BILL ANALYSIS Ó
SENATE COMMITTEE ON
BUSINESS, PROFESSIONS AND ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT
Senator Jerry Hill, Chair
2015 - 2016 Regular
Bill No: AB 685 Hearing Date: June 27,
2016
-----------------------------------------------------------------
|Author: |Irwin |
|----------+------------------------------------------------------|
|Version: |June 14, 2016 |
-----------------------------------------------------------------
----------------------------------------------------------------
|Urgency: |No |Fiscal: |Yes |
----------------------------------------------------------------
-----------------------------------------------------------------
|Consultant|Mark Mendoza |
|: | |
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Subject: Real Estate Law
SUMMARY: Makes various technical changes to the Real Estate Law, as
specified.
Existing law:
1) Establishes the Real Estate Law, administered by the Bureau
of Real Estate (CalBRE or Bureau), within the Department of
Consumer Affairs (DCA), which licenses and regulates real
estate salespersons, brokers, and mortgage loan originators.
(Business and Professions Code (BPC) § 10000 et seq.)
This bill:
1) Eliminates references to "salesman or salesmen" and replaces
those with "salesperson or salespersons".
2) Updates the Real Estate Law's terminology to state "his or
her" and "he and she" rather than just "he".
3) Refers to a broker as "the broker" and not "he".
4) Authorizes a licensee to refer to his or her license status
as a real estate salesman, real estate saleswoman, or real
estate salesperson.
5) Deletes the obsolete reference to the "Office of Thrift
Supervision" and inserts "Office of the Comptroller of the
AB 685 (Irwin) Page 2
of ?
Currency".
6) Makes other technical and clarifying changes.
FISCAL EFFECT: Unknown. This bill has been keyed "fiscal" by
Legislative Counsel. Since this bill was heard in the Assembly,
it has been substantially amended and neither the Senate nor
Assembly Appropriations Committees have analyzed the current
version of the measure.
COMMENTS:
1. Purpose. The California Association of Realtors is the
Sponsor of the bill. According to the Author, "AB 685
updates the Business and Professions code to refer to a
salesman as a salesperson, updates references to 'he' or
'his' to be 'he or she', and referring to a broker as 'the
broker' rather than 'he'. A licensee may elect to refer to
his or her licensed status as real estate salesman, real
estate saleswoman, or real estate salesperson."
2. Background on CalBRE. Real estate licensing in California
commenced in 1917. CalBRE is the state entity currently
charged with responsibility to enforce the Real Estate Law,
the Subdivided Lands Act, and the Vacation Ownership and
Timeshare Act of 2004. CalBRE's programs are in place to
satisfy the Bureau's statutorily mandated obligations of
licensing and regulating salespersons, brokers, mortgage loan
originators, real estate and prepaid listing service
licensees, reviewing and approving subdivision and time share
offerings, and approving continuing education (CE) and
pre-license courses. Within the framework of requirements of
Division 4 of the BPC and the Regulations of the Real Estate
Commissioner as contained in the California Code of
Regulations, each of CalBRE's programs contribute toward
satisfying its mission of protecting and serving the
interests of the public in real estate transactions and
providing related services to the real estate industry.
Specifically, BPC § 10050 requires the Real Estate
Commissioner to enforce all laws commencing with BPC § 10000
and BPC § 11000 of Part 2 in a manner that achieves the
maximum protection for the purchasers of real property and
AB 685 (Irwin) Page 3
of ?
those persons dealing with real estate licensees.
3. Technical Fixes. The California Association of Realtors
indicates that it has identified current statute that is
either outdated or does not reflect both genders. This bill
seeks to correct those issues and update the Real Estate Law.
4. Arguments in Support. The California Association of Realtors
notes that "AB 685 makes some technical corrections, but,
primarily, eliminates references to 'salesman' or 'salesmen'
and replaces those with 'salesperson' or 'salespersons'
respectively. Needless to say, many women are real estate
licensees, and such, references to only the male gender
should be eliminated."
SUPPORT AND OPPOSITION:
Support:
The California Association of Realtors (Sponsor)
Opposition:
None on file as of June 21, 2016.
-- END --