No credit services organization shall conduct business in this state unless the credit services organization has first obtained a surety bond in the principal amount of one hundred thousand dollars ($100,000) issued by an admitted surety and the bond complies with all of the following:
(a) The bond shall be in favor of the State of California for the benefit of any person who is damaged by any violation of this title. The bond shall also be in favor of any individual damaged by those practices.
(b) Any person claiming against the bond for a violation of this title may maintain an action at law against the credit services organization and against the surety. The surety shall be liable only for actual damages and not the punitive damages permitted under Section 1789.21. The aggregate liability of the surety to all persons damaged by a credit services organization’s violation of this title shall in no event exceed the amount of the bond.
(c) The bond shall be maintained for two years following the date on which the credit services organization ceases to conduct business in this state.
A copy of the bond shall be filed with the Secretary of State.
(Amended by Stats. 1992, Ch. 651, Sec. 7. Effective January 1, 1993.)