(1) The Real Estate Law provides for the regulation and licensure of real estate brokers and real estate salespersons by the Real Estate Commissioner. The California Finance Lenders Law provides for the regulation and licensure of finance lenders and brokers by the Commissioner of Corporations. The California Residential Mortgage Lending Act provides for the regulation and licensure of residential mortgage lenders and servicers by the Commissioner of Corporations. The Banking Law provides for the regulation of state commercial banks by the Commissioner of Financial Institutions. The California Credit Union Law provides for the regulation of state credit unions by the Commissioner of Financial Institutions. A willful violation of specified provisions of those acts is a crime. This bill would, until January 1, 2013, prohibit any person, including a real estate licensee, who negotiates, attempts to negotiate, arranges, attempts to arrange, or otherwise offers to perform residential mortgage loan modifications or other forms of mortgage loan forbearance, as specified, for a fee or other compensation paid by a borrower, from demanding or receiving any preperformance compensation, as specified, requiring any security as collateral for final compensation, or taking a power of attorney from a borrower, and would make a violation of that prohibition a misdemeanor or subject to specified fines. By creating a new crime, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program. This bill would also provide that these provisions do not apply to actions taken by a person who offers loan modification or other loan forbearance services for a loan owned or serviced by that person, including, but not limited to, collecting principal, interest, or other charges under the terms of a loan, before the loan is modified, including charges to establish a new payment schedule for a nondelinquent loan. This bill would also require any person, including a real estate licensee, who negotiates, attempts to negotiate, arranges, attempts to arrange, or otherwise offers to perform residential mortgage loan modifications or other forms of mortgage loan forbearance, as specified, for a fee or other compensation paid by a borrower, to provide a specified 14-point bold type statement regarding loan modification fees. The bill would make a violation of that prohibition a misdemeanor or subject to specified fines, thereby creating a new crime and imposing a state-mandated local program. The bill would also provide that a real estate licensee who fails to comply with specified provisions related to mortgages, including the loan modification provisions, would be subject to disciplinary action by the Real Estate Commissioner, and would provide that a violation of the above by an attorney may also subject him or her to disciplinary action. The bill would add to the California Finance Lenders Law a prohibition on making a materially false or misleading statement or representation to a borrower about the terms or conditions of that borrower's loan, when making or brokering a loan. Because a willful violation of these provisions by certain licensees may be punished as crimes under their respective licensing laws, this bill would impose a state-mandated local program. (2) The Real Estate Law provides for the regulation and licensure of real estate brokers and salespersons by the Real Estate Commissioner. As used in the Real Estate Law, the term "advance fee" is defined as a fee that is claimed, demanded, charged, received, collected, or contracted from a principal for a listing, advertisement, or offer to sell or lease property, and as specified. This bill would redefine the term "advance fee" to mean a fee, regardless of the form, that is claimed, demanded, charged, received, or collected by a licensee from a principal before fully completing each and every service the licensee contracted to perform, or represented would be performed, as specified. Existing law authorizes the commissioner to require that materials used in obtaining advance fee agreements, as defined, be submitted to him or her at least 10 calendar days before the materials are used and makes it a misdemeanor, punishable by a fine not exceeding $1,000, or imprisonment in the county jail not exceeding 6 months, or both, to use any agreement that the commissioner has ordered not to be used. This bill would increase the maximum fine for using any advance fee agreement that the commissioner has ordered not to be used from $1,000 to $2,500. (3) Existing law provides that certain persons are exempt from regulation under certain provisions of the Real Estate Law dealing with real estate loans. This bill would further exempt from those provisions specified organizations that have been approved by the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development to provide counseling services, when those services are provided at no cost and in connection with residential mortgage loan modifications. (4) Existing law defines a foreclosure consultant as a person who offers, for compensation, to perform specified services for a homeowner relating to a foreclosure sale, and imposes regulations upon foreclosure consultants when servicing a foreclosure sale, as specified. Existing law excludes specified persons from the definition of a foreclosure consultant, including a person licensed under the Real Estate Law when making a direct loan or engaging in specified acts, and a person licensed to make loans as a finance lender, subject to the authority of the Commissioner of Corporations to terminate this exclusion, as specified. This bill would instead specify that a real estate licensee and a finance lender are excluded from the definition of a foreclosure consultant when acting under the authority of that person's license, and would delete the commissioner's authority to terminate the finance lender's exclusion. The bill would also delete obsolete statutory references from those provisions. (5) 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.(6) This bill would declare that it is to take effect immediately as an urgency statute.
