BILL NUMBER: SB 875 AMENDED
BILL TEXT
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY MAY 25, 2012
AMENDED IN SENATE JANUARY 4, 2012
AMENDED IN SENATE MARCH 25, 2011
INTRODUCED BY Senator Price
FEBRUARY 18, 2011
An act to amend Section Sections 10087,
10100 , and 10152 of, to add Section 10153.01
to, and to repeal Section 10154 of, the Business and
Professions Code, relating to real estate.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
SB 875, as amended, Price. Real estate licensees.
Existing law, the Real Estate Law, provides for the licensure and
regulation of real estate brokers and real estate salespersons by the
Department of Real Estate and makes a willful violation of that
law a misdemeanor . Existing law authorizes the department to
deny, suspend, or revoke a license on various grounds using specified
procedures generally applicable to state agencies. Under existing
law, a hearing to determine whether to issue a license must be
initiated by filing a statement of issues. Existing law provides
additional procedures with respect to certain licensing boards,
including, among other things, the authority to notify an applicant
that the application is denied in lieu of filing a statement of
issues, as specified.
This bill would require the Department of Real Estate to use those
additional procedures when denying a license or a license
endorsement and would also delete an obsolete provision.
Existing law authorizes the commissioner to require any proof he
or she may deem advisable concerning the honesty and truthfulness of
an applicant for a real estate license or license examination before
authorizing the issuance of a real estate license. Existing law
authorizes a person whose license has been revoked or suspended to
petition the agency for reinstatement of the license or reduction of
a penalty, as specified.
This bill would require the commissioner to require a person
submitting a petition for reinstatement of a license or reduction of
a penalty to submit his or her fingerprints with the petition.
Existing law authorizes the commissioner to suspend or bar a
person from a position of employment, management, or control (1)
where that action is in the public interest and the person has
committed or caused a violation of the Real Estate Law or a rule or
order adopted thereunder or (2) where the person has been convicted
of a crime or held liable in a civil action where the judgment
involves an offense involving dishonesty, fraud, or deceit or any
other offense reasonably related to the qualifications, functions, or
duties of a person engaged in the real estate business.
This bill would also authorize the commissioner to bar that person
from participation in examinations for licensure and would specify
that a person who is suspended or barred from a position of
employment, management, or control is also barred from participation
in examinations for licensure.
The bill would prohibit a person from cheating on, subverting, or
attempting to subvert a licensing examination and would authorize the
commissioner to bar a person who willfully engages in that conduct
from taking a licensing examination and from holding an active real
estate license for a period of up to 3 years. Because a willful
violation of the prohibition on cheating or subverting a licensing
examination 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.
Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: yes.
State-mandated local program: no yes .
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
SECTION 1. Section 10087 of the
Business and Professions Code is amended to read:
10087. (a) In addition to acting pursuant to the authority
provided under Sections 10086, 10176, and 10177, the commissioner
may, after appropriate notice and opportunity for a hearing, by
order, suspend, or bar from any position of
employment, management, or control, or bar from participation in
an examination for licensure, for a period not exceeding 36
months, a real estate salesperson or real estate broker, or an
unlicensed person issued an order under Section 10086, if the
commissioner finds either of the following:
(1) That the suspension or bar is in the public interest and that
the person has committed or caused a violation of this division or
rule or order of the commissioner, which violation was either known
or should have been known by the person committing or causing it or
has caused material damage to the public.
(2) That the person has been convicted of or pleaded nolo
contendere to any crime, or has been held liable in any civil action
by final judgment, or any administrative judgment by any public
agency, if that crime or civil or administrative judgment involved
any offense involving dishonesty, fraud, or deceit, or any other
offense reasonably related to the qualifications, functions, or
duties of a person engaged in the real estate business in accordance
with the provisions of this division.
(b) Within 15 days from the date of a notice of intention to issue
an order pursuant to subdivision (a), the person may request a
hearing under the Administrative Procedure Act (Chapter 4.5
(commencing with Section 11400) of Division 3 of Title 2 of the
Government Code). If no hearing is requested within 15 days after the
mailing or service of that notice and none is ordered by the
commissioner, the failure to request a hearing shall constitute a
waiver of the right to a hearing.
