BILL ANALYSIS Ó
AB 1865
Page 1
ASSEMBLY THIRD READING
AB 1865 (Alejo)
As Amended April 18, 2012
Majority vote
JUDICIARY 10-0 APPROPRIATIONS 16-0
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|Ayes:|Feuer, Wagner, Atkins, |Ayes:|Fuentes, Harkey, |
| |Dickinson, Gorell, | |Blumenfield, Bradford, |
| |Huber, Jones, Monning, | |Charles Calderon, Campos, |
| |Wieckowski, Alejo | |Davis, Gatto, Hall, Hill, |
| | | |Lara, Mitchell, Nielsen, |
| | | |Norby, Solorio, Wagner |
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SUMMARY : Expands court-provided notice to defendants in
eviction cases to provide information about lawyer referral
programs operated by nonprofit local bar associations.
Specifically, this bill requires the mandatory court notice sent
to each defendant in an unlawful detainer action to contain, in
addition to name and phone number of the county bar association,
the name and telephone number of one or more nonprofit bar
associations, if available, as determined by the court, that
provides legal services to persons in the court where the action
is filed and that is duly authorized by the State Bar as a
lawyer referral service.
EXISTING LAW :
1)Requires the court clerk, upon the filing of any unlawful
detainer action, to mail to each defendant named in the action
a notice that contains on its face the following:
a) The name and telephone number of the county bar
association; and,
b) The name and telephone number of an office or offices
funded by the Legal Services Corporation or qualified legal
service projects that receive funds distributed through the
State Bar program for legal services to indigent persons,
that provide legal services to low-income persons in the
county in which the action was filed.
AB 1865
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2)Requires the State Bar, with the approval of the Supreme
Court, to formulate and enforce rules and regulations which,
among other things, do the following:
a) Establish minimum standards for lawyer referral
services. The minimum standards shall include provisions
ensuring that panel membership shall be open to all
attorneys practicing in the geographical area served who
are qualified by virtue of suitable experience, and
limiting attorney registration and membership fees to
reasonable sums which do not discourage widespread attorney
membership; and,
b) Require that an entity seeking to qualify as a lawyer
referral service register with the State Bar and obtain
from the State Bar a certificate of compliance with the
minimum standards for lawyer referral services.
FISCAL EFFECT : According to the Assembly Appropriations
Committee, minor statewide General Fund costs (less than
$10,000) for courts in each of the 58 counties to revise the
court notice to include qualifying lawyer referral services.
COMMENTS : This bill seeks to require the mandatory court notice
sent to each defendant in an unlawful detainer action to
contain, in addition to name and phone number of the county bar
association, the name and telephone number of one or more
nonprofit bar associations, if available, that provides legal
services to persons in the court where the action is filed. In
addition, only associations that are duly authorized by the
State Bar as a lawyer referral service would be eligible to
appear on the court notice. Because the bill limits the
possible candidates for inclusion on the notice to those "that
provide legal services in the court where the (unlawful
detainer) action is filed," it is thought that the court in its
wisdom will generally be aware, or easily can be made aware, of
the presence of such associations operating in the court.
Nothing in this bill or in existing law authorizes a nonprofit
association to mount a formal legal challenge or appeal to any
court notice that does not include its specific contact
information.
According to the author, existing law unnecessarily restricts
the court from including more information about legal services
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available to tenants on the court notice that is sent to tenants
facing eviction. For example, a nonprofit bar association in
Placer County may be qualified and available to serve tenants
facing eviction from properties in adjacent Sacramento County,
but current law prevents that association's contact information
from being made available through the court notice to tenants
who might benefit from it.
Existing law requires the court notice sent to tenants facing
eviction to provide the name and phone number of the county bar
association, as well as the name and number of offices or legal
service projects, as specified, that provide legal services to
low-income persons in the county in which the action was filed.
This latter requirement ensures that the notice provide the
contact information for at least one legal services provider
serving persons in that area, other than the county bar
association, that is funded by the federal Legal Services
Corporation (LSC) or that receive funds through the State Bar
program for legal services to indigent persons, pursuant to
Business & Professions Code (BPC) Section 6216. In short,
existing law seems intended to help connect defendants in
unlawful detainer actions to a lawyer who may provide legal
counsel or advice, either through the bar association's
certified lawyer referral service or a LSC-funded or BPC Section
6216-funded legal service provider.
In 1991, the Legislature passed and the Governor signed SB 892
(Lockyer), Chapter 1007, Statutes of 1991, which enacted many of
the provisions of Code of Civil Procedure Section 1161.2 to
respond to a perceived crisis stemming from unscrupulous
eviction defense services that used records of court filings in
civil cases to solicit and defraud tenants. The legislative
intent language of SB 892 noted that there "are many law firms
and organizations, such as those funded by the federal LSC,
which provide competent, thorough, and ethical legal advice and
representation to tenants. These organizations do not find it
necessary to solicit clients at their homes but instead respond
to requests for legal assistance." Legal services programs
operated by local county bar associations were included in the
statute because they met this description. The author contends
that nonprofit bar associations authorized to operate a lawyer
referral service also fit this description and thus the addition
of their contact information to the court notice furthers the
intent of the statute to assist tenants seeking legal counsel
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with additional information about resources available to them.
Analysis Prepared by : Anthony Lew / JUD. / (916) 319-2334 FN:
0003457