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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          |             |Housing and Community          |     |6 - 0        |
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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  








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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:










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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