BILL ANALYSIS
Senate Appropriations Committee Fiscal Summary
Senator Tom Torlakson, Chairman
864 (Davis)
Hearing Date: 8/27/07 Amended: 7/10/07
Consultant: Mark McKenzie Policy Vote: T.&H. 6-3
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BILL SUMMARY: AB 864 would require the buyers of substandard
properties to provide specified contact and identifying
information to the local building code enforcement agency.
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Fiscal Impact (in thousands)
Major Provisions 2007-08 2008-09 2009-10 Fund
Mandate / data mgmt. reimbursable local mandate,
probablyGeneral
less than $150 annually (see staff
comment)
Penalty revenue gain unknown, potentially substantial penalty
Local
revenue gain due to new fines
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STAFF COMMENTS:
The California Building Standards Commission adopts building
standards and regulations which are enforced by local building
officials. Buildings are considered substandard under existing
law if a violation of building standards results in any of the
following conditions: inadequate sanitation; structural hazards;
nuisances; unsafe or inoperable wiring, plumbing, or mechanical
equipment; faulty weather protection; and other fire, health or
safety hazards. Local building code enforcement agencies are
required to commence proceedings to abate violations by repair,
rehabilitation, vacation, or demolition of the property.
Existing law requires that when a substandard property changes
ownership during the time between issuance of a violation and
abatement of the violation, the seller must record a "notice of
conveyance of substandard property" and provide the code
enforcement agency with the buyer's contact information.
AB 864 would eliminate the seller's obligation to report a
buyer's contact information and would instead require the buyer
of a substandard property, concurrent with the transfer of the
property, to provide the code enforcement agency with specified
verifiable contact information and identification documents.
Within 30 days of the sale, the seller would also be required to
submit a plan of correction for the substandard conditions.
These requirements would apply to any property for which the
code enforcement agency has recorded a notice of pending action,
a notice of substandard condition, or a document stating that
the building is uninhabitable. This bill would also establish a
civil penalty of $2,500 to $25,000 per violation for failure to
comply with these requirements or knowingly providing false
information to an enforcement agency. A person who is not in
compliance with these requirements would be prohibited from
collecting rents, issuing a notice of rent increase, or issuing
a three-day eviction notice.
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AB 864 (Davis)
This bill would impose a reimbursable state-mandated local
program by imposing additional duties on local code enforcement
agencies, such as the collection of additional data on buyers of
substandard properties. Staff notes that these costs would
likely be minor, however, since the bill would shift
responsibility for reporting buyers' contact information from
the seller to the buyer of the substandard property. Additional
data collected pursuant to this bill would assist local code
enforcement agencies in the performance of their function of
ensuring abatement of substandard conditions. Furthermore, to
the extent that civil actions brought against those that fail to
comply with the reporting requirements are successfully
prosecuted, this bill would result in potentially significant
penalty revenue gains.