(a) If the commissioner believes that an industrial loan company or its directors, officers, agents, or employees have violated or are about to violate any of the provisions of this division, or any provision of an order, license, permit, decision, demand, or requirement of the commissioner, the commissioner may bring an action against such persons to enjoin those persons from continuing the violation or the attempt to violate this division, or doing any act in furtherance thereof. The commissioner shall bring such action in the name of the people in the superior court, and the court may enter an order or judgment awarding a preliminary or final injunction as is proper.
(b) If the commissioner determines it is in the public interest, the commissioner may include in any action authorized by subdivision (a) a claim for ancillary relief, including, but not limited to, a claim for restitution or disgorgement or damages on behalf of the persons injured by the act or practice constituting the subject matter of the action, and the court shall have jurisdiction to award the additional relief.
(c) Any person who violates any provision of this division, or who violates any rule or order adopted pursuant to this division, shall be liable for a civil penalty not to exceed two thousand five hundred dollars ($2,500) for each violation, which shall be assessed and recovered in a civil action brought in the name of the people of the State of California by the commissioner in any court of competent jurisdiction.
(d) As applied to civil and criminal penalties for acts in violation of this division, the remedies provided by this section and by other sections of this division are not exclusive, and may be sought and employed in any combination to enforce the provisions of this division.
(Amended by Stats. 1990, Ch. 1202, Sec. 5.)