This measure would call on the United States Congress to pass the Violence Against Women Reauthorization Act of 2011, Senate Bill No. 1925, authored by Senators Leahy and Crapo, and ensure the sustainability of vital programs designed to keep women and families safe from violence and abuse.
This measure would designate Monday, May 7, 2012, as California Peace Officers' Memorial Day, urge all Californians to use that day to honor California peace officers, and recognize specified California peace officers who were killed in defense of their communities.
This measure would designate March 2012 as Irish American Heritage Month in honor of the multitude of contributions that Irish Americans have made to the country and state.
Existing law requires a person who digs, bores, or drills a water well, cathodic protection well, or a monitoring well, or abandons or destroys a well, or deepens or reperforates a well, to file a report of completion with the Department of Water Resources. Existing law prohibits those reports from being made available to the public, except under certain circumstances. This bill would instead require the department to, upon request, make the reports available to the public. The bill would require the department to provide specified disclaimers when providing the reports to the public. The bill would authorize the department to charge a fee for the provision of a report to recover the department's costs, that does not exceed the reasonable costs to the department of providing the report. The bill would require the release of a report to comply with the Information Practices Act of 1977 and would require the department to redact from the report specified information pertaining to the well owner. The bill would require a person who requests a report to provide his or her name, address, identification number from a government-issued source, as provided, and reason for making the request.
(1) Existing law requires, before commencing the work of drilling an oil and gas well, the operator to file a written notice of intention to commence drilling with the State Oil and Gas Supervisor or district deputy. Existing law provides that the notice is deemed approved if the supervisor or the district deputy fails to give a written response to the notice within 10 working days from the date of receipt. This bill would extend the response time by the supervisor or the district deputy from 10 working days to 15 working days. The bill would also require the owner or operator to provide notice to, among others, certain surface property owners and occupants no less than 20 calendar days prior to the planned drilling operations of an oil and gas well. If the oil and gas well is reasonably anticipated to pierce an underground water source that is suitable for irrigation or domestic purposes, the bill would require the owner and operator to provide the notice to the appropriate regional water quality control board and to the supervisor or district deputy, and would require the notice to be posted on the Internet Web site of the Division of Oil, Gas, and Geothermal Resources. The bill would require the notice to include information about the oil and gas well and the planned operations. The bill would require a well owner or operator to notify, among others, the supervisor or district deputy before commencing hydraulic fracturing operations. If the oil and gas well pierces an underground water source that is suitable for irrigation or domestic purposes, the bill would require the owner or operator to notify the appropriate regional water quality control board and would require the supervisor or district deputy to post the notice on the division's Internet Web site. The bill would also require the supervisor, beginning January 1, 2014, and on the 10th calendar day of each year thereafter, to submit to the Legislature an annual written report regarding the implementation of this notice requirement. (2) Existing law requires the owner or operator of any oil and gas well to keep a careful and accurate history of the drilling of the well. This bill would require the history of the oil and gas well to include the time period that hydraulic fracturing treatments are performed.
Existing law permits the sale of only certain beverages to pupils at schools. The beverages that may be sold include fruit-based and vegetable-based drinks, drinking water, milk, and, in middle and junior high schools, an electrolyte replacement beverage if those beverages meet certain nutritional requirements. This bill, commencing July 1, 2013, would recast those provisions and would restrict the sale of electrolyte replacement beverages in middle schools and high schools to specified times before and after school.
Existing law dissolved redevelopment agencies and community development agencies, as of February 1, 2012, and provides for the designation of successor agencies, as defined. Existing law imposes various requirements on successor agencies and subjects successor agency actions to the review of oversight boards. Existing law requires successor agencies to wind down the affairs of the dissolved redevelopment agencies and to, among other things, dispose of assets and properties of the former redevelopment agencies, as directed by the oversight board. Existing law requires proceeds from the sale of assets that are no longer needed to be transferred to the county auditor-controller for distribution as property tax proceeds to taxing entities, as prescribed. This bill would authorize a successor agency to retain property obtained by the former redevelopment agency for specified remediation or removal purposes of the release of hazardous substances, as defined, at a brownfield site using available financing, funds, and grants, subject to approval of the oversight board pursuant to specified procedures. Upon completion of remediation, the bill would require the successor agency to dispose of the property pursuant to existing asset disposition provisions. The bill would make conforming changes.
This measure would designate April 2012 as California Autism Awareness Month, would affirm the Legislature's commitment to the important issues related to autism spectrum disorders (ASDs) , and would emphasize that each and every individual with an ASD is a valued and important member of our society.
