AROUND THE STATES By Dennis Brown and Scott Riehl Illinois Lenders License Legislation Temporarily Sidetracked E LFA WAS A PARTICIPANT as Illinois Senate Financial Institutions Committee Chairperson Jacqueline Collins met with organizations opposed to her Lenders License legislation, Senate Bill 2865, which was authored by the office of the Chi-cago City Treasurer. The bill generated wide-ranging opposition, causing it to be temporarily held to take into account the concerns expressed and to draft a revised bill. Following this meeting the Office of Chicago City Treas-urer requested details about ELFA membership as well as concerns the association had expressed to the sponsor. Dur-ing a conference call it was explained that the sponsor was considering exemptions for segments of the finance industry, who were never their focus, and outside their objective of set-ting in place, by law, oversight of online marketplace lenders. ELFA followed up with a statement further detailing why our industry does not fall within the focus of their attention. Senate Bill 2865 will undergo a major rewrite, which was expected to be released in July. ELFA will remain engaged. California Response to ELFA Creates New Lenders License Questions The California Department of Business Oversight (DBO) response to questions posed by ELFA created more uncer-tainties about implementation of Senate Bill 197, the new Finance Lenders License legislation. With final answers from the DBO rare, ELFA uses caution before publishing informa-tion that may be viewed as definitive. DBO Deputy Commissioner, Legal Division, Lila Mir-rashidi [Lila.Mirrashidi@dbo.ca.gov] is assisting efforts to determine a method for the holder of a California Finance Lenders (CFL) License to broker deals to banks and other exempt institutions. Provided below without editing or validation by ELFA are instructions from DBO Deputy Commissioner Mirrashidi in the form of a question sent to DBO regarding a licensed broker passing deals to banks and other exempt entities. Additional information sub-sequently provided to ELFA is provided as well. ELFA advises, while questions remain, you consult with your corporate counsel on this and other issues related to the CFL License. Question Posed to California DBO There is at present enormous confusion over whether the CFL license precludes a licensed broker from brokering deals to banks and other exempt institutions. I am of the opinion that it does not. However, many of my colleagues do not, as the result of recent comments made by at least one DBO analyst in a license application deficiency letter. I feel it is of paramount importance that this issue be resolved immediately, as the confusion is casting tremendous unrest within the equipment finance community. Answer Issued by California DBO The California Finance Lenders Law does not prohibit a licensee from brokering loans to banks or other exempt institutions. However, the California Finance Lenders Law only authorizes CFL broker licensees to broker loans to other CFL licensees. Therefore, a CFL broker must ensure that it has proper authority to broker a loan to non-CFL licensees under other provisions of law that may be applicable, such as the Real Estate Law for real estate-secured loans. ELFA Advocacy Continues in Louisiana ELFA worked in partnership with a coalition supporting ef-forts to restore the sale for resale exemption as a second spe-cial legislative session opened in June. Unfortunately, an ELFA backed amendment to House Bill 51 that would have restored the sale for resale exemption was ruled not germane to the agenda established by Louisiana Governor John Bel Edwards. ELFA is in communication with multiple partners about next steps. Advocacy under consideration during the current year include a presentation and /or written testimony to the Task Force on Structural Changes in Budget and Tax Policy established by the Louisiana Legislature and administered by the Louisiana Department of Revenue. 44 JULY/AUGUST/SEPTEMBER 2016 EQUIPMENT LEASING & FINANCE MAGAZINE