BILL ANALYSIS Ó
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|SENATE RULES COMMITTEE | AB 73|
|Office of Senate Floor Analyses | |
|(916) 651-1520 Fax: (916) | |
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THIRD READING
Bill No: AB 73
Author: Waldron (R) and Gipson (D), et al.
Amended: 8/18/16 in Senate
Vote: 27 - Urgency
SENATE JUDICIARY COMMITTEE: 6-0, 8/9/16
AYES: Jackson, Moorlach, Hertzberg, Leno, Monning, Wieckowski
NO VOTE RECORDED: Anderson
ASSEMBLY FLOOR: 77-0, 1/25/16 - See last page for vote
SUBJECT: Real property: disclosure
SOURCE: AIDS Project of Los Angeles
Los Angeles LGBT Center
DIGEST: This bill specifies that the owner of real property,
his or her agent, or the agent of a transferee of real property,
is not required to disclose that an occupant of the property
being transferred was living with human immunodeficiency virus
(HIV) or died from acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS)
related complications.
Senate Floor Amendments of 8/18/16 clarify that no cause of
action shall arise for failure to disclose the facts specified
above.
ANALYSIS:
AB 73
Page 2
Existing law:
1)Provides that all people have inalienable rights, including
the right to pursue and obtain privacy. (Cal. Const., art. I,
Sec. 1.)
2)States that to protect the privacy of individuals who are the
subject of testing for HIV, no person shall be compelled in
any state, county, city, or other local civil, criminal,
administrative, legislative, or other proceedings to identify
or provide identifying characteristics that would identify any
individual who is the subject of an HIV test, as specified.
(Health & Saf. Code Sec. 120975.)
3)Requires the transferor to deliver a statutory transfer
disclosure statement and other disclosures as soon as
practicable before transfer of title, or close of escrow, when
transferring real property and manufactured homes or
mobilehomes. (Civ. Code Sec. 1102.3a(a).)
4)States that no cause of action arises against an owner of real
property or his or her agent, or any agent of a transferee of
real property, for the failure to disclose to the transferee
the occurrence of an occupant's death upon the real property
or the manner of death where the death has occurred more than
three years prior to the date the transferee offers to
purchase, lease, or rent the real property, or that an
occupant of that property was afflicted with, or died from,
Human T-Lymphotropic Virus Type III/Lymphadenopathy-Associated
Virus. (Civ. Code Sec. 1710.2(a).)
5)Specifies that the above provision shall not be construed to
immunize an owner or his or her agent from making an
intentional misrepresentation in response to a direct inquiry
from a transferee or a prospective transferee of real
property, concerning deaths on the real property. (Civ. Code
Sec. 1710.2(d).)
AB 73
Page 3
This bill:
1)Recasts the above provisions to state that an owner of real
property or his or her agent, or any agent of a transferee of
real property, is not required to disclose either of the
following to the transferee, as these are not material facts
that require disclosure:
a) The occurrence of an occupant's death upon the real
property or the manner of death where the death has
occurred more than three years prior to the date the
transferee offers to purchase, lease, or rent the real
property; or
b) That an occupant of that property was living HIV or died
from AIDS-related complications.
2)Specifies that no cause of action shall arise for failure to
disclose the non-material facts specified above.
3)Makes related technical and conforming changes to existing
law.
Background
According to NAM (National AIDS Manual), HIV is a type of
retrovirus identified in the 1980s that attacks and gradually
causes damage to the human immune system.
[W]ithout treatment and care, a person with HIV is at risk of
developing serious infections and cancers that a healthy
immune system would fight off. Current treatment for HIV
works by reducing the amount of HIV in the body so the immune
system can work normally. This doesn't get rid of HIV
completely, but with the right treatment and care, someone
with HIV can expect to live a long and healthy life.
AB 73
Page 4
. . .
AIDS [acquired immune deficiency syndrome] is the name used to
describe a combination of potentially life-threatening
infections and cancers, which can develop when someone's
immune system has been damaged by HIV.
. . .
Treatment with combinations of anti-HIV drugs can keep the
immune system strong, and because of this the number of people
who are diagnosed with AIDS has fallen. Thanks to effective
HIV treatment, many people who developed AIDS are now very
well and can look forward to a long and healthy life. (See
http://www.aidsmap.com/hiv-basics/HIV-AIDS/page/1412437/ [as
of Aug. 4, 2016].)
