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| California Association of REALTORS(R) Unveils 2004 Legislative Package Addressing Housing Affordability and Supply Issues Facing the State |
SACRAMENTO, Calif., March 23 /PRNewswire/ -- To meet the challenges of
increasing the housing supply and providing affordable homeownership options
for more families in California -- where less than one in four households can
afford a median-priced home -- the California Association of REALTORS(R)
(C.A.R.) today unveiled its 2004 legislative package. C.A.R.'s legislation in
2004 includes four bills that will improve homeownership opportunities for
renters, increase the supply of second units, reform the low- and moderate-
income housing requirements in cities and counties, and increase the
flexibility and usefulness of the density-bonus law.
"Our legislation this year is another step in a concerted effort by
California REALTORS(R) to confront and solve several components of the housing
supply and affordability issues facing our state," said C.A.R. President Ann
Pettijohn. "The inability of families to take that first step on the
homeownership ladder could imperil the state's economy, and will ultimately
impact all Californians."
C.A.R.'s sponsored legislation in 2004 addressing housing supply and
affordability issues are:
* AB 2175 (Canciamilla) Condominium Conversion: Homeownership
Opportunities for Tenants -- This bill, which C.A.R. is co-
sponsoring with the Apartment Association of Greater LA (AAGLA),
creates reasonable and practical standards for condominium
conversions. This bill permits an owner to convert to condominiums
if 50 percent of the tenants agree to buy their units. The bill
provides that those tenants not choosing to buy remain protected
under local rent-control laws. The bill prohibits a landlord from
requiring that tenants buy their units and an owner may not convert
under this bill if there have been any serious code citations within
the last six months. In summary, this bill will allow existing
tenants to purchase their home at fair market value and protect
tenants from being evicted if they choose to remain a tenant.
Status: In Assembly, awaiting policy committee assignment.
* AB 2348 (Mullin) Housing Element Reform -- Existing law prescribes
procedures for determining a city or county's share of low- and
moderate-income housing needs. However, under current law, there is
no incentive for local governments to approve new housing or promote
substantial rehabilitation of the existing housing stock. This bill
would allow any city or county to reduce its share of the regional
housing needs by 15 percent for each income group. The reduction
would be allowed only if a city or county is able to demonstrate
that more housing is being built in its community than surrounding
cities and counties, and if it has made substantial progress meeting
the housing needs of its residents. The bill also will ask the
Secretary of the Business, Transportation, and Housing Agency to
make recommendations to the Legislature on how the state should
allocate its revenues to local governments that are in compliance
with housing element law and satisfactorily demonstrate that they
are approving housing permits to meet the housing needs of the
community.
Status: In Assembly, awaiting policy committee assignment.
* SB 1818 (Ducheny and Hollingsworth) Making the Density-Bonus Law
Work -- This bill will increase the flexibility and usefulness of
the density-bonus law by halving the number of units that must be
built for housing developers to receive a density bonus. Instead of
agreeing to build at least 20 percent of all units for very-low-
income households, only 10 percent of the units will need to meet
that threshold. Developers can only use this law to benefit
condominium buyers, and under this measure, buyers in planned-unit
developments will benefit. Instead of restricting the resale price
of homes that are built as a result of a density bonus to 10 years,
the bill states that the price restriction will apply only to the
first owner of the property and will permit that owner to fully
recover improvements made to the home and the down-payment. Lastly,
the bill will compel local government to quantify its actual
assistance payments to make the units affordable.
Status: In Senate, awaiting policy committee assignment.
* AB 2702 (Steinberg) Ministerial Approval of Second Units -- Enacted
two decades ago, the second-unit law has not lived up to its
potential due, in part, to unreasonable obstacles imposed by local
governments. To encourage the development of second units, C.A.R.
successfully co-sponsored AB 1866 (Wright) in 2002, which stated
that a second-unit building permit must be approved without a
hearing if the proposal complies with all of the local government's
development requirements. However, AB 1866 did not address
specifically what reasonable standards local governments may apply
to second units. As a result, local governments became creative and
restrictive with new "ministerial" guidelines to force a hearing for
such additions or to effectively prohibit the construction of new
second units. To counteract this problem, AB 2702 will specify that
local governments cannot adopt ordinances that have the practical
effect of barring second units from a community. The bill is aimed
at preventing arbitrary restrictions that are meant to make it
exceedingly difficult to put such units on a property. If approved,
this legislation will continue to allow communities the flexibility
to design guidelines that are appropriate for their neighborhoods,
while at the same time, and perhaps most importantly, allowing
property owners to build units that are sufficient in size for their
needs and aesthetically pleasing-without encroaching on the privacy
of other property owners.
Status: In Assembly, awaiting policy committee assignment.
Additional legislation sponsored by C.A.R. during the 2003-2004
legislative session will affirm the ability of county recorders to
electronically receive real estate transactional documents for recording,
clean up language in existing statutes regarding transfer disclosures and
disclosures of airport proximity, and make several improvements in the rules
governing sales and management of common interest development (CID)
properties. Those bills are:
* AB 578 (Leno) Electronic Recording Authorization -- This bill will
affirm county recorders' ability to electronically receive real
estate transactional documents for recording. Last year, county
prosecutors' fears of documentary fraud caused the bill to stall in
the Senate Judiciary Committee. In the legislative interim,
negotiations have continued and an emerging compromise may include a
statewide extension of a successful Orange County pilot project to
all counties and an authorization to submit electronically generated
re-conveyances in loan transactions. There are two remaining issues
that need to be resolved before the bill can move forward, including
prosecutor demands for burdensome and expensive new regulatory
oversight through the Attorney General's office and demands for
additional penalty authority to punish violations of the
regulations. This bill will be heard in the spring of 2004, but a
formal hearing date has not been scheduled.
Status: In Senate Judiciary Committee.
* AB 920 (Nakano) Disclosure Requirements "Clean-Up" Legislation --
This bill will "clean up" language in existing statutes regarding
transfer disclosures and disclosures of airport proximity. The bill
was held in the Senate Judiciary Committee last year over a
controversy regarding a change to the natural hazard disclosure
report form. The bill has been strongly opposed by a major report
provider, which objected to the legal safe harbor the bill created
for sellers and agents by characterizing the report as a "substitute
disclosure." The bill modifies the existing statutory form to
require a supplying consultant to sign his or her own work product,
rather than the seller or agent. Negotiations on the bill are
ongoing and the bill is scheduled to be heard in the Senate
Judiciary this spring.
Status: In Senate Judiciary Committee.
* AB 2718 (Laird) Common Interest Development Disclosures -- This bill
will make several improvements in the rules governing sales and
management of common interest development (CID) properties. It
limits document preparation charges to actual and reasonable costs;
requires "off-the-books" community service organizations that are
supported by association fees to provide meaningful financial
disclosures to association residents; and requires association
management to disclose how (and by when) required reserves will be
created.
Status: In Assembly Housing, then Assembly Judiciary committees.
The California Association of REALTORS(R) (http://www.car.org) is one of
the largest state trade organizations in the United States, with more than
135,000 members dedicated to the advancement of professionalism in real
estate. C.A.R. is headquartered in Los Angeles.
SOURCE California Association of REALTORS(R)
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CONTACT:
Mark Giberson, +1-213-739-8304,
markg@car.org, for the California Association of REALTORS
