BILL ANALYSIS Ó
AB 285
Page 1
CONCURRENCE IN SENATE AMENDMENTS
AB
285 (Gallagher)
As Amended July 2, 2015
Majority vote
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|ASSEMBLY: | 76-0 | (May 26, |SENATE: |36-0 | (August 27, |
| | |2015) | | |2015) |
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Original Committee Reference: JUD.
SUMMARY: Makes numerous changes to rules governing the
registration and business practices of legal document assistants
(LDA) and unlawful detainer assistants (UDA). Specifically,
this bill:
1)Require LDAs and UDAs to register with the county clerk in any
county in which he or she maintains a branch office, in
addition to the county in which his or her principal place of
business is located.
2)Provides that the expiration date of an LDA's registration
need not appear in printed solicitations or advertisements,
nor on printed papers or documents prepared or used by the
registered LDA, including but not limited to, contracts,
letterhead, business cards, correspondence, documents, forms,
claims, petitions, checks, receipts, and pleadings.
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3)Provides that the registered LDA's name, business address,
telephone number, registration number, expiration date of the
registration, and county of registration shall appear on the
written contract required to be given to every client prior to
providing services, as well as on any Internet Web site
maintained by the registrant and in any solicitation,
advertisement, document, or correspondence prepared or used by
the registrant in electronic form.
4)Requires the county clerk, upon renewal of registration, to
assign the LDA the same registration number previously issued,
provided there is no lapse of three years or more, and the LDA
is seeking renewal in the same county as previously
registered. Establishes the same registration rule for UDAs,
process servers, and professional photocopiers who register
with the county clerk.
5)Establishes a 15-hour continuing legal education requirement
for UDAs and LDAs as a condition of registration and renewal.
6)Requires the venue for any legal dispute involving a UDA or
LDA to be in the county of the client's primary residence, and
requires this information to be included in the written
contract.
7)Requires additional oral and written disclosures to
prospective clients of LDAs and UDAs, as provided.
8)Establishes a January 1, 2021, sunset date for these
provisions, except for 4) above, regarding assignment of
registration numbers.
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The Senate amendments:
1)Repeal secondary registration requirements that require LDAs
and UDAs to register in every county in which they do
business, and instead require the LDA or UDA to register in
any county in which he or she maintains a branch office, in
addition to his or her principal place of business.
2)Provide that after the LDA or UDA makes oral disclosure
statements to the consumer as required by existing law, the
LDA or UDA must also provide the prospective client with a
written "Notice to Consumer", as specified, and have the
client sign and date the notice before entering into any
contract for services or accepting any compensation.
3)Require the Notice to Consumer and written contract entered
into between an LDA or UDA and a client to include the contact
information of the County Clerk's office where the LDA or UDA
is registered, including the address, phone number, and
Internet Web site, if available, and makes the LDA or UDA
responsible for translating the notice to consumer into the
language principally used in any oral sales presentation or
negotiation.
4)Authorize the county clerk to assign the same registration
number upon renewal of registration for any LDA, UDA, process
service, and professional photocopier, provided the applicant
is renewing registration in the same county in which he or she
was previously registered and there is no lapse of three or
more years in the period of registration.
5)Require LDAs and UDAs to complete 15 hours of continuing legal
education courses, as specified, during the two-year period
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preceding renewal in order to be eligible to renew
registration.
6)Establish a sunset date of January 1, 2021, for these
provisions, and would repeal them on that date unless a later
enacted statute is enacted before that date to delete or
extend that sunset.
FISCAL EFFECT: According to the Senate Appropriations
Committee, pursuant to Senate Rule 28.8, negligible state costs.
COMMENTS: Chapter 5.5 of Division 3 of the Business and
Professions Code (commencing with Section 6400) (Chapter 5.5)
regulates both LDAs and UDAs. Although they are defined
separately in statute, the two groups are currently subject to
the same registration and oversight structure provided under
Chapter 5.5. This bill, sponsored by the California Association
of Legal Document Assistants (CALDA), seeks to update laws
regarding the registration of legal document assistants and
unlawful detainer assistants.
Generally speaking, LDAs provide legal document preparation and
self-help services to the public within parameters established
under the Chapter. LDAs may not provide any self-help service
for compensation unless registered in the county of his or her
principal place of business, and any other county in which he or
she serves clients. The term "self-help services" defines the
activities that registered LDAs are specifically authorized to
perform, namely: 1) completing legal documents in a ministerial
manner, selected by a self-represented person, by typing or
otherwise completing the documents at the person's specific
direction; 2) providing general published factual information
that has been written or approved by an attorney, pertaining to
legal procedures, rights, or obligations to a person who is
representing himself or herself in a legal matter, to assist the
person in self-representation; 3) making published legal
documents available to a person who is representing himself or
herself in a legal matter; and 4) filing and serving legal forms
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and documents at the specific direction of a person who is
representing himself or herself in a legal matter.
