Florida Senate - 2025                                     SB 162
       
       
        
       By Senator Berman
       
       
       
       
       
       26-00227-25                                            2025162__
    1                        A bill to be entitled                      
    2         An act relating to consumer finance loans; creating s.
    3         516.181, F.S.; prohibiting persons from engaging in
    4         specified actions to evade the requirements of ch.
    5         516, F.S.; providing that consumer finance loans made
    6         in violation of such prohibitions are void and
    7         uncollectible; providing construction relating to when
    8         a person is deemed to be a lender subject to such
    9         prohibitions; providing an effective date.
   10          
   11  Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
   12  
   13         Section 1. Section 516.181, Florida Statutes, is created to
   14  read:
   15         516.181 Predatory loan prevention.—
   16         (1) A person may not employ any device, scheme, or artifice
   17  to evade the requirements of this chapter, including, but not
   18  limited to, either of the following:
   19         (a) Making, offering, or assisting a borrower in obtaining,
   20  or arranging for a borrower to obtain, a consumer finance loan
   21  with a higher rate or amount of interest, fees, charges,
   22  consideration, or other payment received incident to the loan
   23  than is authorized by this chapter through any method, including
   24  mail, telephone, the Internet, or any electronic means,
   25  regardless of whether the person is physically located in this
   26  state.
   27         (b) Receiving interest, fees, charges, consideration, or
   28  other payments in excess of those authorized by this chapter,
   29  regardless of whether the payment purports to be voluntary.
   30         (2) A consumer finance loan made in violation of this
   31  section is void and uncollectible as to any principal, fee,
   32  interest, charge, or payment.
   33         (3) If a consumer finance loan exceeds the rate authorized
   34  under s. 516.031, a person who engages in an activity described
   35  in paragraph (1)(a) or (b) is deemed a lender subject to this
   36  section, regardless of whether that person purports to act as an
   37  agent or a service provider or in another capacity for another
   38  entity that is exempt from this chapter, if any of the following
   39  applies:
   40         (a) The person holds, acquires, or maintains, directly or
   41  indirectly, the predominant economic interest, risk, or reward
   42  in the loan.
   43         (b) The person:
   44         1. Markets, solicits, brokers, arranges, facilitates, or
   45  services the loan; and
   46         2. Holds or has the right, requirement, or first right of
   47  refusal to acquire the loan, a share of receivables, or another
   48  direct or indirect interest in the loan or loan program.
   49         (c) The totality of the circumstances indicates that the
   50  person is the lender and that the transaction is structured to
   51  evade the requirements of this chapter. Circumstances that weigh
   52  in favor of a person being a lender subject to this section
   53  include, without limitation, whether the person:
   54         1. Indemnifies, insures, or protects an exempt entity from
   55  any costs or risks related to the loan;
   56         2. Predominantly designs, controls, or operates the loan
   57  program;
   58         3. Holds the trademark or intellectual property rights in
   59  the brand, underwriting system, or other core aspects of the
   60  loan program; or
   61         4. Purports to act as an agent or a service provider or in
   62  another capacity for an exempt entity while acting directly as a
   63  lender in other states.
   64         Section 2. This act shall take effect July 1, 2025.