BILL ANALYSIS Ó
AB 508
Page 1
Date of Hearing: April 2, 2013
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON JUDICIARY
Bob Wieckowski, Chair
AB 508 (Calderon) - As Introduced: February 20, 2013
As Proposed to Be Amended
SUBJECT : DEBT COLLECTION: HOMELESS VETERANS
KEY ISSUE : WHEN, IN THE COURSE OF ITS ROUTINE EFFORTS TO
COLLECT FINES, THE COURT OBTAINS INFORMATION INDICATING THAT A
PERSON WHO HAS AN OUTSTANDING UNPAID CITATION FOR LOITERING,
CURFEW VIOLATIONS OR ILLEGAL LODGING IS A HOMELESS VETERAN,
SHOULD THE COURT BE PROHIBITED FROM GARNISHING THE WAGES OR
LEVYING AGAINST A BANK ACCOUNT OF THAT PERSON FOR A PERIOD OF
FIVE YEARS?
FISCAL EFFECT : As currently in print this bill is keyed fiscal.
SYNOPSIS
According to the author, homeless veterans are often caught in a
catch-22 situation where their homelessness inevitably results
in citations for offenses like truancy or illegal lodging, but
wage garnishment to collect any unpaid fines makes it much
harder for these veterans to escape the cycle of
homelessness--virtually ensuring that further citations for the
same type of offenses will continue to occur. Proponents of the
bill contend that temporarily freezing the authority of courts
to garnish the wages of homeless veterans is needed to give
these veterans a better chance to establish stable housing to
escape the cycle of homelessness.
To address this problem cycle, this bill seeks to prohibit
courts from wage garnishment of a homeless veteran for
outstanding unpaid citations related to loitering, curfew
violations, or illegal lodging, for a period of five years from
the date that the court, in the course of its routine efforts to
collect fines, obtains information indicating the veteran is
homeless. The bill does not exculpate veterans from any
offenses for which they have committed, nor does it relieve them
of the legal obligation to pay any associated fines or prohibit
any ticket from being issued. In addition, the bill does not
require the courts to expend additional resources to obtain
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information about the homeless status of veterans-it merely
requires court collectors to note information indicative of
homelessness in the course of their routine collection efforts.
Finally, the author contends that temporarily limiting these
methods of debt collection in this context makes good financial
sense in light of a recent Judicial Council study that suggests
collection of delinquent court-ordered debt is not a
cost-effective use of court resources in cases where no reliable
address information exists for the debtor--as is true of many
homeless veterans. This bill is closely modeled after last
year's AB 1111, a bipartisan bill signed into law that enacted
similar provisions benefitting homeless youth under age 25, and
enjoys support from veterans groups and social workers.
SUMMARY : Prohibits courts from garnishing the wages or levying
a bank account of a homeless veteran for outstanding unpaid
citations related to loitering, curfew violations, or illegal
lodging for a period of up to five years, as provided.
Specifically, this bill :
1)Makes Legislative findings about homeless veterans, the
garnishment of their wages and savings for offenses inevitably
associated with being homeless; and the negative effect these
debt collection practices have on the ability of homeless
veterans to escape the cycle of homelessness.
2)Provides that, notwithstanding any other provision of law, if
a court, during the course of its routine efforts to collect
delinquent court-ordered debt, obtains information indicating
that a person who has been issued a citation for loitering,
curfew violations, or illegal lodging that is outstanding or
unpaid, served in the military within the last eight years and
is homeless or has no permanent address, the court shall not
garnish the wages or levy against bank accounts of that person
for five years from the date the court obtained the
information.
3)Provides, for the purposes of this act, that a person is
considered to be "homeless" or as having "no permanent
address" if that person does not have a fixed, regular,
adequate nighttime residence, or has a primary nighttime
residence that is one of the following:
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a) A supervised publicly or privately operated shelter
designed to provide temporary living accommodations,
including, but not limited to, welfare hotels, congregate
shelters and transitional housing for the mentally ill.
b) An institution that provides a temporary residence for
individuals intended to be institutionalized.
c) A public or private place not designed for, or
ordinarily used as, a regular sleeping accommodation for
human beings.
4)Provides that nothing in this act shall be construed to:
a) Prevent a court from engaging in any other lawful debt
collection activities;
b) Require a court to perform any further investigation or
financial screening into any matter beyond the scope of its
regular duties;
c) Prevent the Judicial Council from altering any best
practices or recommendations for collection programs
pursuant to Section 1463.010;
d) Prevent a court from garnishing a person's wages or
levying against a person's bank accounts if the court
subsequently obtains evidence that the person is no longer
homeless, or that the court had on a previous occasion
suspended garnishment of that person's wages or levying
against that person's bank accounts pursuant to these
provisions.