Requirements establishing county of registration and venue.
Existing law requires an LDA or UDA to register in the county of
his or her principal place of business (i.e. primary
registration.) If the LDA or UDA also provides services to
clients in other counties, the LDA or UDA is also required to
register in those counties (i.e. secondary registration.)
Proponents contend that secondary registration requirements are
an unnecessary burden on LDAs who wish to do business at the
state level, but are restricted due to burdensome process of
registering in every county. They contend that current
registration law is outdated because it was established before
the advent of the Internet, which is one of the primary ways
that LDAs now connect with prospective clients to obtain
business. Accordingly, this bill would repeal secondary
registration requirements and allow LDAs and UDAs to register
only in the county in which his or her principal place of
business is located, and in which he or she maintains a branch
office. In addition, to ensure that clients are able to
effectively pursue claims against an LDA or UDA, this bill would
establish that the venue for any dispute between a client and an
LDA or UDA must be in the county where the client primarily
resides. In this way, this bill seeks to balance the
interconnectivity of professionals and clients, while
maintaining appropriate client protection and convenience
through judicial review in the county in which the client
resides, rather than the county in which the LDA or UDA
principally performs his or her business. This bill maintains
the requirement to disclose the county of registration and
registration number, and would also require the LDA or UDA to
provide written notice of the venue requirement in the written
contract with the client to ensure the client is aware of his or
her rights.
Providing consumer disclosures and registration information.
Under existing law, LDAs are required to disclose their
registration information, business address, telephone number,
and registration expiration date on all business materials, such
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as sales brochures, forms, ink stamps, and checks. According to
proponents, inclusion of the expiration date on all materials
used by the LDA (checks, ink stamps, brochures, and other such
collateral) is unduly burdensome and cost prohibitive to LDAs
because those materials must be thrown out and repurchased at
every renewal once they show the expired registration date.
Proponents contend that it is reasonable to continue to mandate
that other registration information be provided on work
materials, but it is not necessary to require the registration
expiration date on materials, as long as the expiration date
appears on the written contract for services that is required to
be provided to every client of the LDA. Accordingly, this bill
seeks to provide an appropriate balance between the cost of
doing business as an LDA or UDA and client protection by
removing the two-year reprinting requirement currently
undertaken by an LDA or UDA after each registration renewal. In
addition, to address concerns raised by the Western Center on
Law and Poverty, this bill was recently amended to revise and
expand written disclosure requirements for contracts, consumer
notices, Internet Web sites, and electronic forms used by LDAs
and UDAs in order to ensure greater transparency to their
prospective clients.
Assignment of the same registration number. Existing law
requires the county clerk, upon renewal of registration, to
assign a new registration number to the LDA if the renewal is
late or registration has for some reason lapsed, even if the
period of non-renewal is entirely voluntary. According to
proponents, requiring the issuance of a new registration number
is unduly burdensome and serves only to increase costs by
forcing LDAs to reorder stamps, stationary, business cards, and
other promotional materials to reflect the new number. This
bill would simply require the county clerk, upon renewal of
registration, to assign the same registration number, provided
there is no lapse of three years or more, and the LDA is seeking
renewal in the same county as previously registered. Proponents
contend this change would bring this provision more closely in
line with professions like engineers, lawyers, and contractors,
while helping protect consumers by making it easier to track the
history of individual LDAs should the need arise to investigate
any case of alleged misconduct.
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Continuing education requirements. In order for an LDA or UDA
to renew his or her registration, this bill would require the
registrant to complete 15 hours of continuing legal education
(CLE) courses during the two-year period preceding renewal.
This bill would also require the LDA or UDA to provide a
statement in the renewal application that he or she has
completed the required courses. In support of this requirement,
proponents contend that it is essential for LDAs and UDAs to
constantly update their skills and knowledge base in the areas
in which they provide assistance to their clients, and that
mandatory CLE will protect the consumer by ensuring the quality
of their work.
Sunset date of 2021. Recent amendments to this bill also
establish a sunset date of January 1, 2021, for all of these
provisions, with the exception of the provisions regarding
assignment of registration numbers. The sunset date will allow
the Legislature evaluate the effect of these proposed changes
after they have been in operation for a total of five years.
Analysis Prepared by:
Anthony Lew / JUD. / (916) 319-2334 FN: 0001513