SB 474, as amended, Wieckowski. Auctions.
Existing law regulates the activities of auctioneers and auction companies and, on and after July 1, 2015, with respect to an auction that includes the sale of real property, prohibits a person from causing or allowing any person to bid at a sale for the sole purpose of increasing the bid on any real property being sold by the auctioneer, including stating an increased bid greater than that offered by the last highest bidder was made when no person actually made an increased bid. Existing law excepts from the application of these provisions a credit bid made by a creditor with a security interest in the property that is the subject of auction when the credit bid can result in the transfer of title to property to the creditor. Existing law provides that anyone who violates this provision is guilty of a misdemeanor.
This bill would eliminate
that prohibition,begin delete butend deletebegin insert andend insert would, instead, prohibit an auctioneer from stating an increased bid greater than that offered by the last highest bidder was made when no person actually made an increased bid, asbegin delete provided, and wouldend deletebegin insert provided. The bill wouldend insert eliminate the exception for credit bids. By expanding the crime of violating this provision to creditors making credit bids, this bill would impose a state-mandated local program.
The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse local agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that reimbursement.
This bill would provide that no reimbursement is required by this act for a specified reason.
This bill would declare that it is to take effect immediately as an urgency statute.
Vote: 2⁄3. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: yes. State-mandated local program: yes.
The people of the State of California do enact as follows:
Section 1812.610 of the Civil Code is amended
2to read:
(a) Notwithstanding Section 1812.601, for purposes
4of this section, an auction includes the sale of real property and an
5“auctioneer” means any individual who is engaged in, or who by
6advertising or otherwise holds himself or herself out as being
7available to engage in, the calling for, the recognition of, and the
8acceptance of, offers for the purchase of real property at an auction.
9(b) An auctioneer shall not state at an auction that an increased
10bid greater than that offered by the last highest bidder has been
11made when, in fact, no person has made an increased bid.
12Notwithstanding the foregoing, an auctioneer or another authorized
13person may place a bid on the seller’s
behalf during an auction of
14real property that would not result in a sale of the real property, if
15both of the following are true:
16(1) Notice is given to all auction participants, including all other
17bidders, that liberty for that type of bidding is reserved and that
18type of bid will not result in the sale of the real property.
19(2) The person placing that type of bid contemporaneously
20discloses to all auction participants, including all other bidders,
21that the particular bid has been placed on behalf of the seller.
22(c) For the purpose of the conduct of online auctions of real
23property, “notice” means a statement of the information required
24to be given under paragraph (1) of subdivision (b) within the end
25user license
agreement, terms of service, or equivalent policy
26posted on, or provided by, the operator of an Internet Web site,
27online service, online application, or mobile application, and by
P3 1conspicuously posting the information required to be given under
2paragraph (1) of subdivision (b) in any of the following ways:
3(1) Upon the Internet Web page or its equivalent through which
4a user directly interacts with the site, service, or application during
5the online auction.
6(2) With an icon that hyperlinks to an Internet Web page or its
7equivalent upon which the required information is posted, if the
8icon is located on the Internet Web page or its equivalent through
9which a user directly interacts with the site, service, or application
10during the online auction. The icon shall use a color that contrasts
11with
the background color of the Internet Web page or is otherwise
12readily distinguishable.
13(3) With a text link that hyperlinks to an Internet Web page or
14its equivalent upon which the required information is posted, if
15the text link is located on the Internet Web page or its equivalent
16through which a user directly interacts with the site, service, or
17application during the online auction. The text link shall be written
18in capital letters that are in larger type than the surrounding text,
19or shall be written in contrasting type, font, or color to the
20surrounding text of the same size, or shall be set off from the
21surrounding text of the same size by symbols or other marks that
22call attention to the language.
23(4) With any other functional hyperlink or its equivalent that is
24displayed
on the site, service, or application through which a user
25directly interacts with the site, service, or application during the
26online auction so that a reasonable person would notice it and
27understand it to hyperlink to the required information.
28(d) This section shall be operative on July 1, 2015.
end deleteNo reimbursement is required by this act pursuant to
30Section 6 of Article XIII B of the California Constitution because
31the only costs that may be incurred by a local agency or school
32district will be incurred because this act creates a new crime or
33infraction, eliminates a crime or infraction, or changes the penalty
34for a crime or infraction, within the meaning of Section 17556 of
35the Government Code, or changes the definition of a crime within
36the meaning of Section 6 of Article XIII B of the California
37Constitution.
This act is an urgency statute necessary for the
39immediate preservation of the public peace, health, or safety within
P4 1the meaning of Article IV of the Constitution and shall go into
2immediate effect. The facts constituting the necessity are:
3In order tobegin delete amendend deletebegin insert revise and eliminate, as soon as possible,
4certain provisions inend insert Section 1812.610 of the Civil Codebegin delete before begin insert
that becameend insert operative
5itsend deletebegin delete date,end deletebegin insert on July 1, 2015, before they
6potentially harm participants in real estate auctions,end insert it is necessary
7for this act to take effect immediately.
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