Alert

March 26, 2025

California DFPI Extends Access to Commercial Financing APR Reporting Portal

The California Department of Financial Protection and Innovation ("DFPI") has extended access to the portal for APR reporting past the March 15 deadline. Due to multiple claims of technical difficulties by companies attempting to file their reports, the DFPI sent email alerts announcing that it will accept reports through Tuesday, April 1.

The annual reporting requirement was established by a regulation (the "reporting regulation") promulgated by the DFPI pursuant to the California Consumer Financial Protection Law ("CCFPL"). We first provided an alert on the reporting regulation in August 2023.

Under the reporting regulation, providers of commercial financing to "covered entities" must report various data to the DFPI annually. A covered entity is generally defined as any small business, nonprofit, or family farm whose activities are principally directed or managed from California. The reporting regulation defines "small business" as a for-profit entity with annual gross receipts of no more than $16 million. This dollar threshold will be subject to biennial adjustment.

The report for each calendar year is due on March 15 of the following year. The first report due covers financing transactions from the 2024 calendar year. Each report must include the following:

  • the financing provider's identifying and contact information, including name, any fictitious business names, entity type, mailing address, phone number, email address, website address, and designated contact person;
  • the number of commercial financing transactions that the provider made that year by type (e.g., sales-based financing); and
  • for each type of transaction, the number of transactions with covered entities grouped by the following categories of amount financed:
    • $10,000 or less;
    • over $10,000 but not over $25,000;
    • over $25,000 but not over $50,000;
    • over $50,000 but not over $100,000;
    • over $100,000 but not over $250,000; and
    • over $250,000 but not over $500,000; and
  • for each type of transaction and for each category above, the minimum, maximum, average (arithmetic mean), and median annual percentage rate.

There are some exemptions from the reporting requirement. For example, the regulations do not apply to transactions with amounts financed greater than $500,000. In addition, providers licensed under the California Financing Law ("CFL") are not required to provide the report required by the reporting regulation. Instead, CFL licensees will provide the annual reports required by the CFL.

Providers that are subject to the reporting regulation must file the report electronically through the DFPI's website, which has a resource page for this purpose located here: https://dfpi.ca.gov/rules-enforcement/laws-and-regulations/california-consumer-financial-protection-law/ccfpl-commercial-financing-annual-report-information/.

The report must be filed electronically through the DFPI Self-Service Portal. First-time users must go to a registration page and enter all required information.

Failure to file the annual report on time is a violation of the CCFPL. Penalties for violating the CCFPL can be severe. If the DFPI determines that an act or omission that violates the CCFPL is reckless, for example, the violator must pay up to $25,000 for each day during which the act or omission continues.