EXISTING LAW :
1)Authorizes a county or court to establish a comprehensive
collections program to enhance the collection of delinquent
court-ordered debt and improve recovery efforts, and requires
the comprehensive collection program to include at least 10 of
a possible 16 characteristics, as specified. Among the
characteristics provided are:
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a) Monthly bill or account statements to all debtors;
b) Telephone contact with delinquent debtors to apprise
them of their failure to meet payment obligations;
c) Issuance of warning letters to advise delinquent debtors
of an outstanding obligation;
d) Requests for credit reports to assist in locating
delinquent debtors;
e) Access to Employment Development Department employment
and wage information;
f) The generation of monthly delinquent reports;
g) Participation in the Franchise Tax Board's Interagency
Intercept Collections Program;
h) The use of Department of Motor Vehicle information to
locate delinquent debtors;
i) The use of wage and bank account garnishments. (Penal
Code Section 1463.007.)
2)Provides that if a court, during the course of its routine
process to collect fees, fines, forfeitures, or other
penalties imposed by a court due to a citation issued for the
violation of a state or local law, obtains information
indicating that a person under 25 years of age, who has been
issued a citation for truancy, loitering, curfew violations,
or illegal lodging that is outstanding or unpaid, is homeless
or has no permanent address, the court shall not garnish the
wages or levy against bank accounts of that person until that
person is 25 years of age or older. (Penal Code Section
1463.011.)
3)Defines a "homeless person" as any person who lacks a fixed,
regular, and adequate nighttime residence, or has a primary
nighttime residence in one of the following:
a) A supervised publicly or privately operated shelter
designed to provide temporary living accommodations,
including, but not limited to, welfare hotels, congregate
shelters and transitional housing for the mentally ill;
b) An institution that provides a temporary residence for
individuals intended to be institutionalized;
c) A public or private place not designed for, or
ordinarily used as, a regular sleeping accommodation for
human beings. (Health and Safety Code Section 50582(b).)
COMMENTS : According to the author, homeless veterans are often
caught in a catch-22 situation where their homelessness
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inevitably results in citations for offenses like loitering or
illegal lodging, but wage garnishment to collect unpaid fines
makes it more difficult for these veterans to escape the cycle
of homelessness--virtually ensuring that further citations for
the same type of offenses will continue to occur. To address
this problem cycle, this bill seeks to prohibit courts from wage
garnishment of homeless veterans for outstanding unpaid
citations related to loitering, curfew violations, or illegal
lodging for a period of five years from the date the court
obtains information indicating the veteran is homeless in the
course of its routine efforts to collect fines.
Author's statement. The author contends that wage garnishment
of homeless veterans to collect unpaid citations for infractions
associated with living on the street perpetuates the cycle of
homelessness, making escape more difficult for veterans trying
to legitimately work and establish stable housing. The author
states:
The homeless are frequently ticketed for offenses
synonymous with their homelessness, such as loitering,
illegal lodging, and curfew violations. The inability
of homeless veterans to pay for tickets and subsequent
fines for offenses related to their homeless status
may lead to the garnishment of their wages and bank
accounts, damage to their credit history, and create
other barriers to their establishing financial
stability and independence. By making it harder for
homeless veterans to save money to end their
homelessness, such garnishments paradoxically also
increase the likelihood that the public safety
offenses the tickets are meant to dissuade will in
fact occur. The purpose to this bill is to
temporarily prohibit courts from garnishing the wages
or levying against bank accounts of a veteran (as
specified.)
Unfortunate facts about the homeless veteran population . Sadly,
the problem of homelessness among veterans who have proudly
served our country is not a minor one. According to the U.S.
Department of Housing and Urban Development's most recent annual
survey for point-in-time estimates of homelessness, there were
16,461 homeless veterans in California in January 2012, of whom
11,949 were considered unsheltered and living on the streets.
(Located at:
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http://www.hudhre.info/CoC_Reports/2012_ca_pops_sub.pdf ) A
recent national survey of over 23,000 homeless Americans
conducted by the 100,000 Homes Campaign found that homeless
veterans reported having been homeless for an average of 5.77
years as compared to 3.92 years for homeless non-veterans. In
addition, the study found that veterans were 11 percent more
likely than non-veterans to suffer from at least one health
condition linked to increased risk of death among the homeless
population. ("National Survey of Homeless Veterans in 100,000
Homes Campaign Communities" by The 100,000 Homes Campaign.)
Author's amendments. In order to incorporate recently released
federal data on homeless veterans, the author proposes to make
the following amendments:
On page 2, between lines 8 and 9, insert: "(2) According to
the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development's most
recent annual survey for point-in-time estimates of
homelessness, there were 16,461 homeless veterans in
California in January 2012, of whom 11,949 were considered
unsheltered and living on the streets."
