Bill Text: CA AB2264 | 2009-2010 | Regular Session | Enrolled

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Bill Title: Debt collection: homeless youth.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 5-0)

Status: (Vetoed) 2010-09-23 - Vetoed by Governor. [AB2264 Detail]

Download: California-2009-AB2264-Enrolled.html

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BILL NUMBER: AB 2264	ENROLLED
	BILL TEXT

	PASSED THE SENATE  AUGUST 18, 2010
	PASSED THE ASSEMBLY  AUGUST 20, 2010
	AMENDED IN SENATE  AUGUST 2, 2010
	AMENDED IN SENATE  JUNE 15, 2010
	AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY  MAY 28, 2010
	AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY  APRIL 6, 2010

INTRODUCED BY   Assembly Member De Leon
   (Principal coauthor: Senator Liu)
   (Coauthors: Assembly Members Bass, Jones, and Skinner)

                        FEBRUARY 18, 2010

   An act to add Section 1463.011 to the Penal Code, relating to debt
collection.


	LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


   AB 2264, De Leon. Debt collection: homeless youth.
   Existing law requires the Judicial Council to adopt guidelines for
a comprehensive program concerning the collection of moneys owed for
fees, fines, forfeitures, penalties, and assessments imposed by
court order.
   This bill would prohibit a court from garnishing wages or levying
a bank account for the enforcement and collection of fees, fines,
forfeitures, or penalties imposed by a court against a person under
25 years of age who has an outstanding unpaid citation for truancy,
loitering, curfew violations, or illegal lodging if the court obtains
information that the person is homeless or has no permanent address.
This bill would authorize a court to use these collection procedures
when that person is 26 years of age or older. The bill would make
related findings and declarations.


THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:

  SECTION 1.  The Legislature finds and declares all of the
following:
   (a) There are approximately 1.6 million homeless youths
nationwide, according to the United States Department of Justice.
   (b) Homeless youths become homeless because they flee dangerous
homes, are barred from home by their parents, or are former foster
children forced to live on their own at 18 years of age.
   (c) Homeless youths are routinely ticketed for offenses that are
the inevitable symptoms of homelessness. These offenses include
truancy, loitering, curfew violations, and illegal lodging.
   (d) The California Research Bureau has documented that if a
homeless youth fails to show up to contest or pay a ticket, that
homeless youth's wages or bank accounts may be garnished.
   (e) Garnishment of the wages and savings of a homeless youth makes
it far more difficult for homeless youths to rent their own
apartments and end their homelessness by their own willpower and
initiative.
   (f) Moreover, because taking money from homeless youths makes it
more, and not less, likely that they will continue to be homeless,
these practices actually encourage the commission of offenses the
laws are meant to dissuade, including illegal lodging and loitering.
   (g) It is therefore in the best interest of the state to
discourage wage and bank account garnishment practices that make it
more difficult for youths who are homeless by the hand of adults to
obtain housing through their own hard work without exculpating them
from the offenses they commit.
  SEC. 2.  Section 1463.011 is added to the Penal Code, to read:
   1463.011.  (a) Notwithstanding any other provision of law, if a
court, during the course of its routine process to collect fees,
fines, forfeitures, or other penalties imposed by a court due to a
citation issued for the violation of a state or local law, obtains
information indicating that a person under 25 years of age, who has
an outstanding unpaid citation for truancy, loitering, curfew
violations, or illegal lodging, is homeless or has no permanent
address, the court shall not garnish the wages or levy against bank
accounts of that person until that person is older than 25 years of
age, as that age is recorded by that person's credit report or other
document already in the possession of, or previously provided to, the
court.
   (b) For purposes of this section a person is considered to be
"homeless" or as having "no permanent address" if that person does
not have a fixed, regular, adequate nighttime residence, or if that
person resides in any of the following:
   (1) The home of a person who is not his or her parent or legal
guardian.
   (2) A motel, hotel, or campground.
   (3) An emergency transitional shelter or hospital.
   (4) A public or private place that is not designed or ordinarily
used for a regular sleeping accommodation for human beings,
including, but not limited to, a park or other public space, an
abandoned building, an automobile or other vehicle, or a bus or train
station.
   (c) Nothing in this section shall be construed to prevent a court
from engaging in any other lawful debt collection activities.
   (d) Nothing in this section shall be construed to require a court
to perform any further investigation or financial screening into any
matter beyond the scope of its regular duties.
   (e) Nothing in this section shall be construed to prevent the
Judicial Council from altering any best practices or recommendations
for collection programs pursuant to Section 1463.010.