BILL ANALYSIS Ó AB 999 Page 1 Date of Hearing: May 13, 2015 ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS Jimmy Gomez, Chair AB 999 (Daly) - As Amended April 20, 2015 ----------------------------------------------------------------- |Policy |Judiciary |Vote:|10 - 0 | |Committee: | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |-------------+-------------------------------+-----+-------------| | |Housing and Community | |6 - 0 | | |Development | | | | | | | | | | | | | |-------------+-------------------------------+-----+-------------| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | ----------------------------------------------------------------- Urgency: No State Mandated Local Program: NoReimbursable: No SUMMARY: This bill establishes due process requirements for mobilehome park owners (park management) seeking to dispose of an abandoned mobilehome without first being required to pay any unpaid AB 999 Page 2 property taxes on the mobilehome, including: 1)Requiring park management to file a petition for judicial declaration of abandonment and in the petition, declare its intent to not seek a tax clearance certificate, and then notify the county tax collector and the Department of Housing and Community Development (HCD) by mail. 2)Requiring park management to post and mail a notice of intent to dispose of the abandoned mobilehome and its contents under this section, announcing the date of disposal, in a specified manner, and provide notice of such to the county tax collector and HCD. 3)Authorizing park management to dispose of the abandoned mobilehome following a judgment of abandonment, but not less than ten days following the above notice of intent to dispose. 4)Requiring park management, within 30 days of the date of the disposal of an abandoned mobilehome and its contents, to submit to the court, the county tax collector, and HCD a statement that the abandoned mobilehome and its contents were disposed of. 5)Providing that, notwithstanding any other law, park management shall not be required to obtain a tax clearance certificate to either dispose of an abandoned mobilehome and sell its contents, or dispose of an abandoned mobilehome and its contents. FISCAL EFFECT: AB 999 Page 3 Negligible fiscal impact. COMMENTS: 1)Background. Under existing law, owners of mobilehome parks must follow a specified court-supervised abandonment proceeding to dispose of a mobilehome when the homeowner has not only stopped paying rent on the site, but apparently abandoned the mobilehome itself, leaving it unoccupied and in a condition rendering it uninhabitable and unattractive for resale. In many cases, the property is burdened with unpaid property taxes owed by the homeowner-taxes which create an obstacle to disposal and removal of the home by park management because current law requires the unpaid taxes to be paid off before title to the mobilehome can be transferred to the park management, even for the purpose of disposal. 2)Purpose. This bill, sponsored by the Western Manufactured Housing Communities Association (WMA), seeks to establish procedures for mobilehome park owners that if satisfied, would allow them to dispose of an abandoned mobilehome without first being required to pay the unpaid property taxes on the home. WMA states, "Manufactured homes and mobilehomes are regularly abandoned in mobilehome communities? With abandoned mobilehomes, frequently the registered owner has failed to pay the required personal property taxes for an extended period of time. Normally when an owner is delinquent, the respective county tax collector would place a lien on the mobilehome and sell it. However, tax collectors are reluctant to pursue this course of action when a mobilehome lacks value, as is the case with many abandoned properties. "This bill (AB 999) will help expedite the removal of abandoned mobilehomes by allowing a landlord to dispose of the property without the unjust burden of paying the delinquent AB 999 Page 4 resident's taxes. Importantly, AB 999 ensures that the registered owner remains responsible for the personal property taxes, thus avoiding tax abatement." Analysis Prepared by:Chuck Nicol / APPR. / (916) 319-2081