SACRAMENTO — The three legislative proposals aimed at setting new restrictions for California’s buy-here, pay-here dealers passed out of their respected houses of origin this week, with the Assembly passing two of the bills on Tuesday and the Senate passing the third bill two days later.

Assembly bills 1447 and 1534 were referred to the Senate Rules Committee after passing the Assembly by a majority vote. The third bill, SB 956, was approved by the Senate by a 23-12 vote on Thursday and was heard by the Assembly the same day. 

“The rules committee looks at each measure and determines where they’ll need to be heard and we refer them to the appropriate policy committees,” said Jane Brown, committee assistant to the Senate Rules Committee.

All three bills, which faced a June 1 deadline to make it out of the respective houses of origin, must pass the policy committee level by July 6 and both houses by Aug. 31. Governor Jerry Brown will then have until Sept. 30 to pass or veto the bills.

If passed, AB 1447, introduced by Assemblyman Mike Feuer (D-Torrance), will require that BHPH dealers provide a limited warranty for all major components on vehicles sold. It will also implement new disclosures when ignition shutdown technology is present in a vehicle.

Assemblyman Bob Wieckowski (D-Fremont)’s legislation, AB 1534, mandates that dealers display a window sticker with the reasonable market value on all vehicles for sale, among other requirements.

Senate Bill 956, proposed by Senator Ted Lieu (D-Torrance), would lower the cap on interest rates from 30 to 17.25 percent, which would become the lowest cap in the nation if the measure is passed.

Buy-here, pay-here dealers caught the attention of state lawmakers last November after the Los Angeles Times published a series of articles critical of the segment. The three lawmakers introduced their bills in January, about four months before the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau announced its interest in learning more about the BHPH industry.