Bill Text: CA SB944 | 2015-2016 | Regular Session | Introduced

NOTE: There are more recent revisions of this legislation. Read Latest Draft

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Bill Title: Housing omnibus.

Spectrum: Slight Partisan Bill (Democrat 8-3)

Status: (Passed) 2016-09-27 - Chaptered by Secretary of State. Chapter 714, Statutes of 2016. [SB944 Detail]

Download: California-2015-SB944-Introduced.html

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BILL NUMBER: SB 944	INTRODUCED
	BILL TEXT


INTRODUCED BY   Committee on Transportation and Housing (Senators
Beall (Chair), Allen, Bates, Cannella, Gaines, Galgiani, Leyva,
McGuire, Mendoza, Roth, and Wieckowski)

                        FEBRUARY 3, 2016

   An act to amend Section 4270 of, and to amend and renumber Section
4750.10 of, the Civil Code, and to amend Section 12955.9 of the
Government Code, relating to housing.


	LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


   SB 944, as introduced, Committee on Transportation and Housing.
Housing omnibus.
   (1) The Davis-Stirling Common Interest Development Act, among
other things, requires that the declaration, as defined, of a common
interest development include certain specified information and allows
for amendments to the declaration pursuant to either the declaration
or the provisions of the act. Under existing law, an amendment to a
declaration is generally effective after certain specified
requirements are met, except as provided.
   This bill would clarify that the exception from this requirement
includes alternative procedures established in other specified
provisions of the act for approving, certifying, or recording an
amendment.
   Existing law also provides that any provision, except for a
reasonable restriction, as defined, of a governing document, as
defined, of a common interest development is void and unenforceable
if it effectively prohibits or unreasonably restricts the use of a
clothesline or a drying rack, as defined, in an owner's backyard.
   This bill would make nonsubstantive changes to this provision.
   (2) Under the California Fair Employment and Housing Act, the
owner of a housing accommodation is prohibited from discriminating
against or harassing any person on the basis of certain personal
characteristics, including familial status. The act provides that its
provisions relating to discrimination based on familial status do
not apply to housing for older persons, defined to include, among
others, mobilehome parks that meet the standards for "housing for
older persons" contained in the federal Fair Housing Amendments Act
of 1988.
   This bill would instead require, for this purpose, mobilehome
parks to meet the standards for "housing for older persons" contained
in the federal Fair Housing Act, as amended by Public Law 104-76.
   Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: no.
State-mandated local program: no.


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

  SECTION 1.  Section 4270 of the Civil Code is amended to read:
   4270.  (a) A declaration may be amended pursuant to the
declaration or this act. Except as   where an
alternative process for approving, certifying, or recording an
amendment is  provided in Section  4225, 4230, 4235, or
 4275, an amendment is effective after all of the following
requirements have been met:
   (1) The amendment has been approved by the percentage of members
required by the declaration and any other person whose approval is
required by the declaration.
   (2) That fact has been certified in a writing executed and
acknowledged by the officer designated in the declaration or by the
association for that purpose, or if no one is designated, by the
president of the association.
   (3) The amendment has been recorded in each county in which a
portion of the common interest development is located.
   (b) If the declaration does not specify the percentage of members
who must approve an amendment of the declaration, an amendment may be
approved by a majority of all members, pursuant to Section 4065.
  SEC. 2.  Section 4750.10 of the Civil Code is amended and
renumbered to read:
    4750.10.   4753.   (a) For  the
 purposes of this section, "clothesline" includes a cord, rope,
or wire from which laundered items may be hung to dry or air. A
balcony, railing, awning, or other part of a structure or building
shall not qualify as a clothesline.
   (b) For  the  purposes of this section, "drying rack"
means an apparatus from which laundered items may be hung to dry or
air. A balcony, railing, awning, or other part of a structure or
building shall not qualify as a drying rack.
   (c) Any provision of a governing document, as defined in Section
4150, shall be void and unenforceable if it effectively prohibits or
unreasonably restricts an owner's ability to use a clothesline or
drying rack in the owner's backyard.
   (d) (1) This section does not apply to provisions that impose
reasonable restrictions on an owner's backyard for the use of a
clothesline or drying rack.
   (2) For purposes of this section, "reasonable restrictions" are
restrictions that do not significantly increase the cost of using a
clothesline or drying rack.
   (3) This section applies only to backyards that are designated for
the exclusive use of the owner.
   (e) Nothing in this section shall prohibit an association from
establishing and enforcing reasonable rules governing clotheslines or
drying racks.
  SEC. 3.  Section 12955.9 of the Government Code is amended to read:

   12955.9.  (a) The provisions of this part relating to
discrimination on the basis of familial status shall not apply to
housing for older persons.
   (b) As used in this section, "housing for older persons" means any
of the following:
   (1) Housing provided under any state or federal program that the
Secretary of Housing and Urban Development determines is specifically
designed and operated to assist elderly persons, as defined in the
state or federal program.
   (2) Housing that meets the standards for senior housing in
Sections 51.2, 51.3, and 51.4 of the Civil Code, except to the extent
that those standards violate the prohibition of familial status
discrimination in the federal Fair Housing Amendments Act of 1988
 (P.L.   (Public Law  100-430) and
implementing regulations.
   (3) Mobilehome parks that meet the standards for "housing for
older persons" as defined in the federal Fair Housing 
Amendments Act of 1988   Act, as amended by Public Law
104-76,  and implementing regulations.
   (c) For purposes of this section, the burden of proof shall be on
the owner to prove that the housing qualifies as housing for older
persons.