Advertising: residential property taxes: assessment appeal application filing services.

Existing law provides that certain advertising related practices are unlawful and makes a violation of those provisions a crime. Existing law makes it unlawful for a person to make any untrue or misleading statements in any manner in connection with the offering or performance of an assessment appeal application filing service, which is defined as any service performed or offered to be performed for compensation in connection with an application for reduction in assessment of residential property, as specified. Existing law exempts from the definition of an assessment appeal application filing service any service performed by a person who actively advocates, in person or by written and oral communications, on behalf of the person to whom a solicitation is made before the assessment appeals board or the assessor's office. This bill would recast these provisions to instead make them applicable to an assessment reduction filing service, which would be defined as any service performed or offered to be performed for compensation in connection with an application or request of any kind of reduction in assessment of residential property, as specified, or to provide comparable sales information in connection with such an application or request. The bill would delete the exemption in the definition of an assessment appeal application filing service and thereby include in the definition of an assessment reduction filing service those services performed by a person who actively advocates, in person or by written and oral communications, on behalf of the person to whom a solicitation is made before the assessment appeals board or the assessor's office. The bill would prohibit an assessment reduction filing service from charging, demanding, or collecting money in connection with a request for review, or in connection with an assessment appeal application, until after the request is filed with the assessor or until after the assessment appeal is filed with the clerk of the assessment appeals board, as specified. The bill would make it unlawful for an offeror of an assessment reduction filing service to file a request or application of any kind for reduction in assessment without first obtaining a written authorization from the property owner and would impose other requirements with respect to that written authorization. Because a violation of these provisions would be a crime, and because this bill would expand the scope of services subject to the provisions regulating assessment appeal application filing services, a violation of which is a crime, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program. The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse local agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that reimbursement. This bill would provide that no reimbursement is required by this act for a specified reason.