three thousand dollars ($3,000) membership fee times the number of its licensed locations shall be credited in a special reserve account for the excess amount. This balance shall be credited against future assessments made pursuant to subdivision (b) of Section 17321 in an amount not exceeding four hundred dollars ($400) per licensed location per year. Any member whose account balance is less than three thousand dollars ($3,000) times the number of its licensed locations shall, on or before December 1, 1988, pay to Fidelity Corporation an amount sufficient to allow the member’s account to be maintained at three thousand dollars ($3,000) times the number of licensed locations. Fidelity Corporation shall provide each member with an accounting of the amounts being reserved for the members’ membership account and amounts being held as a special reserve.

(3) The membership fee, less any unpaid assessments and related costs, shall be refunded to the member in accordance with Fidelity Corporation’s bylaws not less than 30 months and no more than 36 months after the effective date of surrender of a license.

(4) Any member who does not engage in any escrow transactions pursuant to subdivision (c) of Section 17312 may terminate its membership in Fidelity Corporation by written notice to Fidelity Corporation and the Department of Financial Protection and Innovation, as provided in the Fidelity Corporation’s bylaws and rules and regulations. The membership fee, less any unpaid assessments and related costs, shall be refunded to the member in accordance with Fidelity Corporation’s bylaws not less than 30 months and no more than 36 months after the effective date of the member’s written request to terminate its membership in Fidelity Corporation. Before a licensee resumes those escrow transactions, it shall first be required to become a member of Fidelity Corporation, as provided in this subdivision.

(b) Fidelity Corporation shall prepare, prior to its fiscal year end, an estimated annual operational budget projecting the costs of operations and administration for the succeeding fiscal year, excluding the amount paid for claims and premiums paid for excess coverage bonding. The amount of the assessment shall be 150 percent of the budgetary projection. In succeeding years, the assessment shall be adjusted by adding the prior year’s deficit or deducting unused surplus from the prior year.

(c) Fidelity Corporation shall establish a fidelity fund for the payment of claims and for the payment of the premium for the fidelity bond or insurance policy, if any. All claims shall be paid from the fidelity fund, provided that, to the extent that the fidelity fund balance is not sufficient to pay claims, the claim shall be paid from the membership fund by charging each member’s membership account a pro rata share of the excess.

(d) All interest earned on the membership fund and the operations fund shall be credited to the fidelity fund.

(Amended by Stats. 2022, Ch. 452, Sec. 124. (SB 1498) Effective January 1, 2023.)