BILL ANALYSIS Ó ----------------------------------------------------------------- |SENATE RULES COMMITTEE | AB 685| |Office of Senate Floor Analyses | | |(916) 651-1520 Fax: (916) | | |327-4478 | | ----------------------------------------------------------------- CONSENT Bill No: AB 685 Author: Irwin (D) Amended: 6/14/16 in Senate Vote: 21 SENATE BUS., PROF. & ECON. DEV. COMMITTEE: 9-0, 6/27/16 AYES: Hill, Bates, Block, Gaines, Galgiani, Hernandez, Jackson, Mendoza, Wieckowski SENATE APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE: Senate Rule 28.8 ASSEMBLY FLOOR: 77-0, 4/30/15 (Consent) - See last page for vote SUBJECT: Real Estate Law SOURCE: California Association of Realtors DIGEST: This bill makes various technical changes to the Real Estate Law, as specified. ANALYSIS: Existing law establishes the Real Estate Law, administered by the Bureau of Real Estate (CalBRE or Bureau), within the Department of Consumer Affairs, 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 AB 685 Page 2 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 Currency". 6)Makes other technical and clarifying changes. Background 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 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 Section 10050 requires the Real Estate Commissioner to enforce all laws commencing with BPC Section 10000 and BPC Section 11000 of Part 2 in a manner that achieves the maximum protection for the purchasers of real property and those persons dealing with real estate licensees. FISCAL EFFECT: Appropriation: No Fiscal Com.:YesLocal: No AB 685 Page 3 SUPPORT: (Verified8/2/16) California Association of Realtors (source) OPPOSITION: (Verified8/2/16) None received 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." ASSEMBLY FLOOR: 77-0, 4/30/15 AYES: Achadjian, Alejo, Travis Allen, Baker, Bigelow, Bloom, Bonilla, Bonta, Brough, Brown, Burke, Calderon, Chang, Chau, Chiu, Chu, Cooley, Cooper, Dababneh, Dahle, Daly, Dodd, Eggman, Frazier, Beth Gaines, Gallagher, Cristina Garcia, Eduardo Garcia, Gatto, Gipson, 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, Perea, Quirk, Rendon, Ridley-Thomas, Rodriguez, Salas, Santiago, Steinorth, Mark Stone, Thurmond, Ting, Wagner, Waldron, Weber, Wilk, Williams, Wood, Atkins NO VOTE RECORDED: Campos, Chávez, Gomez Prepared by: Mark Mendoza / B., P. & E.D. / (916) 651-4104 8/3/16 19:17:53 AB 685 Page 4 **** END ****