BILL ANALYSIS
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|SENATE RULES COMMITTEE | AB 1034|
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THIRD READING
Bill No: AB 1034
Author: Mullin (D)
Amended: 6/26/03 in Senate
Vote: 21
SENATE HOUSING & COMM. DEV. COMMITTEE : 7-1, 6/16/03
AYES: Ducheny, Ackerman, Alarcon, Cedillo, Dunn, Florez,
Torlakson
NOES: Hollingsworth
SENATE APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE : Senate Rule 28.8
ASSEMBLY FLOOR : 73-0, 5/8/03 (Passed on Consent) - See
last page for vote
SUBJECT : Housing: building standards
SOURCE : Department of Housing and Community Development
DIGEST : This bill makes various technical amendments to
clarify and strengthen existing building codes.
ANALYSIS : Under the State Housing Law, all residential
dwellings are subject to building standards as adopted by
the California Building Standards Commission in the
California Building Standards Code (Title 24 of the
California Code of Regulations).
Building codes are generally enforced by local building
officials, often as local ordinances. When violations are
discovered or a nuisance conditions exists, a building
CONTINUED
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official sends the owner a letter notifying him or her of
the deficiency. Owners are then generally given at least
30 days to correct the violation. If violations remain
uncorrected after 30 days, the code officials may institute
any appropriate action or proceeding to correct building
code violations or abate nuisances.
Among the various remedies for non-compliance, if the
violations are so extensive and of such a nature that the
health and safety of residents or the public is
substantially endangered, the enforcement agency, a tenant
or tenant association may petition the court to appoint a
receiver for the property. Under an alternative code
section a court may also appoint a receiver if an owner has
violated orders, including orders to retrofit a building to
current codes, to correct conditions that endanger the
immediate health and safety of residents or the public in
the event of an earthquake. A receiver effectively takes
control of the property, collecting rents, paying debts and
expenses, and making the necessary repairs to the property.
The receiver is discharged by the court when the
violations have been remedied and a complete accounting of
all costs and repairs has been delivered to the court.
This bill makes a number of changes to statutes governing
the enforcement of building standards under the State
Housing Law. Specifically, the bill:
1. Clarifies that local governments may collect any fees,
costs or charges incurred to enforce local ordinances
that implement state building and fire safety codes, in
addition to the codes and regulations themselves.
2. Clarifies that local governments shall permit use of
original materials and the use of original methods of
construction are in compliance with building codes in
place at the time of initial construction.
3. Allows local building officials to maintain a list and
make referrals to public [or publicly-funded] private
agencies that finance or assist an owner in
rehabilitating or repairing residential property.
4. Allows local building officials to institute any
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appropriate action to abate a nuisance after less than
30 days notice if necessary to abate or prevent an
imminent threat to health and safety.
5. Requires building officials to give tenants notice of
substandard conditions as described in the Health and
Safety Code, as opposed to untenantable conditions as
described in the Civil Code.
6. Allows local building officials to seek a receiver for
uncorrected building code violations under provisions
currently limited to seismic safety violations if the
code violations are identified as being in a condition
that substantially endangers the health and safety of
the residents.
7. Allows a court to deem a receiver acting under the
direction of the enforcement agency to a public officer.
8. Allows local governments to hold hearings related to the
costs of nuisance abatement actions in accordance with
state regulations, in addition to Uniform Housing Code
adopted by the International Conference of Building
Officials.
9. Allows a local government to require an individual or
corporate owner to provide a social security number or
tax identification number and other identifying
information if the agency anticipates that it will seek
a court order to deny business deductions on the
property for state tax purposes.
10.Clarifies that the sale of a property does not render
moot any administrative or judicial actions, including
those initiated by a receiver, to enforce the State
Housing Law.
11.Requires an owner, within 5 days of the sale,
recordation or conveyance of a cited property, to record
a Notice of Conveyance of Substandard Property that
includes the name and address of the new owner and to
provide the enforcement agency with the name, address,
and driver's license number of all buyers and sellers
with an interest in the property greater than 5 percent.
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12.Requires an owner of a property with outstanding
citations to provide the enforcement agency with the
name, address and driver's license number of buyers and
sellers within five days of the sale or transfer.
13.Provides that a buyer of a cited property is subject to
all recorded notices of violation in addition to
recorded notices of pending court actions.
Comments
Purpose of the bill . According to the sponsor, the
Department of Housing and Community Development, AB 1034 is
intended to assist in preserving the stock of housing, in
providing adequate protection of renters, and in improving
the ability of local governments to obtain reimbursement
for their code enforcement efforts. The bill is a result
of HCD's discussions with local code enforcement officials
over the last few years on how best to improve the
enforcement of building codes. It identifies and corrects
various laws that are either out-of-date or which requires
strengthening because they no longer deter code violations.
FISCAL EFFECT : Appropriation: No Fiscal Com.: Yes
Local: No
SUPPORT : (Verified 7/14/03)
Department of Housing and Community Development (source)
California Apartment Association
Western Center on Law and Poverty
ASSEMBLY FLOOR :
AYES: Aghazarian, Bates, Benoit, Berg, Bermudez, Bogh,
Calderon, Chan, Chavez, Chu, Cogdill, Cohn, Corbett,
Correa, Cox, Daucher, Diaz, Dutra, Dutton, Dymally,
Firebaugh, Frommer, Garcia, Goldberg, Hancock, Harman,
Jerome Horton, Shirley Horton, Jackson, Keene, Kehoe,
Koretz, La Malfa, La Suer, Laird, Leno, Levine, Lieber,
Liu, Longville, Lowenthal, Maldonado, Matthews, Maze,
McCarthy, Montanez, Mountjoy, Mullin, Nakanishi, Nakano,
Nation, Negrete McLeod, Nunez, Oropeza, Pacheco, Parra,
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Pavley, Plescia, Reyes, Richman, Ridley-Thomas, Runner,
Salinas, Samuelian, Simitian, Spitzer, Steinberg,
Strickland, Vargas, Wiggins, Wolk, Wyland, Wesson
NC:nl 7/15/03 Senate Floor Analyses
SUPPORT/OPPOSITION: SEE ABOVE
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