Section 17320 Of Article 3. Membership Fee And Assessments From California Financial Code >> Division 6. >> Chapter 2.5. >> Article 3.
17320
. 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 If the application is denied, withdrawn, or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.
(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 Business Oversight, 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.