AB 985

Bill Subjects

Abstract

(1) Existing law prohibits discrimination in housing through restrictive covenants based on race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, familial status, marital status, disability, national origin, source of income, or ancestry and provides that discrimination in housing through a restrictive covenant includes the existence of a restrictive covenant regardless of whether accompanied by a statement that the covenant is repealed or void. Existing law similarly declares that any provision in any deed of real property in California that purports to restrict the right of any person to sell, lease, rent, use, or occupy the property to persons having any specified characteristic, including, but not limited to, race, color, religion, sex, marital status, national origin, ancestry, familial status, disability, source of income, or sexual orientation, by providing for payment of a penalty, forfeiture, reverter, or otherwise, is void, except as specified. Existing law provides that any deed or other written instrument that relates to title to real property, or any written covenant, condition, or restriction annexed or made a part of, by reference or otherwise, any deed or instrument, that contains any provision that purports to forbid, restrict, or condition the right of any person or persons to sell, buy, lease, rent, use, or occupy the property on account of any of the above-specified characteristics, shall be deemed to be revised to omit that provision. Existing law also authorizes a person who holds an ownership interest of record in property that he or she believes is the subject of an unlawfully restrictive covenant based on race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, familial status, marital status, disability, national origin, source of income, or ancestry, to record a Restrictive Covenant Modification, which would include a copy of the original document with the illegal language stricken. Before recording the modification document, the county recorder is required to submit the modification document and the original document to the county counsel who is required to determine whether the original document contains an unlawful restriction based on race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, familial status, marital status, disability, national origin, source of income, or ancestry. The county recorder is required to make Restrictive Covenant Modification forms available to the public. Under existing law, a county recorder, title insurance company, escrow company, real estate broker, real estate agent, or association that provides a copy of a declaration, governing document, or deed to any person is required to place a cover page or stamp on the previously recorded document stating that if the document contains an unlawful restriction, that restriction is void and may be removed by recording a Restrictive Covenant Modification. This bill would require a county recorder, title insurance company, escrow company, real estate broker, real estate agent, or association that provides a copy of a declaration, governing document, or deed to a person who holds an ownership interest of record in property to also provide a Restrictive Covenant Modification form with specified procedural information to that person. The bill would authorize a title insurance company, escrow company, real estate broker, real estate agent, or other person to record a Restrictive Covenant Modification, in addition to the owner of record, and would require the requester to provide a return address in order for the county recorder to notify the interested party of the action taken by county counsel on the respective property. The bill would require the county counsel to make a determination whether the language identified by the requester in the original document contains an unlawful restriction within a reasonable period of time, not to exceed 3 months, as specified, and would authorize the county counsel to compile a list of phrases identified as unlawfully restrictive language for the purpose of expediting that determination. The bill would require the county recorder to make Restrictive Covenant Modification forms available to the public onsite in an appropriately designated area, and would permit multiple submissions on behalf of different homes and for processing homes in batches with respect to a modification document that affects multiple homes or lots. These new duties would impose a state‑mandated local program on the county recorder and county counsel. (2) Existing law requires the recorder of each county to establish a social security number truncation program in order to create a public record version of each official record so that the public record is in an electronic format and is an exact copy of the official record, except that any social security number contained in the official record shall be truncated by redacting the first 5 digits of that number. These provisions apply to any document recorded since January 1, 1980, as specified. If a public record version of an official record exists, and upon a request of any person to inspect, copy, or to otherwise publicly disclose that record, the recorder shall make available only the public record version of that record, and publicly disclose the official record only in response to a subpoena or court order. The county recorder may, upon authorization of the board of supervisors, charge an additional fee of $1 for recording the first page of each document to be used to implement a social security number truncation program pursuant to these provisions. The county auditor is required, at the request of the county board of supervisors, to verify that these fees are used only for the purpose of the program. This bill would require the recorder of each county to create a public record version of each official record for which a Restrictive Covenant Modification is recorded on or after January 1, 2010, so that the public record is in an electronic format and is an exact copy of the official record, except that any unlawfully restrictive covenant contained in the official record shall be redacted. The bill would specify that an electronic version of the unredacted record, for which a Restrictive Covenant Modification is recorded, would become the official record for the purposes of these provisions. If a public record version of an official record exists, and upon request of any person to inspect, copy, or to otherwise publicly disclose that record, the recorder shall make available only the public record version of that record, and publicly disclose the official record only in response to a subpoena or court order. The bill would provide that the county recorder shall not incur any liability for a procedural, clerical, or administrative error in the recording of a modification document or any other activity related to the redaction of an unlawfully restrictive covenant pursuant to these provisions. The bill would also exempt the county counsel from liability, as specified. The bill would require the county recorder to charge an initial fee of not more than $2, as specified, for recording the first page of each property-related document to be used by the county for the sole purpose of performing activities related to the redaction of an unlawfully restrictive covenant pursuant to these provisions or those described in (1) above. The bill would require the board of supervisors to adjust the fee to a whole dollar amount reasonably sufficient to recover costs. By creating new duties for county recorders, this bill would impose a state-mandated local program. (3) This bill would make legislative findings that any limitation on the public's right of access to the writings of public officials and agencies made by its provisions is necessary to protect against the risk of discrimination. (4) The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse local agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that reimbursement. This bill would provide that the Legislature finds there is no mandate contained in the bill that will result in costs incurred by a local agency or school district for a new program or higher level of service which require reimbursement pursuant to these constitutional and statutory provisions.