On page 2, line 9, strike "(2)" and insert "(3)"
On page 2, line 12, strike "(3) The California Research
Bureau has documented that if" and insert "If"
In order to clarify when the suspension of the court's authority
to collect begins, the author proposes the following amendment:
On page 3, line 2, strike "the ticket issues" and insert
"the court obtained that information"
In order to clarify that suspension of court collection efforts
under this bill is intended to be a benefit that is
administrated only one time, the author proposes the following
amendment
On page 3, line 29, after "homeless" insert ", or that the
court had on a previous occasion suspended garnishment of
that person's wages or levying against that person's bank
accounts pursuant to subdivision (b)."
Although this bill suspends collection methods for unpaid fines
arising from certain offenses, it does not absolve the veteran
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of any offense or discharge any fine. This bill seeks to
prohibit courts from wage garnishment of a homeless veteran for
outstanding unpaid citations related to loitering, curfew
violations, or illegal lodging for a period of five years-a
temporary suspension of the court's authority to garnish the
wages or levy the bank account of the veteran. If the court
subsequently obtains evidence that the veteran is no longer
homeless before five years have elapsed, then the court may
resume wage garnishment or bank levy upon the veteran once
again.
The author notes that the bill does nothing to absolve the
veteran of the offense, relieve the legal obligation to pay any
associated fine, or prohibit any ticket from being issued. As
such, it does not appear this bill dismisses accountability for
so-called "quality of life" offenses committed by homeless
veterans as much as it represents an effort to give them a
better chance of working to escape homelessness before wage
garnishment can resume.
This bill is intended to minimize any new workload upon the
courts and possibly conserve judicial resources. Under this
bill, a court is prohibited from garnishing the wages of a
person when "during the course of its routine process to
collect" unpaid fees or fines, the court "obtains information"
indicating that the person meets the criteria for an eligible
homeless veteran. Section 1463.007 of the Penal Code describes
the types of actions that courts already take to enhance the
collection of delinquent court-ordered debt where the court runs
a comprehensive collections program. In these debt collection
cases, the court will typically attempt to mail an account
statement and/or a warning notice to the debtor's address, if
known, and also contact the debtor by telephone. Among other
things, the court may request a credit report of the debtor or
initiate the use of wage or bank account garnishments. Under
this bill, however, if the court in the process of its ordinary
collection efforts (emphasis added) obtains information
indicating the person is (a) a military veteran who has served
within the last eight years; (b) has unpaid citations for
offenses associated with homelessness, like loitering, curfew
violations, or illegal lodging; and (c) is homeless or has no
valid permanent address, only then would the court be prohibited
from garnishing the wages of the debtor because such indicators,
in all likelihood, demonstrate that the debtor is a homeless
veteran covered under the bill.
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The author also contends that the bill may actually help
conserve judicial resources by reducing debt collection efforts
that are empirically cost-ineffective, because of the difficulty
and expense involved in garnishing the wages of veterans who are
homeless and lack any permanent address. In a study
commissioned by the Judicial Council and published in December
2009, researchers from Gartner, Inc., examined the relationship
between the "inherent collectability of debt" and factors such
as the size of the debt, age at referral, and validity of
address information. They found, generally, that the rate of
study cases where collection efforts resulted in the debt being
paid-in-full was 13 percentage points below the average, and 19
percentage points lower than cases where there was a valid
initial address. (Judicial Council, Report to Legislature on
Statewide Collection of Court-Ordered Debt (January 2010) p.10.)
As a result, this bill may reduce court debt collection efforts
that, according to the Gartner study, would likely prove
cost-ineffective for courts because homeless persons by
definition lack reliable address information.
Based on Section 1463.007 and the findings of the Gartner study,
it appears likely that every court collector, in the course of
current practices, will already obtain information as to whether
a debtor meets the applicable definition of homeless. In
addition, the bill specifically provides that nothing in its
provisions shall be construed to require a court to perform any
further investigation or financial screening into any matter
beyond the scope of its regular duties, nor prevent a court from
engaging in any other lawful debt collection activities. As
proposed to be amended, suspension of court collection efforts
would apply once, at most, to an individual veteran, even if
that individual unfortunately becomes homeless again more than
five years later.
Prior Legislation. This bill is closely modeled after AB 1111
(Fletcher and Mitchell), Ch. 466, Stats. 2011, which prohibits a
court from garnishing the wages or levying the bank account of a
homeless youth under age 25 for outstanding unpaid citations
related to truancy, loitering curfew violations, or illegal
lodging until the youth is at least 25 years old.
REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION :
Support
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National Association of Social Workers- CA Chapter
AMVETS- Department of California
VFW- Department of California
Vietnam Veterans of America, California State Council
Opposition
None on file
Analysis Prepared by : Anthony Lew / JUD. / (916) 319-2334