Sponsored bills
Existing law makes it an infraction with a minimum $500 fine and maximum $3,000 fine for a person to abandon a vessel upon a public waterway or public or private property without the express or implied consent of the owner or person in lawful possession or control of the property, except for the urgent and immediate concern for the safety of those aboard the vessel. Existing law provides that 80% of the moneys collected as fines shall be deposited in the Abandoned Watercraft Abatement Fund. Upon appropriation by the Legislature, moneys in the fund may be used for grants to be awarded by the Department of Boating and Waterways to local agencies for the abatement and removal of abandoned, wrecked, and dismantled vessels, or parts of those vessels. This bill would increase the minimum fine to $1,000. The bill would also allow the moneys in the fund to be used for the abatement and removal of a hulk, derelict, wreck, or parts of any ship, or other watercraft sunk, beached, or allowed to remain in an unseaworthy or dilapidated condition upon municipal or other public corporation property, and for the disposal of a surrendered vessel, as defined. This bill would prohibit the state from assuming liability for any injuries or damages to a person or entity, public or private, connected to or resulting from the processing or disposal of a surrendered vessel. These changes would be repealed as of January 1, 2014. Existing law authorizes wrecked property that is an unseaworthy derelict or hulk, or abandoned property removed from a navigable waterway, as specified, to be sold or otherwise disposed of by the public agency that removed or caused the removal of the property, subject to specified conditions, including that the property has been appraised by disinterested persons, and has an estimated value of less than $2,000. This bill would, until January 1, 2014, except from these specified conditions the removal and sale or disposition of a surrendered vessel, as defined. The bill would require the Department of Boating and Waterways to track the number of surrendered vessels accepted by a public agency that disposes of those vessels using grant funds from the Abandoned Watercraft Abatement Fund from January 1, 2010, to January 1, 2013, inclusive, and the total amount of expenditure from that fund for surrendered vessels during the same period. The bill would require the department to report that information to the Assembly Committee on Transportation and the Senate Committee on Natural Resources and Water with any recommendations for revising or continuing the use of fund moneys for those purposes.
The Passenger Charter-Party Carriers' Act, with certain exceptions, prohibits a charter-party carrier of passengers from engaging in transportation services subject to regulation by the Public Utilities Commission without obtaining a specified certificate or permit, as appropriate, from the commission. The act imposes a maximum fine of not more than $1,000 in its general penalty provision for any violation or failure to comply with the act, an order or other requirement of the commission, or an operating permit or certificate, or aiding and abetting such a violation. The act also imposes maximum fines, and in certain cases, minimum fines for specific violations of the act, including, for conviction of operating a charter-party carrier of passengers or a taxicab without a valid certificate or permit, a maximum mandatory fine of $2,500 for a first conviction, or $5,000 for a subsequent conviction. This bill would revise that general penalty to set a minimum fine of $1,000 and a maximum fine of $5,000. The bill, for conviction of operating a charter-party carrier of passengers or a taxicab without a valid certificate, would increase mandatory fines for charter-party carriers of passengers, subjecting them to a maximum fine of $10,000 for a first conviction and $25,000 for a subsequent conviction. The bill would also increase a number of other existing fees, fines, and penalties for specific violations of the act. The bill would become operative only if AB 636 of the 2009–10 Regular Session is enacted and becomes operative on or before January 1, 2010.
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.
Under existing law, the Long-Term Care, Health, Safety, and Security Act of 1973, the State Department of Public Health administers various requirements pertaining to long-term health care facilities. Violation of these provisions is punishable by various classes of administrative citations with corresponding administrative penalties. Existing law contains posting and retention requirements applicable to facilities receiving class "AA," class "A," and class "B" violations. The bill would revise requirements relating to the posting and retention by a facility of citations for class "AA" and class "A" violations. It would provide that violation of these class "AA," class "A," and class "B" posting and retention requirements would constitute a class "B" violation, subject to a specified civil penalty, and would require the civil penalty to be deposited into the existing State Health Facilities Citation Penalties Account.
Existing law provides that a licensed rating organization shall make available specified policy information relating to workers' compensation insurance, as specified. This bill would provide that a licensed rating organization shall, pursuant to regulations adopted by the Insurance Commissioner after notice and hearing, establish and maintain an Internet Web site, as specified, for the purposes of assisting any person to determine whether an employer is insured for workers' compensation. This bill would specify who may submit an inquiry and for what purpose, what information shall be available on the Internet Web site, and would provide that a rating organization would not be required to disclose, on the Internet Web site, certain specified information or confidential information, as specified. The bill would provide that the Internet Web site shall be accessible for inquiries without charge, but the commissioner may at his or her discretion, permit the rating organization to impose access restrictions as necessary to deter the use of the Internet Web site for purposes other than which it was intended. This bill would provide that the Internet Web site contain specified information, or a hypertext link to insurer information on the Department of Industrial Relations' Internet Web site, and a hypertext link to the department for the purpose of locating employers who may be self-insured. This bill would require that the Internet Web site be operational within one year after adoption of regulations by the commissioner, and be updated as specified. This bill would require the commissioner to adopt regulations to implement this act and provide for dispute resolution regarding the accuracy of the information displayed on the Internet Web site. This bill would provide civil immunity, as specified, to rating organizations, and specified persons acting within their capacity as members of the organization, or employees acting within the scope of their employment, who release information. This bill would provide that it shall not be construed to create liability, as specified, or construed to limit the authority of a rating organization to disclose information contained in its records to others. This bill would require the commissioner to conduct a review, evaluation, and assessment of the Internet Web site, as specified, to provide a written report no later than July 1, 2013, of his or her findings to various state legislative and executive entities, and to make the report available on its own Internet Web site.
