Article 18. Violations of California Food And Agricultural Code >> Division 20. >> Chapter 7. >> Article 18.

It is a violation of this chapter if the applicant or licensee has made any fraudulent charges or returns for the handling, sale, or storage of, or for rendering any service in connection with the handling, sale, or storage of any farm product.

It is a violation of this chapter if the applicant, or licensee, has failed or refused to render a true account of sales, or to make a settlement on the sales, or to pay for any farm product which is received, within the time and in the manner which are required by this chapter.

It is a violation of this chapter if the applicant, or licensee, has made any false statement as to the condition, quality, or quantity of any farm product which is received, handled, sold, or stored by him.

It is a violation of this chapter if the applicant, or licensee, directly or indirectly, has purchased for his, or its, own account any farm product which is received by him upon consignment without prior authority from consignor together with the price fixed by the consignor or without promptly notifying the consignor of such purchase. This does not prevent any commission merchant from taking to account of sales, in order to close the day's business, miscellaneous lots of parcels of any farm product which remains unsold, if such commission merchant forthwith enters such transaction on his account of sales.

It is a violation of this chapter if the applicant, or licensee, has intentionally made any false or misleading statement as to the conditions of the market for any farm product.

It is a violation of this chapter if the applicant or licensee has made any fictitious sale or has been guilty of collusion to defraud a producer or another licensee.

It is a violation of this chapter if a commission merchant to whom any consignment is made has reconsigned such consignment to another commission merchant or employed a broker to effect the sale for the consignor and has deducted more than one charge for effecting the sale without the written consent of the consignor.

It is a violation of this chapter if the licensee was intentionally guilty of fraud or deception in the procurement of such license.

It is a violation of this chapter if the licensee or applicant has failed or refused to file with the director a schedule of his charges for services in connection with any farm product which is handled on account of, or as an agent of, another.

It is a violation of this chapter if the applicant, or licensee, has indulged in any unfair practice.

It is a violation of this chapter if the licensee:
  (a) Has rejected without reasonable cause or has failed or refused to accept without reasonable cause, any farm product which the licensee has bought or contracted to buy from another licensee or a producer.
  (b) Has failed or refused without reasonable cause to provide boxes or other containers, or hauling, harvesting, or any other service which is contracted to be done by the licensee in connection with the acceptance, harvesting, or handling of such farm product.
  (c) Has used any device to avoid acceptance or unreasonably defer acceptance of such farm product.

It is a violation of this chapter if the licensee has otherwise violated any provision of this chapter.

It is a violation of this chapter if the licensee has knowingly employed an agent, without causing the agent to comply with the licensing requirements of this chapter which are applicable to agents.

It is a violation of this chapter if the applicant or licensee has in the handling of any farm product been guilty of fraud, deceit, or willful negligence.

It is a violation of this chapter if the licensee has failed or refused, upon demand, to permit the director or his agents to make the investigations, examinations, or audits as provided in this chapter, or that the licensee has removed or sequestered any books, records, or papers which are necessary to any such investigations, examinations, or audits, or has otherwise obstructed them.

It is a violation of this chapter if the licensee without reasonable cause has failed or refused to execute or carry out a lawful contract with a producer or another licensee.

It is a violation of this chapter if the licensee has failed or refused to keep and maintain the records as required by this chapter.

It is a violation of this chapter if a dealer has obtained title to or possession, control, or delivery of any farm product from another licensee or a producer of the farm product without having executed a contract of purchase and sale, or a contract agreeing to purchase the farm product at a designated price to be paid by the dealer.

It is a violation of this chapter for a person licensed as a cash buyer to buy or otherwise take title to or possession of any farm product from a licensee or a producer of such product, except by cash payment of the full agreed price to the licensee or producer at the time of obtaining such possession or control.

Under a contract for the purchase or handling of any farm products, any delinquent payment of money under this chapter shall also include a late charge of 5 percent per month of the unpaid balance calculated on a daily basis for the period of the delinquency for the first month and an additional 1 percent per month of the unpaid balance calculated on a daily basis for the remaining period of the delinquency. Any such late charge shall be payable to the person from whom the farm product was purchased, unless the person waives, in writing, his right to such payment. Such waiver shall be valid and effective only when given after a delinquency has occurred. This section does not affect the time of payment provided for in this chapter or in any contract for the purchase or handling of any farm product.

It is a violation of this chapter if a licensee fails, neglects, or refuses to collect or remit any assessments that have been levied in accordance with the assessment provisions of Article 10 (commencing with Section 58921) of Chapter 1 or Article 12 (commencing with Section 59941) of Chapter 2 of Part 2 of Division 21, or Article 8 (commencing with Section 64691) of Chapter 2, Chapter 3 (commencing with Section 65500) of Part 2 of Division 22, Article 5 (commencing with Section 66621) of Chapter 4, Article 6 (commencing with Section 67101) of Chapter 5, Article 6 (commencing with Section 68101) of Chapter 6, Article 6 (commencing with Section 69081) of Chapter 7, Chapter 9.5 (commencing with Section 71000), Article 6 (commencing with Section 72101) of Chapter 10, Chapter 12.6 (commencing with Section 74701), Chapter 12.7 (commencing with Section 74801), Article 6 (commencing with Section 75131) of Chapter 13, Article 6 (commencing with Section 76141) of Chapter 14, Chapter 15 (commencing with Section 76201), Chapter 16.5 (commencing with Section 77001), Chapter 17 (commencing with Section 77201), Chapter 17.5 (commencing with Section 77401), Chapter 19 (commencing with Section 77701), Chapter 20 (commencing with Section 77901) of Article 6 (commencing with Section 78285) of Chapter 21, or Article 6 (commencing with Section 78700) of Chapter 24, of Part 2 of Division 22.

It is a violation of this chapter if any commission merchant who collects or receives funds in connection with the sale of consigned farm products has made any use or disposition of these funds in his or her possession or control that endangers or impairs faithful and prompt payment to the consignor of the product or to any other person having a financial interest therein.