(1) Existing law, until January 1, 2013, requires a mortgagee, trustee, beneficiary, or authorized agent to contact the borrower prior to filing a notice of default to explore options for the borrower to avoid foreclosure, as specified. Existing law requires a notice of default to include a declaration stating that the trustee, beneficiary, or authorized agent has contacted the borrower, or has tried with due diligence to contact the borrower, or that no contact was required for a specified reason. This bill would additionally require the borrower to be provided, if applicable, with a deadline for the borrower to submit an initial application for a loan modification. The bill would require the declaration to also state that the borrower was not a servicemember or dependent of a servicemember entitled to benefits under the federal Servicemembers Civil Relief Act, that the mortgagee, trustee, beneficiary, or authorized agent has possession of the note and mortgage, or deed of trust, and other specified documents that evidence the right to foreclose, and has attached copies thereof to the declaration, as specified, or a separate declaration containing specified information, if the above described documents cannot be located. The bill would prescribe procedures and notices that must be sent by the mortgagee, trustee, beneficiary, or authorized agent if the notice of default was filed prior to January 1, 2013, and a notice of rescission was not subsequently recorded. The bill would prohibit recording a notice of default unless a specified written notice has been sent at least 14 days before a notice of default is recorded. The bill would prohibit a notice of default from being recorded while a loan modification application is pending, under specified conditions, and would establish additional procedures to be followed regarding the loan modification application before a notice of default could be recorded. (2) Existing law imposes various requirements that must be satisfied prior to exercising a power of sale under a mortgage or deed of trust, including, among other things, recording a notice of sale. This bill would impose additional requirements pertaining to applications for loan modifications that must be satisfied prior to recording a notice of sale in order to exercise a power of sale. The bill would require a written notice to the borrower after the postponement of a foreclosure sale in order to advise the borrower of any new sale date, time, and location when the new sale date is at least 10 calendar days after the date of postponement, as specified. The bill would establish procedures for a loan modification application process to be used after a notice of sale has been recorded. The bill would prohibit a notice of sale from being recorded under certain conditions, including, among others, if the borrower is in compliance with a loan modification plan, forbearance, or loan repayment plan, as specified, or if a short sale or deed-in-lieu of foreclosure has been approved, as specified. The bill would require mortgagees, trustees, beneficiaries, or authorized agents to track and record specified data pertaining to loan modification agreements. The bill would prohibit the collection of late fees while a loan modification or short sale is being considered, if certain criteria are met. The bill would authorize a borrower to seek an injunction of a pending trustee's sale if a notice of sale has been recorded and the borrower reasonably believes that the mortgagee, trustee, beneficiary, or authorized agent failed to comply with specified requirements. The bill would authorize the greater of actual damages or $10,000 in statutory damages if there is a failure to comply with specified requirements by the mortgagee, trustee, beneficiary, or authorized agent and the property is sold at a foreclosure sale. The bill would authorize the greater of treble damages or $50,000 in statutory damages if the failure to comply is found to be intentional or reckless or resulted from willful misconduct, as specified. The bill would establish the Office of Homeowner Protection, which would have responsibility, among other things, for responding to inquiries and complaints from individuals regarding foreclosures and other procedures and requirements as described above, attempting to seek compliance by mortgagees, trustees, beneficiaries, or authorized agents regarding foreclosures and other procedures and requirements as described above, and maintaining an Internet Web site that is capable of receiving inquiries and complaints from individuals and that provides information to the public about publicly available resources intended to help individuals avoid foreclosure. The bill would express the intent of the Legislature that the office be funded by payments made available to the Attorney General via the Special Deposit Fund, created pursuant to specified federal settlement agreements. (3) The bill would repeal duplicate provisions of law.
(1) Existing law prescribes foreclosure procedures, including, among other things, procedures for recording a notice of default, recording a notice of sale, and conducting a foreclosure sale. This bill would define a mortgage servicer, and would, commencing July 1, 2013, require a mortgage servicer to establish a single point of contact when a borrower on a residential mortgage or deed of trust is 60 or more days delinquent, has had a notice of default recorded, or is seeking a loan modification or other loss mitigation, as specified. The bill would impose various obligations on the single point of contact in connection with loan modification or other loss mitigation options. (2) Existing law imposes various requirements that must be satisfied prior to exercising a power of sale under a mortgage or deed of trust, including, among other things, recording a notice of default. This bill would prohibit an entity from recording a notice of default or otherwise initiating foreclosure procedures unless the entity is the actual holder of the beneficial interest under the deed of trust, and would prohibit an entity acting as agent from doing so without specific direction from the actual owner of the beneficial interest under the deed of trust. The bill would authorize a borrower to seek an injunction of a pending trustee's sale, if a notice of sale has been recorded and the borrower reasonably believes that the mortgagee, trustee, beneficiary, or authorized agent failed to comply with specified requirements. The bill would authorize the greater of actual damages or $10,000 in statutory damages if there is a failure to comply with specified requirements by the mortgagee, trustee, beneficiary, or authorized agent and the property is sold at a foreclosure sale. The bill would authorize the greater of treble damages or $50,000 in statutory damages if the failure to comply is found to be intentional or reckless or resulted from willful misconduct, as specified. (3) Existing law authorizes the recording by the county recorder of various documents. This bill would provide that a document that contains factual assertions that are not accurate, are incomplete, or are unsupported by competent, reliable evidence, or a document that has not been reviewed by its signer to substantiate the factual assertions contained in the document is a robosigned document. The bill would provide that any entity that records a robosigned document, or files a robosigned document in a court relative to a foreclosure proceeding is liable for a civil penalty of $10,000 for each robosigned document. The bill would authorize specified governmental entities to enforce the civil penalty, and would authorize the Department of Real Estate, the Department of Corporations, and the Department of Financial Institutions to enforce the civil penalty provisions against their respective licensees. (4) Existing law provides that where the power to sell real property is given to a mortgagee or other encumbrancer, in an instrument intended to secure the payment of money, the power is part of the security and vests with any person who by assignment becomes entitled to payment of the money. This bill would expand these provisions to include a power to sell real property given to a trustee or a beneficiary of a deed of trust in an instrument intended to secure the payment of money. (5) The bill would repeal duplicate provisions of law.