Existing law requires a person in a trade or business who negotiates specified contracts or agreements primarily in the languages of Spanish, Chinese, Tagalog, Vietnamese, or Korean to deliver to the other party, prior to execution of the contract or agreement, a translation of the contract or agreement in the applicable foreign language, except as specified. Under existing law, failure to comply with these provisions entitles the aggrieved party to rescind the contract or agreement. Under existing law, these provisions apply to specified loans or extensions of credit subject to the Industrial Loan Law and the California Finance Lenders Law. This bill would, in the alternative, require a supervised financial organization, as defined, that negotiates primarily in one of those languages in the course of entering into a contract or agreement for a loan or extension of credit secured by residential real property, to deliver, prior to the execution of the contract or agreement, and no later than 3 business days after receiving the written application, a specified form in that language summarizing the terms of the contract or agreement, as specified. The bill would provide that a supervised financial organization that complies with these provisions would be deemed to be in compliance with the translation requirement in existing law described above. The bill would also provide that a supervised financial organization that complies with the translation requirement in existing law would be in compliance with these provisions. The bill would provide for administrative penalties against specified licensed persons for violations of these provisions. The bill would require the Department of Corporations and the Department of Financial Institutions to create a new form for these purposes, as provided, and to make it available in each of the languages described above. The bill would authorize an action against a supervised financial organization for a violation of these provisions to be brought only by a licensing agency or by the Attorney General. These provisions would become operative beginning on July 1, 2010, or 90 days after issuance of a form as provided, whichever occurs later. The provisions of this bill would not affect the obligations of a real estate broker, as specified.
Existing law provides that a specified portion of equity in a homestead, as defined, is exempt from execution to satisfy a judgment debt. Existing law provides a base exemption of $50,000, an exemption of $75,000 if the judgment debtor or his or her spouse who resides in the homestead is, at the time of the sale, a member of a family unit, and one member of the family unit is without an interest, or with only a limited interest, as specified, in the homestead, and an exemption of $150,000 if the judgment debtor or the spouse of the judgment debtor who resides in the homestead is, at the time of the sale, 65 years of age or older, disabled, or 55 years of age or older with a limited income, as specified. Existing law requires the Judicial Council to adjust specified exemptions from execution at 3-year intervals based on the change in the annual California Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers, and to publish a list of the current dollar amounts of those exemptions, as specified. This bill would increase the homestead exemptions described above to $75,000, $100,000, and $175,000, respectively. The bill would require the Judicial Council to determine, on or before April 1, 2010, and at each 3-year interval ending on April 1 thereafter, to submit to the Legislature the amount by which the dollar amounts of the exemptions applicable to that exempt property may be increased based on the change in the annual California Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers. The bill would provide that those increases shall not take effect unless they are approved by the Legislature. The bill would require the Judicial Council to publish a list of the current dollar amounts of those exemptions.
Existing law provides that every building or place used for the purpose of illegal gambling, lewdness, assignation, or prostitution, and every building or place wherein or upon which these acts take place, is a nuisance that shall be enjoined, abated, and prevented, whether it is a public or private nuisance. Existing law authorizes a district attorney, city attorney, or citizen, as specified, to maintain an action to abate and prevent the nuisance and perpetually to enjoin the person conducting or maintaining it, and the owner, lessee, or agent of the building or place in or upon which the nuisance exists from directly or indirectly maintaining or permitting the nuisance. This bill would provide that if a person is convicted of a specified crime, then a nonresidential building or place used by that person for the purpose of willfully manufacturing, intentionally selling, or knowingly possessing for sale any counterfeit goods, defined to include counterfeit of a registered mark or any recording or audiovisual work, the cover, box, jacket, or label of which does not disclose specified information, shall be deemed a nuisance that may be enjoined, abated, and prevented, whether it is a public or private nuisance. The bill would make certain remedies and procedures in existing law, a violation of which is a crime, relative to the abatement of buildings or places where a nuisance exists applicable to these provisions. The bill would require a district attorney, city attorney, or city prosecutor that maintains an action or actions to enjoin, abate, or prevent a nuisance pursuant to these provisions to report, by October 1, 2013, to the Senate and Assembly Committees on Judiciary on their use of these abatement provisions and their effectiveness. The bill's provisions would become inoperative on January 1, 2015. Because a violation of a restraining order or an injunction relative to a nuisance pursuant to the provisions of this bill would be 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.
This measure would recognize the pioneering work of promotores and community health workers in delivering vital and cost-effective health care services in communities throughout California and declare October 2009 as California Promotores Month.