BILL ANALYSIS Ó
AB 999
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Date of Hearing: May 13, 2015
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS
Jimmy Gomez, Chair
AB
999 (Daly) - As Amended April 20, 2015
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|Policy |Judiciary |Vote:|10 - 0 |
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| |Housing and Community | |6 - 0 |
| |Development | | |
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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
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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
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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
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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