(c) Upon receipt of a notice of intention to issue an order
pursuant to this section, the person who is the subject of the
proposed order is immediately prohibited from engaging in any
business activity involving real estate that is subject to regulation
under this division.
(d) Persons suspended or barred under this section are prohibited
from participating in any business activity of a real estate
salesperson or a real estate broker and from engaging in any real
estate-related business activity on the premises where a real estate
salesperson or real estate broker is conducting business. Persons
suspended or barred under this section are also prohibited from
participating in any real estate-related business activity of a
finance lender, residential mortgage lender, bank, credit union,
escrow company, title company, or underwritten title company.
Persons suspended or barred from a position of employment,
management, or control under this section are also barred from
participating in examinations for licensure.
SECTION 1. SEC. 2. Section 10100 of
the Business and Professions Code is amended to read:
10100. (a) Before suspending or revoking any license or license
endorsement issued under the provisions of this part, the department
shall proceed as prescribed by Chapter 5 (commencing with Section
11500) of Part 1 of Division 3 of Title 2 of the Government Code, and
the department shall have all the powers granted therein.
(b) Upon denial of an application for a license or license
endorsement issuable under the provisions of this part, the
department shall proceed under Sections 485 to 488, inclusive.
SEC. 3. Section 10152 of the Business
and Professions Code is amended to read:
10152. (a) The commissioner may require any other proof he or she
may deem advisable concerning the honesty and truthfulness of any
applicant for a real estate license or license examination, or of the
officers, directors, or persons owning more than 10 percent of the
stock, of any corporation making application therefor, before
authorizing the issuance of a real estate license. For this purpose
the commissioner may call a hearing in accordance with this part
relating to hearings. To assist in his or her determination the
commissioner shall require every original applicant to be
fingerprinted prior to issuing a license. The commissioner may
require the fingerprints to be submitted either with the application
to take the license examination or with the application for a real
estate license.
(b) This section shall become operative on July 1, 2004.
(b) The commissioner shall require a person who submits a petition
for reinstatement of his or her license or reduction of a penalty
pursuant to Section 11522 of the Government Code, in addition to
meeting any other requirements imposed for purposes of the
reinstatement or penalty reduction, to submit his or her fingerprints
with the petition.
SEC. 4. Section 10153.01 is added to the
Business and Professions Code , to read:
10153.01. (a) No person shall cheat on, subvert, or attempt to
subvert a licensing examination given by the department. Cheating on,
subverting, or attempting to subvert a licensing examination
includes, but is not limited to, engaging in, soliciting, or
procuring any of the following:
(1) Any communication between one or more examinees and any
person, other than a proctor or examination official, while the
examination is in progress.
(2) Copying answers from another examinee or permitting one's
answers to be copied by another examinee.
(3) The taking of all or a part of the examination by a person
other than the applicant.
(4) Removing from the examination room any examination materials
without authorization.
(5) The unauthorized reproduction by any means of any portion of
the actual licensing examination.
(6) Aiding by any means the unauthorized reproduction of any
portion of the actual licensing examination.
(7) Possession or use at any time during the examination or while
the examinee is on the examination premises of any device, material,
or document that is not expressly authorized for use by examinees
during the examination, including, but not limited to, notes, crib
sheets, textbooks, and electronic devices.
(8) Failure to follow any examination instruction or rule related
to examination security.
(9) Providing false, fraudulent, or materially misleading
information concerning education, experience, or other qualifications
as part of, or in support of, any application for admission to an
examination.
(b) The commissioner may bar any candidate who willfully cheats
on, subverts, or attempts to subvert an examination from taking any
license examination and from holding an active real estate license
under any provision of this code for a period of up to three years.
SEC. 2. SEC. 5. Section 10154 of the
Business and Professions Code is repealed.
SEC. 6. No reimbursement is required by this act
pursuant to Section 6 of Article XIII B of the California
Constitution because the only costs that may be incurred by a local
agency or school district will be incurred because this act creates a
new crime or infraction, eliminates a crime or infraction, or
changes the penalty for a crime or infraction, within the meaning of
Section 17556 of the Government Code, or changes the definition of a
crime within the meaning of Section 6 of Article XIII B of the
California Constitution.