BILL ANALYSIS                                                                                                                                                                                                    �



                                                                      



           ------------------------------------------------------------ 
          |SENATE RULES COMMITTEE            |                   AB 771|
          |Office of Senate Floor Analyses   |                         |
          |1020 N Street, Suite 524          |                         |
          |(916) 651-1520         Fax: (916) |                         |
          |327-4478                          |                         |
           ------------------------------------------------------------ 
           
                                         
                                    CONSENT


          Bill No:  AB 771
          Author:   Butler (D)
          Amended:  7/12/11 in Senate
          Vote:     21

           
           SENATE TRANSPORTATION & HOUSING COMMITTEE  :  7-0, 6/28/11
          AYES:  DeSaulnier, Gaines, Kehoe, Lowenthal, Pavley, Rubio, 
            Simitian
          NO VOTE RECORDED:  Harman, Huff
          
          SENATE JUDICIARY COMMITTEE  :  5-0, 7/5/11
          AYES:  Evans, Harman, Blakeslee, Corbett, Leno
           
          ASSEMBLY FLOOR  :  76-0, 5/26/11 - See last page for vote


            SUBJECT  :    Common interest developments:  provision of 
                      sale-related documents

           SOURCE  :     California Association of Realtors


           DIGEST  :    This bill requires a common interest development 
          to provide an estimate of the fees that it will assess for 
          providing the documents required for the sale of a unit and 
          to distinguish these fees from any other fees, fines, or 
          assessments associated with the sale.

           ANALYSIS  :    A common-interest development (CID) is a form 
          of real estate in which each homeowner has an exclusive 
          interest in a unit or lot and a shared or undivided 
          interest in common area property.  Condominiums, planned 
                                                           CONTINUED





                                                                AB 771
                                                                Page 
          2

          unit developments, stock cooperatives, community 
          apartments, and many resident-owned mobilehome parks all 
          fall under the umbrella of common interest developments.  A 
          homeowners' association with an elected board of directors 
          governs each CID.  The Davis-Stirling Common Interest 
          Development Act provides the legal framework under which 
          common interest developments are established and operate.  

          Current law requires the seller of a unit in a CID to 
          provide a prospective purchaser with various documents 
          related to the CID, including:

          1. The CID's governing documents.

          2. A statement regarding any age restrictions in the CID.

          3. The CID's most recent budget, financial audit, reserve 
             funding plan, and insurance policy summary. 

          4. The amount of the CID's current regular and special 
             assessments and fees, as well as any unpaid assessments, 
             fees, or fines related to the unit.  

          5. Notice of any change in the CID's current regular and 
             special assessments and fees that the board has approved 
             but which have not yet become due.

          6. A summary of any pending rule violations related to the 
             unit.

          7. The preliminary list of any construction defects that is 
             the subject of potential or actual litigation against 
             the developer and, if applicable, a summary of any 
             settlement.

          Because the CID, rather than the unit owner, maintains 
          these documents, current law requires the CID to provide 
          the selling owner with a copy of these documents within ten 
          days of a request.  The CID may charge a reasonable fee 
          based upon its actual cost to procure, prepare, and 
          reproduce the documents.

          This bill:


                                                           CONTINUED





                                                                AB 771
                                                                Page 
          3

          1. Adds to the list of documents the seller must provide a 
             prospective purchaser the minutes of the most recent 12 
             months' worth of meetings, excluding meetings held in 
             executive session, of the CID's board of directors, if 
             requested by the purchaser.

          2. Requires the CID to provide the documents to any 
             recipient the selling owner authorizes.

          3. Requires the CID to provide a written or electronic 
             estimate of the fees that it will assess for providing 
             the documents, upon receipt of a written request.  The 
             CID must provide this estimate on a statutory form that 
             this bill creates, which lists each document and the 
             aggregate fee associated with the provision of all the 
             documents. 

          4. Prohibits a CID from charging additional fees for 
             electronic transmission of the documents.

          5. Requires a CID to distinguish the fees associated with 
             the provisions of these documents from any other fees, 
             fines, or assessments the CID bills as part of the sale.

          6. Prohibits a CID from withholding or conditioning the 
             provision of the documents for any reason other than 
             non-payment of the associated fees.

          7. Contains double-jointing language with SB 150 (Correa), 
             Chapter 62, Statutes of 2011.

           FISCAL EFFECT  :    Appropriation:  No   Fiscal Com.:  No   
          Local:  No

           SUPPORT  :   (Verified  7/12/11)
           
          California Association of Realtors (source)

           ARGUMENTS IN SUPPORT  :    According to the sponsor, 
          California Association of Realtors, many CIDs "bundle" the 
          fees for the provision of the documents listed above with 
          other unrelated fees due to the CID upon sale.  This bill 
          explicitly prohibits such bundling and also requires 
          disclosure of the fee associated only with these documents. 

                                                           CONTINUED





                                                                AB 771
                                                                Page 
          4

           The sponsor asserts that the lack of such disclosure has 
          created difficulties when closing real estate transactions.


           ASSEMBLY FLOOR  :  76-0, 5/26/11
          AYES:  Achadjian, Alejo, Allen, Ammiano, Atkins, Beall, 
            Bill Berryhill, Block, Blumenfield, Bonilla, Bradford, 
            Brownley, Buchanan, Butler, Charles Calderon, Campos, 
            Carter, Chesbro, Conway, Cook, Dickinson, Donnelly, Eng, 
            Feuer, Fletcher, Fong, Fuentes, Furutani, Beth Gaines, 
            Galgiani, Garrick, Gatto, Gordon, Grove, Hagman, 
            Halderman, Hall, Harkey, Hayashi, Roger Hern�ndez, Hill, 
            Huber, Hueso, Huffman, Jeffries, Knight, Lara, Logue, 
            Bonnie Lowenthal, Ma, Mansoor, Mendoza, Miller, Mitchell, 
            Monning, Morrell, Nestande, Nielsen, Norby, Olsen, Pan, 
            Perea, V. Manuel P�rez, Portantino, Silva, Skinner, 
            Smyth, Solorio, Swanson, Torres, Valadao, Wagner, 
            Wieckowski, Williams, Yamada, John A. P�rez
          NO VOTE RECORDED:  Cedillo, Davis, Gorell, Jones


          JJA:kc  7/12/11   Senate Floor Analyses 

                         SUPPORT/OPPOSITION:  SEE ABOVE

                                ****  END  ****



















                                                           CONTINUED