BILL ANALYSIS
AB 1170
Page 1
Date of Hearing: May 6, 2009
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS
Kevin De Leon, Chair
AB 1170 (Calderon) - As Amended: April 15, 2009
Policy Committee: Public
SafetyVote: 4-0
Urgency: No State Mandated Local Program:
No Reimbursable:
SUMMARY
This bill requires the Department of Justice (DOJ), in
consultation with the Department of Consumer Affairs and public
and private organizations, to develop, publish and make
available to the public a consumer information booklet regarding
federal and state laws relating to sex offender registration as
it relates to the lease or rental of real property.
Specifically, this bill:
1)Requires the booklet to include the following:
a) General information concerning federal and state laws
relating to persons required to register pursuant to Penal
Code Section 290 as specified sex offenders.
b) Information regarding specified statutory disclosure
duties contained in the Civil Code regarding prospective
residents.
c) Information regarding legal access and the use of
information on DOJ's Internet Web site.
d) Identification of constitutional, statutory, and
decisional law applicable to this section.
2)Creates the "Megan's Law Disclosure Booklet for Landlords and
Tenants Fund" and continuously appropriates voluntary
contributions or donations received into the fund to pay costs
directly associated with the booklet, and specifies that DOJ
need not incur any cost associated with the provisions of this
bill until sufficient contributions have been deposited.
FISCAL EFFECT
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Significant one-time and ongoing costs, in the hundreds of
thousands of dollars, to draft, produce and disseminate the
booklet.
Assuming one-time costs of about $75,000 to draft the booklet,
which requires considerable legal expertise, printing costs of
about $1 per booklet and postage cost of about 50 cents per
booklet (even assuming the information can be provided via DOJ's
website, thereby avoiding printing and postage costs, the bill
specifies a booklet, and in any case, presumably some number of
booklets would need to be published and mailed), assuming the
intent is to make the booklets widely available, the cost would
be in the range of $150,000 per 100,000 booklets.
In addition, as this booklet requires legal opinions and case
reviews, it will need to be updated annually by attorneys.
Though the bill specifies that DOJ "may delay incurring any cost
associated with implementation of this section until sufficient
voluntary contributions" are available, this bill still requires
DOJ to produce and make available the booklet, thereby creating
significant fiscal pressure to eventually comply with
legislative intent.
COMMENTS
1)Rationale . The author seeks to inject some legal clarity into
the murky area of rental housing as it relates to registered
sex offenders. According to the author, "The DOJ maintains the
website and disclosure of the existence of the Web site is
required in all rental and lease contracts yet, there is no
additional information about what that means, what a consumer
may do with that information and what a consumer may do if he
or she has actual knowledge of the location of a registered
sex offender. The maxim of knowledge is power would be
particularly helpful to consumers if that information is
presented in a consumer friendly manner. Further, there are a
number of people offering different opinions as to current law
and it would be particularly helpful IF the DOJ were to
development a booklet as to the status of the law. Some
people claim that there are certain aspects to Megan's Law
that are not clear, and if that is the case, we are asking the
DOJ to so simply state that fact."
2)Megan's Law . California requires individuals to register as
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sex offenders upon conviction of certain crimes. Convictions
that require registration as a sex offender include rape,
sexual battery, transporting a child for lewd or lascivious
acts, sexual assault of a child, incest, sodomy and indecent
exposure. In 2004, the Megan's Law website was established,
listing the convicted sex offenders and, in many cases, their
specific home addresses, and making this information available
to the public via the Internet.
The effects of posting home addresses of sex offenders on the
Internet is not yet fully known, although some groups have
speculated about potential economic damages and civil
liability of apartment house owners and nursing homes that
rent to or house sex offenders. In response, AB 2712 (Leno,
2006) was introduced to clarify the non-liability of a
residential property owner when he or she rents to a sex
offender and when he or she notifies other tenants of the
existence of the Megan's Law Web site. AB 2712 was vetoed.
3)Support . According to the Apartment Association of Greater Los
Angeles and the Santa Barbara Rental Property Association,
"Owners often find themselves in a quandary in dealing with
these matters. Other tenants might discover a fellow tenant is
on the Megan's Law database and approach property managers to
request or demand some action. Also, a property manager might
also discover in some way that a tenant or prospective tenant
is on the data base. Unfortunately the state of the law puts
the owner in a no win situation in either case. If the owner
attempts to evict or to not rent to the person on the database
he or she faces the possibility of a large financial penalty
under existing law. On the other hand there is a common law
duty for an owner of rental property to take reasonable steps
to protect the safety and quiet enjoyment of residents. It
has been extremely difficult to try and provide appropriate
advice to owners when these issues arise.
"More information about the state of the law, and other issues
related to this area can do nothing but help both owners and
tenants to navigate this confusing and emotional subject. It
is voluntary, will not have any cost to the state and will
provide much needed clarity in a decidedly unclear area."
4)Opposition : According to the California Apartment
Association, "It is the Association's position that creation
and distribution of such a booklet is an inefficient use of
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tax payer dollars as well as government and private
organizations' time? California law is very clear that rental
property owners must provide specific language in their leases
pertaining to the availability of the Megan's Law data base.
This language has been in effect for 9 years, and is already
included in the leases available through the California
Association of Realtors. The law states that no other
disclosure is required. We don't believe the DOJ booklet is
necessary to explain this.
Prior Legislation .
a) As mentioned earlier, AB 2712 (Leno, 2006) was vetoed.
The governor stated,
"I sympathize with property owners who are faced with the
problems presented by
registered sex offenders. However, this bill would prioritize
property-owner liability
protection before tenant safety. I cannot support legislation
that may compromise the
safety of families and children. Protection of our children
from sexual predators should be
the top priority and I encourage the Legislature to revisit
this dilemma in more depth
next session to develop a solution that protects both families
and property owners.
b) AB 438 (Parra, 2006) allowed a lessor of residential
real property to refuse to provide housing to, or to evict,
registered sex offenders whose address must be made public
pursuant to the Megan's Law Internet Web site. AB 438
failed passage in Assembly Public Safety.
c) AB 1197 (Aghazarian, 2007) would have stated that denial
or termination of tenancy in rental housing of a person who
has been conviction of the commission or attempted
commission of an offense requiring registration as a sex
offender is presumed to protect a person at risk. AB 1197
failed passage in Assembly Public Safety.
Analysis Prepared by : Geoff Long / APPR. / (916) 319-2081