SB 757: Local government: nuisance abatement. - California

07/03/25 - Amended Assembly → 09/05/25 - Enrolled · 1 edit · Sep 5, 2025

MINOR

The transition from Amended Assembly to Enrolled version of SB 757 contains one substantive policy change: a narrowing of how nuisance abatement fines may be used. The earlier version allowed fine revenue to support local enforcement of building and fire codes, facilitate compliance with those codes, streamline housing permits, or fund revolving loan funds for substandard housing rehabilitation. The enrolled version removes the broader enforcement and compliance purposes, restricting fine revenue solely to streamlining housing permit issuance or establishing a revolving loan fund for rehabilitating substandard housing. All other changes are formatting (removal of line numbers, page headers, amendment history) and procedural (addition of passage dates and Governor receipt language).

FISCAL

Narrowed the permitted uses of nuisance abatement fine revenue. Removed authorization to use fines for supporting local enforcement of state and local building and fire codes and municipal codes related to nuisances, and for facilitating compliance with those code standards. Fines may now only be used to fund efforts to streamline housing permit issuance or to establish a revolving loan fund for rehabilitating substandard housing.

06/19/25 - Amended Assembly → 07/03/25 - Amended Assembly · 4 edits · Jul 3, 2025

MODERATE

The July 3 amendment to SB 757 adds a mandatory total waiver of all fines and penalties for persons at or below 200 percent of the federal poverty line, expands the permitted uses of recovered fines to include funding efforts to streamline housing permit issuance within city or county government, and broadens the 60-day cure period requirement so it applies to all nuisance abatement fines rather than only those tied to violations creating a danger to health and safety.

ELIGIBILITY

Both the county (Section 25845(k)(2)) and city (Sections 38773.1(e)(2) and 38773.5) provisions now require that a total waiver of all fines and penalties be granted to persons with income equal to or less than 200 percent of the federal poverty line, as defined by the Office of Management and Budget.

FISCAL

Recovered fines and penalties may now also be used to fund efforts within city or county government to streamline the issuance of permits for housing development, in addition to the existing purposes of supporting code enforcement and establishing revolving loan funds for substandard housing rehabilitation.

REQUIREMENT

The 60-day cure period before fines can be imposed through a lien or special assessment (Section 25845(l)) is no longer limited to violations that create a danger to health and safety. The prior version restricted the protection to that subset; the new version applies it to all nuisance abatement fines and penalties.

TIMELINE

The cure period is now consistently stated as 60 days across all provisions, resolving the prior markup that showed both 30 and 60 days (indicating a pending change from 30 to 60).

09/05/25 - Enrolled → SB757 · 2 edits

MINOR

This diff reflects a change in document format rather than legislative substance. The formal enrolled bill text (with Senate/Assembly passage dates, Governor's receipt line, chapter number placeholder, and approval date) has been replaced by a web page layout from the California Legislature website, including navigation menus, version history, and status information. The underlying statutory provisions of SB 757 remain unchanged.

TECHNICAL

Formal enrolled document elements removed: Senate Bill header, passage dates, Governor's receipt line, chapter number placeholder, and approval date line.

Web page navigation and metadata elements added: site menus (home, accessibility, FAQ, feedback, sitemap, login), quick search box, bill version history listing, and status section showing enactment timeline.

05/08/25 - Amended Senate → 06/19/25 - Amended Assembly · 3 edits · Jun 19, 2025

MINOR

The Assembly amended SB 757 to double the cure period for continuing nuisance violations from 30 days to 60 days across all applicable provisions, and to broaden the scope of that requirement in the county provision so it now covers any recovery of fines through a lien or special assessment rather than only special assessments tied to health or safety dangers. The Assembly also removed the phrase 'including fines' from the general authorization in the new Section 38773.5(a) (operative in 2035), narrowing what can be included in a special assessment under that alternative procedure.

