Each year the California Legislature somehow thinks up 2000-2500 proposed new laws to make all of our lives better. To be fair, we are a highly-codified state, and a substantial percentage of the bills just tweak or refine existing statutes. But still, our legislators take an exceedingly expansive view of their roles as lawmakers.

In recent years, Governor Brown has received somewhere between 900 and 1100 bills for signature or veto. Typically, he has vetoed 12-15%, with approximately 800 bills actually going into the California Codes. Most take effect on January 1 of the following year, and newspapers dutifully report the spate of new laws with which we must all comply.

If they knew or cared about the details, citizens would take some comfort knowing that Governor Brown, and all governors with whom we are aware, receives an individualized presentation on every bill passed by the legislature. It is not as if there are stacks of technical changes he simply signs in rote fashion; instead a legislative deputy works up a file on each bill, noting the arguments in favor and opposed, the views of affected state agencies, costs, and a recommendation to sign or veto.

With all of the things happening in California, it is not even remotely easy to carve out time in September to give the governor a presentation on 1000 bills. The state constitution gives Governor Brown until September 30 to sign or veto each bill, or the bill becomes law automatically without his signature. California governors virtually never take advantage of that option, so literally every spare moment in September is given over to presentations on bills.

For 2018, CMA identified 150 bills of potential interest to the membership. Dozens now await action by the governor, so members will certainly want to attend the October seminar in Las Vegas, by which time we will know and can report on the outcome of all bills. Some of the big issues for the year included:

  • PACE: Most members are aware that this acronym stands for “property assessed clean energy.” The idea is that energy improvement retrofits can be financed by assessments collected through the property tax bill. Because of the importance of energy conservation in California, the PACE concept enjoys broad support amongst legislators. But done wrong, PACE assessments can go beyond what homeowners really need or can afford. Additionally, PACE assessments enjoy super-priority, putting CMA members and other lenders at risk. Bills are on the governor’s desk which both expand regulation of PACE entities and the approval process, and expand the purposes for which PACE assessments may be levied. Come to Las Vegas to learn about “home hardening!”
  • Homeowner’s Bill of Rights: At the end of last year, certain sections of HOBR applying to lenders and servicers conducting more than 175 foreclosures in a calendar year “sunsetted,” or expired by their own terms. The practical effect of the sunsetted provisions was to make all lenders and servicers subject to the same rules, regardless of the number of foreclosures they conduct. This year SB 818, awaiting action by the governor, reinstates the sunsetted provisions, which would once again impose higher standards on the “over-175” lenders and servicers. A signature is likely, but the good news is that bill adds language requiring completed loan modification applications to be submitted at least five days before the scheduled foreclosure sale, an important improvement to prevent instances where loan modification requests are received the day before, or even morning of, the trustee’s sale.
  • CFL Regulation: This year a number of bills were introduced relating to regulation of CFLs. Many of the bills addressed loan segments not covered by CMA members who hold CFL licenses, such as car title loans or small dollar loans. CMA was active on this legislation, to make sure that the CFL bills and other bills proposing new regulation on commercial loans do not disadvantage our members.

Of course, as we prepare to report on what happened this year, we are already looking ahead to next year. With the hard work of your legislative committee, Noah Furie, Michelle Rodriguez and Don Herbert, we will be prepared for the 2500 bills coming in 2019, along with a new governor and legislature.

See you in Las Vegas!