Business and Professions Code

Business and Professions Code

SECTION 7520_7539

7520. No person shall engage in a business regulated by this chapter; act or assume to act as, or represent himself or herself to be, a licensee unless he or she is licensed under this chapter; and no person shall falsely represent that he or she is employed by a licensee.

7520.1. (a) Notwithstanding any other provision of law, any person engaging in a business as a private investigator who violates Section 7520 is guilty of an infraction subject to the procedures described in Sections 19.6 and 19.7 of the Penal Code under either of the following circumstances:

(1) A complaint or a written notice to appear in court pursuant to Chapter 5c (commencing with Section 853.5) of Title 3 of Part 2 of the Penal Code is filed in court charging the offense as an infraction unless the defendant, at the time he or she is arraigned, after being advised of his or her rights, elects to have the case proceed as a misdemeanor.

(2) The court, with the consent of the defendant and the prosecution, determines that the offense is an infraction in which event the case shall proceed as if the defendant has been arraigned on an infraction complaint.

(b) This section does not apply to a violation of Section 7520 if the defendant has had his or her license previously revoked or suspended.

(c) Notwithstanding any other provision of law, a violation of Section 7520, which is an infraction, is punishable by a fine of one thousand dollars ($1,000). No portion of the fine may be suspended by the court unless as a condition of that suspension the defendant is required to submit proof of a current valid license for the profession of private investigator which was the basis for his or her conviction.

7520.5. A provisional private investigator license may be issued by the director for a period not to exceed 90 days upon proof that the applicant is currently licensed in another state, as a private investigator, which state has similar qualification requirements for licensure and provides reciprocal provisional licensing for California's licensees. The proof required by the director shall be accompanied by payment of fifty dollars ($50.00) plus a set of valid fingerprints. The applicant shall be subject to all provisions of this chapter. The license may be renewed by the director.

7521. A private investigator within the meaning of this chapter is a person, other than an insurance adjuster subject to the provisions of Chapter 1 (commencing with Section 14000) of Division 5 of the Insurance Code, who, for any consideration whatsoever engages in business or accepts employment to furnish or agrees to furnish any person to protect persons pursuant to Section 7521.5, or engages in business or accepts employment to furnish, or agrees to make, or makes, any investigation for the purpose of obtaining, information with reference to:

(a) Crime or wrongs done or threatened against the United States of America or any state or territory of the United States of America.

(b) The identity, habits, conduct, business, occupation, honesty, integrity, credibility, knowledge, trustworthiness, efficiency, loyalty, activity, movement, whereabouts, affiliations, associations, transactions, acts, reputation, or character of any person.

(c) The location, disposition, or recovery of lost or stolen property.

(d) The cause or responsibility for fires, libels, losses, accidents, or damage or injury to persons or to property.

(e) Securing evidence to be used before any court, board, officer, or investigating committee.

For the purposes of this section, a private investigator is any person, firm, company, association, partnership, or corporation acting for the purpose of investigating, obtaining, and reporting to any employer, its agent, supervisor, or manager, information concerning the employer's employees involving questions of integrity, honesty, breach of rules, or other standards of performance of job duties.

This section shall not apply to a public utility regulated by the State Public Utilities Commission, or its employees.

7521.5. (a) A private investigator may provide services to protect a person, but not property, which is incidental to an investigation for which the private investigator has been previously hired to perform.

(b) If the private investigator provides those services, he or she shall comply with the requirements of Article 4 (commencing with Section 7540), as those provisions relate to the carrying of firearms and the receipt of a valid firearms qualification card from the bureau.

(c) If the private investigator provides those services, he or she shall comply with the requirements of Sections 7583.39, 7583.40, and 7583.41, as those provisions relate to the maintenance of an insurance policy.

(d) If the private investigator provides those services, he or she shall be subject to the jurisdiction of the disciplinary review committee, pursuant to Section 7581.2, only with respect to violation of the law or regulations relating to firearms.

(e) If a person acts for, or on behalf of a private investigator in providing those services, that person shall be an employee of the private investigator, as defined by Section 7512.11, and there shall be an employer_employee relationship, as defined in Section 7512.12, and that person shall comply with the requirements of this section with the exception of the maintenance of an insurance policy.

7522. This chapter does not apply to:

(a) A person employed exclusively and regularly by any employer who does not provide contract security services for other entities or persons, in connection with the affairs of such employer only and where there exists an employer-employee relationship if that person at no time carries or uses any deadly weapon in the performance of his or her duties. For purposes of this subdivision, "deadly weapon" is defined to include any instrument or weapon of the kind commonly known as a blackjack, slingshot, billy, sandclub, sandbag, metal knuckles, any dirk, dagger, pistol, revolver, or any other firearm, any knife having a blade longer than five inches, any razor with an unguarded blade and any metal pipe or bar used or intended to be used as a club.

(b) An officer or employee of the United States of America, or of this state or a political subdivision thereof, while the officer or employee is engaged in the performance of his or her official duties, including uniformed peace officers employed part time by a public agency pursuant to a written agreement between a chief of police or sheriff and the public agency, provided the part-time employment does not exceed 50 hours in any calendar month.