REQUIREMENT

The cure period before fines or penalties can be imposed for a continuing violation was increased from 30 days to 60 days in all provisions (county, city lien, and city special assessment sections). This gives property owners twice as much time to remedy a violation before facing financial penalties.

SCOPE

In the county provision (subdivision (l)), the requirement for a cure period was broadened. Previously it applied only when a county 'specially assesses fines or penalties' for a violation that 'creates a danger to health or safety.' Now it applies whenever a county 'recovers fines or penalties through a lien or a special assessment,' removing both the health-or-safety limitation and expanding from special assessments to include liens.

In the new Section 38773.5(a) (the version operative January 1, 2035), the phrase 'including fines' was removed from the general authorization for special assessments. The provision now authorizes making 'the cost of abatement of a nuisance upon a parcel of land a special assessment' without explicitly including fines in that general grant, potentially narrowing what can be assessed under this alternative procedure.

02/21/25 - Introduced → 04/07/25 - Amended Senate · 3 edits · Apr 7, 2025

MINOR

The Senate amendment to SB 757 is primarily a technical cleanup of legislative markup artifacts, including removal of duplicated words (such as 'attorneys' attorney's' reduced to 'attorney's' and 'abatement abatement' reduced to 'abatement'). The substantive changes are limited: the word 'imposition' was replaced with 'collection' in several provisions governing fines and penalties, and 'levying' was replaced with 'collecting' in hardship waiver provisions. These shifts reframe the trigger point from when a fine is created to when it is collected, which could affect when certain protections apply.

REQUIREMENT

In multiple sections (25845(j), 38773.1(d), and 38773.5(f)), the phrase 'The imposition of fines and penalties' was changed to 'The collection of fines and penalties.' This shifts the legal framing from the act of assessing a fine to the act of recovering it, potentially affecting when the restriction limiting fines to electrical, plumbing, zoning, or structural issues creating immediate danger applies.

In hardship waiver provisions (25845(k), 38773.1(e), and 38773.5(g)), 'A county levying a fine' was changed to 'A county collecting a fine.' This changes when the obligation to provide a hardship waiver process is triggered - at collection rather than at assessment.

TECHNICAL

Numerous duplicated words from legislative markup were cleaned up throughout the bill, including 'attorneys' attorney's' to 'attorney's', 'abatement abatement' to 'abatement', 'prior to before' to 'before', and 'to to' to 'to.' These are non-substantive corrections.

04/07/25 - Amended Senate → 05/08/25 - Amended Senate · 4 edits · May 8, 2025

MODERATE

The May 8 amendment to SB 757 makes three substantive policy changes: it specifies a concrete 30-day cure period before fines can be imposed for continuing violations, removes the word 'immediate' from the health and safety danger threshold (broadening when fines are authorized), and explicitly includes fines in the special assessment provision of Section 38773.5. These changes make the nuisance abatement fine structure more specific while expanding its reach to non-immediate dangers.

TIMELINE

A specific '30 days' cure period was inserted in three sections (25845(l), 38773.1(f), and 38773.5(h)) where the prior version only required 'a reasonable amount of time, as specified.' This gives property owners a concrete minimum window to fix violations before fines apply.

SCOPE

The word 'immediate' was removed from the phrase 'create an immediate danger to health and safety' in three sections (25845(j), 38773.1(d), and 38773.5(f)). Fines are now authorized for any electrical, plumbing, zoning, or structural issue that creates a danger to health and safety, not just an immediate one. This broadens the range of violations subject to fines.

Section 38773.5(a) was changed from 'make the cost of abatement of a nuisance upon a parcel of land a special assessment' to 'make the cost of abatement, including fines, a special assessment against that parcel of land on which the nuisance is maintained.' This explicitly authorizes cities to include fines in the special assessment, not just abatement costs.

TECHNICAL

Multiple instances of 'The imposition collection of fines' were corrected to 'The collection of fines,' and 'levying collecting a fine' was changed to 'collecting a fine.' These are clarifying edits that remove redundant or erroneous language.

Local government: nuisance abatement.

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