BILL NUMBER: AB 1807 AMENDED
BILL TEXT
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY APRIL 4, 2016
INTRODUCED BY Assembly Member Bonta
FEBRUARY 8, 2016
An act to amend Section 10176.1 10083.2
of the Business and Professions Code, relating to
escrow agents. real estate licensees.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
AB 1807, as amended, Bonta. Escrow agents.
Real estate licensees.
The Real Estate Law provides for the licensure and regulation of
real estate brokers and real estate salespersons by the Bureau of
Real Estate headed by the Real Estate Commissioner. Existing law
requires the commissioner to provide on the Internet specific
information regarding the status of every license issued by the
department.
This bill would require the commissioner, upon petition by a
licensee accompanied by a specified fee, to remove from the posting
of discipline an item that through passage of time and evidence of
rehabilitation is no longer required to prevent a credible risk to
members of the public utilizing licensed activity of the licensee.
Existing law subjects the escrow industry to various laws and
regulations under the oversight of the Real Estate Commissioner, the
Commissioner of Business Oversight, or the Insurance Commissioner.
Existing law requires the commissioners to notify each other when
taking enforcement or disciplinary action related to certain escrow
services. Existing law requires the Bureau of Real Estate to maintain
an Internet Web site that displays a database of individuals who
have been subject to disciplinary action related to the escrow
industry.
This bill would limit the time period for which the Bureau of Real
Estate's Internet Web site is required to display disciplinary
actions taken against a licensee to 10 years or a lesser as the Real
Estate Commissioner deems to be in the best interest of the public.
Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: yes.
State-mandated local program: no.
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
SECTION 1. The Legislature finds and declares the
following:
(a) It is appropriate for the Bureau of Real Estate to continue to
report on its license verification Internet Web page when discipline
has been imposed upon a licensee for conduct that indicates a
credible risk of financial or physical harm to members of the public
in the future.
(b) It is appropriate for the Bureau of Real Estate to consider
and grant on a case-by-case basis a licensee's petition to
discontinue the reporting of past disciplinary actions when the
petitioning licensee has demonstrated to the satisfaction of the Real
Estate Commissioner that the continued reporting is no longer
required in order to avoid or reduce such a risk to the public.
(c) The Bureau of Real Estate may require a petitioner to pay in
advance of consideration a fee to defray costs associated with
consideration of the petition.
(d) Nothing in this act shall be construed to authorize or require
the destruction of public records maintained pursuant to the
California Public Records Act (Chapter 3.5 (commencing with Section
6250) of Division 7 of Title 1 of the Government Code), or to refuse
a request for production of such a record.
(e) The Legislature intends by this act to establish a process by
which a licensee may petition the Bureau of Real Estate to remove a
notice of past discipline from the license verification Internet Web
page of the bureau.
SEC. 2. Section 10083.2 of the Business
and Professions Code is amended to read:
10083.2. (a) The commissioner shall provide on the Internet
information regarding the status of every license issued by the
department in accordance with the California Public Records Act
(Chapter 3.5 (commencing with Section 6250) of Division 7 of Title 1
of the Government Code) and the Information Practices Act of 1977
(Chapter 1 (commencing with Section 1798) of Title 1.8 of Part 4 of
Division 3 of the Civil Code). The public information to be provided
on the Internet shall include information on suspensions and
revocations of licenses issued by the department and accusations
filed pursuant to the Administrative Procedure Act (Chapter 3.5
(commencing with Section 11340) of Part 1 of Division 3 of Title 2 of
the Government Code) relative to persons or businesses subject to
licensure or regulation by the department. The information shall not
include personal information, including home telephone number, date
of birth, or social security number. The commissioner shall disclose
a licensee's address of record. However, the commissioner shall allow
a licensee to provide a post office box number or other alternate
address, instead of his or her home address, as the address of
record. This section shall not preclude the commissioner from also
requiring a licensee who has provided a post office box number or
other alternative mailing address as his or her address of record to
provide a physical business address or residence address only for the
department's internal administrative use and not for disclosure as
the licensee's address of record or disclosure on the Internet.
(b) For purposes of this section, "Internet" has the meaning set
forth in paragraph (6) of subdivision (f) of Section 17538.
(c) Upon petition by a licensee accompanied by a fee sufficient to
defray costs associated with consideration of a petition, the
commissioner shall remove from the posting of discipline described in
subdivision (a), an item that through passage of time and evidence
of rehabilitation is no longer required in order to prevent a
credible risk to members of the public utilizing licensed activity of
the licensee.
SECTION 1. Section 10176.1 of the Business and
Professions Code is amended to read:
10176.1. (a) (1) Whenever the commissioner takes any enforcement
or disciplinary action against a licensee, and the enforcement or
disciplinary action is related to escrow services provided pursuant
to paragraph (4) of subdivision (a) of Section 17006 of the Financial
Code, upon the action becoming final the commissioner shall notify
the Insurance Commissioner and the Commissioner of Business Oversight
of the action or actions taken. The purpose of this notification is
to alert the departments that enforcement or disciplinary action has
been taken, if the licensee seeks or obtains employment with entities
regulated by the departments.
(2) The commissioner shall provide the Insurance Commissioner and
the Commissioner of Business Oversight, in addition to the
notification of the action taken, with a copy of the written
accusation, statement of issues, or order issued or filed in the
matter and, at the request of the Insurance Commissioner or the
Commissioner of Business Oversight, with any underlying factual
material relevant to the enforcement or disciplinary action. Any
confidential information provided by the commissioner to the
Insurance Commissioner or the Commissioner of Business Oversight
shall not be made public pursuant to this section. Notwithstanding
any other provision of law, the disclosure of any underlying factual
material to the Insurance Commissioner or the Commissioner of
Business Oversight shall not operate as a waiver of confidentiality
or any privilege that the commissioner may assert.
(b) The commissioner shall establish and maintain, on the Internet
Web site maintained by the Bureau of Real Estate, a database of its
licensees, including those who have been subject to any enforcement
or disciplinary action that triggers the notification requirements of
this section for a period of 10 years or a lesser time as the
commissioner deems to be in the best interest of the public. The
database shall also contain a direct link to the databases, described
in Section 17423.1 of the Financial Code and Section 12414.31 of the
Insurance Code and required to be maintained on the Internet Web
sites of the Department of Business Oversight and the Department of
Insurance, respectively, of persons who have been subject to
enforcement or disciplinary action for malfeasance or misconduct
related to the escrow industry by the Insurance Commissioner and the
Commissioner of Business Oversight.
(c) There shall be no liability on the part of, and no cause of
action of any nature shall arise against, the State of California,
the Bureau of Real Estate, the Real Estate Commissioner, any other
state agency, or any officer, agent, employee, consultant, or
contractor of the state, for the release of any false or unauthorized
information pursuant to this section, unless the release of that
information was done with knowledge and malice, or for the failure to
release any information pursuant to this section.