HIV, the virus that can lead to AIDS, is found in certain body
fluids, but does not survive long outside the human body, and it
cannot reproduce outside a human host. Consequently, "[y]ou
cannot get HIV from kissing, by hugging, or by shaking hands
with somebody with HIV - or any other normal social contact.
Nor can you get HIV by being in the same place as someone with
HIV, or by sharing household items such as crockery, cutlery, or
bed linen," and "HIV is not passed on by spitting, sneezing or
coughing." (See
http://www.aidsmap.com/hiv-basics/Transmission/page/1412438/ [as
of Aug. 4, 2016].)
The Legislature passed SB 2484 (Roberti, Chapter 498, Statutes
of 1986) and SB 324 (Davis, Chapter 292, Statutes of 1987) in
the 1980s to relieve transferors of property from any duty to
disclose that an occupant of the property was infected with HIV.
This bill recasts and clarifies those provisions by explicitly
stating that the transferor of a property is not required to
disclose that an occupant of the property being transferred was
living with HIV or died from AIDS-related complications.
Comments
AB 73
Page 5
According to the author:
Existing law states the Legislature's intent to occupy the
field of regulation of disclosure related to deaths occurring
upon real property and of AIDS in situations affecting the
transfer of real property or any estate or interest in real
property. California Civil Code section 1710.2, which refers
to real estate disclosures, says that sellers and agents are
protected from a cause of action for the failure to disclose a
previous occupant's cause of death from HIV on that property
that has occurred more than three years prior to the date the
buyer offers to purchase, lease, or rent the real property.
This section was originally written to protect people living
with HIV from being discriminated against when selling or
renting real estate. However, this section caused confusion
for many homeowners and real estate agents because of the
specific mention of HIV. This confusion leads many to believe
that they are required to disclose that the previous occupant
was HIV positive.
AB 73 updates the California Civil Code to remove language that
stigmatizes people living with HIV and clarify that there is no
requirement to disclose a previous occupant's HIV status when
selling, leasing, or renting a home.
Prior Legislation
SB 324 (Davis, Chapter 292, Statutes of 1987) provided that no
cause of action arises against the owner of real property, or
his or her agent, or the agent of the transferee of a property,
for the failure to disclose that an occupant of that property
died from the virus that causes AIDS. The bill also immunized
owners of real property and their agents from causes of action
based on their failure to disclose the fact or manner of the
death of an occupant that occurred more than three years prior
to transfer, but provided that such immunity did not extend to
intentional misrepresentations concerning deaths on the property
in response to a direct inquiry from a transferee.
AB 73
Page 6
SB 2484 (Roberti, Chapter 498, Statutes of 1986) provided that
no cause of action arises against the owner of real property, or
his or her agent, or the agent of the transferee of a property,
for the failure to disclose that an occupant of that property
was afflicted with the virus that causes AIDS.
FISCAL EFFECT: Appropriation: No Fiscal
Com.:NoLocal: No
SUPPORT: (Verified8/19/16)
AIDS Project of Los Angeles (co-source)
Los Angeles LGBT Center (co-source)
American Civil Liberties Union of California
California Apartment Association
ViiV Healthcare
OPPOSITION: (Verified8/19/16)
None received
ASSEMBLY FLOOR: 77-0, 1/25/16
AYES: Achadjian, Alejo, Travis Allen, Baker, Bigelow, Bloom,
Bonilla, Bonta, Brough, Brown, Burke, Calderon, Campos, Chang,
Chau, Chávez, Chiu, Chu, Cooley, Cooper, Dahle, Daly, Dodd,
Eggman, Frazier, Beth Gaines, Gallagher, Cristina Garcia,
Gatto, Gipson, Gomez, Gonzalez, Gordon, Gray, Grove, Hadley,
Harper, Roger Hernández, Holden, Irwin, Jones, Jones-Sawyer,
Kim, Lackey, Levine, Linder, Lopez, Low, Maienschein, Mathis,
Mayes, McCarty, Medina, Melendez, Mullin, Nazarian, Obernolte,
O'Donnell, Olsen, Patterson, Quirk, Rendon, Ridley-Thomas,
Rodriguez, Salas, Santiago, Steinorth, Mark Stone, Thurmond,
Ting, Wagner, Waldron, Weber, Wilk, Williams, Wood, Atkins
NO VOTE RECORDED: Dababneh, Eduardo Garcia
AB 73
Page 7
Prepared by:Tobias Halvarson / JUD. / (916) 651-4113
8/19/16 18:49:11
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