Legislative Roundup

2009 Legislative Victories

C.A.R.’s Government Affairs team successfully represents your interests before state government, preserving your ability to do business and protecting private property rights. This year C.A.R., with lots of help from grassroots REALTORS® successfully fought several potentially harmful proposals. Thank you to everyone who responded so quickly to the various Red Alerts this year. Your actions made a difference.

Stopped 3% Independent Contractor Withholding

C.A.R. opposed, and defeated, three budget proposals intended to bridge the state’s budget gap, that would have forced those making payments to independent contractors to withhold 3%, forcing you to make a no-interest loan to the state.

Worked to Maintain Your Access to Property Profiles

C.A.R. worked with the Department of Insurance to clarify that title companies can provide REALTORS® with property profiles. C.A.R.’s efforts resulted in the DOI issuing a letter making clear that title companies may still provide you with these profiles.

C.A.R. Stops Multiple Point-of-Sale Measures

C.A.R. opposed SB 407 (Padilla) when it proposed to unreasonably burden transactions with costly water retrofits in escrow. After a Red Alert, C.A.R. removed its opposition only after the bill was amended to remove point-of-sale and require all properties to be retrofitted with water saving devices by 2017.

C.A.R. also WON on AB 758. AB 758 (Skinner) is a re-introduction of a bill from last year which would have required ALL homes and commercial properties to have an energy audit and mandatory energy efficiency upgrades at point-of-sale; again, adding thousands of dollars to the cost of purchasing a home. C.A.R. worked cooperatively with the author to amend AB 758 so that home energy audits or improvements will not adversely affect sales transactions and must be cost effective. With C.A.R.’s support, AB 758 passed the legislature and has been signed into law by the Governor.

C.A.R. won on SB 183 (Lowenthal). The bill is a reintroduction of a bill that originally would have acted as a point-of-sale requirement for installation of carbon monoxide alarms. C.A.R. worked with the bill’s author to remove the point-of-sale requirement and substitute a date certain. While the bill won’t receive its final vote until January 2010, C.A.R. amendments are already in the bill. The bill will have a delayed operative date, will not be a point-of-sale requirement, and will eliminate the seperate certification requirements by consolidating smoke detectors and water heater strapping into the Transfer Disclosure Statement (TDS).

Transfer Tax Bill Stalled

C.A.R. won on AB 827 (Yamada). AB 827 would permit counties to impose a recording “tax” up to $3 per property-related document to fund archival services. While this amount may seem small, it is only the beginning of what it is anticipated to be a growing trend of taxing property-related services to fund all manner of local government expenditures. C.A.R. is troubled that sponsors of this legislation are attempting to circumvent local voters by calling this proposal a “fee,” rather than what it really is — a tax. After a C.A.R. Red Alert the bill did not have enough support and was not brought up for a vote.

Appraisal Management Company (AMC) Regulation Passed

The recent adoption of HVCC has resulted in an explosive growth of AMCs which are currently unregulated under California law. C.A.R. supports SB 237 (Calderon) which would bring AMCs under the supervision of the Office of Real Estate Appraisers and requires that they operate under California’s Real Estate Appraiser Law. SB 237 was passed by the legislature and was signed by the Governor.

Bills to Expand Coastal Commission Powers Stopped

C.A.R. opposed two bills, AB 226 (Ruskin) and AB 291 (Saldaña) that would have expanded the powers of the California Coastal Commission which oversees development of coastal properties. These are not just bills about the beach – the coastal commission would like to extend its control over most of the population centers of California, and the bills would set dangerous precedents for state government agencies that may affect you in the future. Both AB 226 and AB 291 did not have the support necessary to pass. This is a huge win for REALTORS® and private property rights!

“Tax” Bill Vetoed

C.A.R. opposed AB 985 (De La Torre), which would have allowed counties to charge an unlimited “tax” to remove already illegal, and unenforceable restrictions from property records.  While well intentioned, C.A.R. was concerned that AB 985 did not cap the cost of the fee and didn’t limit the fee to the actual cost of the program. C.A.R. supports a better approach involving the automated scanning and removal of the illegal and unenforceable restrictions. Governor Schwarzenegger vetoed AB 985 earlier this week.

Buyers’ Choice Bill Signed into Law

C.A.R. supported AB 957 (Galgiani), which strengthens buyer protections by prohibiting a REO seller from forcing a buyer to purchase title or escrow coverage from providers selected by that seller. RESPA already prohibits lenders from forcing buyers to purchase title insurance from a particular provider.  This bill is modeled after RESPA applying that rule to REO sellers for both title and escrow services.

What’s Next

Working to Extend the First-Time Homebuyer Tax Credit

C.A.R. is working closely with NAR to extend the national first-time homebuyer tax credit past its November 30th expiration date. Both C.A.R. and NAR are in the process of launching broad lobbying and grassroots campaigns to support the extension of the tax credit. Please respond to BOTH C.A.R.’s and NAR’s Calls-for-Action on this issue when you see them.

C.A.R. Legislation for 2010

C.A.R. will sponsor legislation: to expand borrowers’ “anti-deficiency protections” following a foreclosure; create an REO homebuyer tax credit in California; pre-empt local property maintenance ordinances; protect a CID unit’s owner’s right to rent; increase regulatory control on appraisal management companies; clarify existing advance fee laws; and require lenders to accept a “portable” appraisal at the request of a borrower.

Fighting to Keep the Current Loan Limits

C.A.R. and NAR strongly support keeping the current GSE loan limits as they are. A provision included in the House passed Transportation, Housing and Urban Development appropriations bill (THUD) extends the current loan limits until the end of the fiscal year 2010 (October 1, 2010).  The Senate passed a version that does not include this provision.  There is still a great amount of support for it and both NAR and C.A.R. will work to ensure it is included in the final legislation sent to President Obama.