California Legislative Bills Pending

Check out this site for California legislative bills as of 6/29/10. This may only be a partial list so check out the site yourself.

California AB1322 passed 10/07 -would require that any appraisal done for a right of way be given to the homeowner and agency regardless of who ordered it.

AB 223-passed 10/07 - puts anybody on notice that trying to illegally influence an appraiser can put their own license in jeopardy and anybody not licensed can be tried for a crime.

AB2455-vetoed 9/30/08- enrolled to the governor 9/18/08. This bill requires that all appraisals done for public uses should be appraised and reviewed by a licensed appraiser.

AB3022 introduced 2/22/08 - prohibits improper influences of appraisers and makes a violation a violation of the licensed persons license. Read only 2/25/08

Sb1777 introduced 3/22/08 - VETOED 9/28/08 by governor ,amended 4/23/08 talks about training for assessors and a designation for appraisers who take appropriate training. This seems convoluted to me but you may want to read it. 6/10/08 referred to committee on app 9/17/08 sent to governor.

AB33 seeks to abolish the OREA, DRE and others and merge them into one government agency. My opinion is that this is counter to the intent of OREA but read the intents from the legislation itself. 1/26/10 this is still sitting in committee. 3/25/10 this bill has trasnformed to a sex offenders bills only

 SEC. 2.   It is the intent of the Legislature to do
all of the following:

   (a) Abolish the Department of Corporations (DOC), the Department of Financial Institutions (DFI), the Department of Real Estate (DRE), and the Office of Real Estate Appraisers (OREA) in the Business, Transportation and Housing Agency.

   (b) Create a new Department of Financial Services (DFS) in the Business, Transportation and Housing Agency.

   (c) Designate the chief officer of DFS as the Commissioner of Financial Services.

   (d) Cause DFS and the Commissioner of Financial Services to succeed to and be vested with all the duties, powers, purposes, responsibilities, and jurisdiction currently vested in DOC, DFI, DRE, and OREA, and the Commissioner of Corporations, the Commissioner of
Financial Institutions, the Commissioner of Real Estate, and the Director of Real Estate Appraisers.

   (e) Authorize the Controller to transfer funds from DOC, DFI, DRE, and OREA to DFS.

   (f) Consolidate the operations and licensing frameworks of DOC, DFI, DRE, and OREA and transfer them to DFS and, specifically, require DFS to regulate the following persons, entities, and transactions currently subject to regulation and oversight by, or subject to the jurisdiction of, DOC, DFI, DRE, and OREA:

SB36 of California is off and running. It talks mostly about how they (this bill became law 10/09) want to license and set up a nationwide system to regulate mortgage brokers. I found one reference to appraisers "(section 44) Make any payment, threat, or promise, directly or indirectly, to any person for the purposes of influencing the independent judgment of the person in connection with a residential mortgage loan, or make any payment, threat, or promise, directly or indirectly, to any appraiser of a property, for the purposes of influencing the independent judgment of the appraiser with respect to the value of the property.  this law has passed.
 

California AB94 talks about eminent domain issues and appraisals required. It may be of interest to those of you who do that kind of work.

SB 237(passed 10/09), as introduced, Calderon. Real estate appraisers. Existing law, the Real Estate Appraisers' Licensing and Certification Law, provides for the licensure and regulation of real estate appraisers and vests the duty of enforcing and administering that law in the Office of Real Estate Appraisers. Fees and assessments collected under these provisions are deposited into the Real Estate Appraisers Regulation Fund, and 5% of the amount of any license or certificate fee collected is credited to the Recovery Account in that fund, which account is continuously appropriated.

This bill would require appraisal management companies, as defined, to register with the Office of Real Estate Appraisers, and would subject those entities to the provisions of the Real Estate Appraisers' Licensing and Certification Law. The bill would require the office to adopt regulations governing the implementation of the registration process, with specified minimum requirements, and establish the fees to be imposed for registration in an amount sufficient to cover the costs incurred by the office in administering the registration. Because of 5% of those fees would be credited to the Recovery Account, a continuously appropriated fund, the bill would make an appropriation. The bill would also require the fingerprinting of 10% owners and any controlling person of an applicant for registration with the Department of Justice, and would require the department to charge all applicants for licensure or registration specified fees for that fingerprinting. The bill would also set forth standards with which an appraisal management company would need to comply. The bill would make conforming changes within other provisions of the Real Estate Appraisers' Licensing and Certification Law to incorporate the changes made by this bill.
Existing law prohibits a person with an interest in a real estate transaction involving an appraisal to improperly influence or attempt to improperly influence, through coercion, extortion, or bribery, the development, reporting, result, or review of a real estate appraisal sought in connection with a mortgage loan.
This bill would enumerate specified prohibited acts under that provision, including, but not limited to, withholding or threatening to withhold timely payment for an appraisal, or requesting the payment of compensation to achieve higher priority in the assignment of appraisal business. The bill would also provide that a violation of those prohibited acts by an appraisal management company constitutes a violation of the Real Estate Appraisers' Licensing and Certification Law. some minor amendments were made 3/9/09.  sec 16 prohibits anybody from adding, subtracting any part of the report or removing a signature

The Bill passed and has been signed into law 10/2009

This is a new one SB633. In short it requires that an appraiser personally visit a property they appraise and be free of coersion.SB 633, introduced 3/2009 as introduced, Wright. Real estate appraisers. Existing law, the Real Estate Appraisers' Licensing and Certification Law, provides for the licensure and regulation of real estate appraisers and vests the duties of enforcing and administering that law in the Office of Real Estate Appraisers. Existing law prohibits a person with an interest in a real estate transaction involving an appraisal to improperly influence or attempt to improperly influence, through coercion, extortion, or bribery, the development, reporting, result, or review of a real estate appraisal sought in connection with a mortgage loan.
This bill would require that a person making an appraisal in connection with a mortgage loan shall make at least one personal visit to the property that he or she is appraising. The bill would
specify that this duty may not be assigned or delegated to any other person or employee of the appraiser. As applied to a licensed appraiser, as defined, a violation of these provisions would be deemed a violation of the Real Estate Appraisers' Licensing and Certification Law.

SB671 is a new proposal 2/27/09 that speaks to taking agricultural lands. This became law 10/11/09

LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST

SB 671, as introduced, Runner. Agricultural land: valuation. Existing law requires the county assessor to assess current fair market valuations to determine the cancellation fee for removing land from a Williamson Act contract. Existing law permits the Department of Conservation or the landowner, if either believes that the current fair market valuations are inaccurate, to request formal review from the county assessor in the county considering the cancellation petition. Existing law requires the county assessor to formally review the valuation upon receiving a request for formal review if he or she determines that additional information submitted by the requesting party may have a material effect on the valuation of the property.

This bill would instead require the Department of Conservation to obtain a fee appraisal to determine the current fair market value of the land, and would authorize the county assessor, upon request of the department or the landowner, to provide information to the department to assist in the determination of value. The bill would require the fee appraiser to, upon request, formally review the valuation, and at the conclusion of the formal review, send the
valuation to the department, the landowner, and the board or council considering the petition to cancel the contract.

AB919 This bill provides that any time a mortgage document is recorded in a county recorders office that the name of all of those involved including the appraiser are named on the recorded document. This is in sitting in committee since 10/23/09.