(c) A person engaged exclusively in the business of obtaining and furnishing information as to the financial rating of persons.

(d) A charitable philanthropic society or association duly incorporated under the laws of this state which is organized and maintained for the public good and not for private profit.

(e) An attorney at law in performing his or her duties as an attorney at law.

(f) Admitted insurers and agents and insurance brokers licensed by the state, performing duties in connection with insurance transacted by them.

(g) Any bank subject to the jurisdiction of the Commissioner of Financial Institutions of the State of California under Division 1 (commencing with Section 99) of the Financial Code or the Comptroller of Currency of the United States.

(h) A person engaged solely in the business of securing information about persons or property from public records.

(i) A peace officer of this state or a political subdivision thereof while the peace officer is employed by a private employer to engage in off-duty employment in accordance with Section 1126 of the Government Code. However, nothing herein shall exempt a peace officer who either contracts for his or her services or the services of others as a private investigator or contracts for his or her services as or is employed as an armed private investigator. For purposes of this subdivision, "armed private investigator" means an individual who carries or uses a firearm in the course and scope of that contract or employment.

(j) A licensed insurance adjuster in performing his or her duties within the scope of his or her license as an insurance adjuster.

(k) Any savings association subject to the jurisdiction of the Commissioner of Financial Institutions or the Office of Thrift Supervision.

(l) Any secured creditor engaged in the repossession of the creditor's collateral and any lessor engaged in the repossession of leased property in which it claims an interest.

(m) The act of serving process by an individual who is registered as a process server pursuant to Section 22350.

7523. (a) Unless specifically exempted by Section 7522, no person shall engage in the business of private investigator, as defined in Section 7521, unless that person has applied for and received a license to engage in that business pursuant to this chapter.

(b) Any person who violates any provision of this chapter or who conspires with another person to violate any provision of this chapter, relating to private investigator licensure, or who knowingly engages a nonexempt unlicensed person is guilty of a misdemeanor punishable by a fine of five thousand dollars ($5,000) or by imprisonment in the county jail not to exceed one year, or by both that fine and imprisonment.

(c) A proceeding to impose the fine specified in subdivision (b) may be brought in any court of competent jurisdiction in the name of the people of the State of California by the Attorney General or by any district attorney or city attorney, or with the consent of the district attorney, the city prosecutor in any city or city and county having a full-time city prosecutor for the jurisdiction in which the violation occurred. If the action is brought by the district attorney, the penalty collected shall be paid to the treasurer of the county in which the judgment is entered. If the action is brought by a city attorney or city prosecutor, one-half of the penalty collected shall be paid to the treasurer of the city in which the judgment was entered and one-half to the treasurer of the county in which the judgment was entered. If the action is brought by the Attorney General, all of the penalty collected shall be deposited in the Private Investigator Fund.

(d) Any person who: (1) acts as or represents himself or herself to be a private investigator licensee under this chapter when that person is not a licensee under this chapter; (2) falsely represents that he or she is employed by a licensee under this chapter when that person is not employed by a licensee under this chapter; (3) carries a badge, identification card, or business card, indicating that he or she is a licensee under this chapter when that person is not a licensee under this chapter; (4) uses a letterhead or other written or electronically generated materials indicating that he or she is a licensee under this chapter when that person is not a licensee under this chapter; or (5) advertises that he or she is a licensee under this chapter when that person is not a licensee, is guilty of a misdemeanor that is punishable by a fine of ten thousand dollars ($10,000) or by imprisonment in a county jail for not more than one year, or by both that fine and imprisonment.

(e) A proceeding to impose the fine specified in subdivision (d) may be brought in any court of competent jurisdiction in the name of the people of the State of California by the Attorney General or by any district attorney or city attorney, or with the consent of the district attorney, the city prosecutor in any city or city and county having a full-time city prosecutor for the jurisdiction in which the violation occurred. If the action is brought by the district attorney, the penalty collected shall be paid to the treasurer of the county in which the judgment is entered. If the action is brought by a city attorney or city prosecutor, one-half of the penalty collected shall be paid to the treasurer of the city in which the judgment was entered and one-half to the treasurer of the county in which the judgment was entered. If the action is brought by the Attorney General, all of the penalty collected shall be deposited in the Private Investigator Fund.

(f) Any person who is convicted of a violation of the provisions of this section shall not be issued a license under this chapter, within one year following that conviction.

(g) Any person who is convicted of a violation of subdivision (a), (b), or (d) shall not be issued a license for a period of one year following a first conviction and shall not be issued a license for a period of five years following a second or subsequent conviction of subdivision (a), (b), or (d), or any combination of subdivision (a), (b), or (d).

(h) The chief shall gather evidence of violations of this chapter and of any rule or regulation established pursuant to this chapter by persons engaged in the business of private investigator who fail to obtain a license and shall gather evidence of violations and furnish that evidence to prosecuting officers of any county or city for the purpose of prosecuting all violations occurring within their jurisdiction.

(i) The prosecuting officer of any county or city shall prosecute all violations of this chapter occurring within his or her jurisdiction.