(a) Any person who violates any provision of this chapter, or who violates any rule or order adopted or issued pursuant to this chapter, 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 director in any court of competent jurisdiction.
(b) As applied to the civil penalties for acts in violation of this chapter, the remedies provided by this section and by other sections of this chapter are not exclusive, and may be sought and employed in any combination to enforce this chapter.
(c) No action shall be maintained to enforce any liability created under subdivision (a), unless brought before the expiration of four years after the act or transaction constituting the violation.