For a total list of all the real estate laws digested by first tuesday for the 2009-2010 legislative session, click here.
Topics:
- Mobilehome Residency Law now delivered annually to residents
- County recorders authorized to notify parties to a deed of recording date
- Advance fee for broker services clarified
Reported by Krista Craig
This rule clarifies when the management of a mobilehome park must give residents a copy of the Mobilehome Residency Law.
Mobilehome Residency Law now delivered annually to residents
Civil Code §798.15
Amended by: S.B. 2120
Effective: January 1, 2011
The management of a mobilehome park is to provide mobilehome park residents with a copy of the Mobilehome Residency Law (MRL) by February 1st of each year, but only if significant legislative changes are made to the MRL during the prior year.
To fulfill this requirement to provide annual notices of a change in the MRL, mobilehome park management may either:
- provide all mobilehome owners with a copy of the MRL; or
- notify homeowners in writing of their right to obtain a copy of the MRL free of charge from the mobilehome park management within seven days of a request.
Reported by Heather McCartney
This law authorizes county recorders to notify all parties signing a deed that the deed has been recorded.
County recorders authorized to notify parties to a deed of recording date
Government Code §27297.7
Amended by A.B. 2618
Effective: January 1, 2011
Within 30 days of the recordation of a deed, quitclaim deed or deed of trust, recorders in all California counties have the authorization to voluntarily notify by mail all parties signing the deed. Previously, only country recorders in Riverside and Los Angeles counties were give this authorization.
Failure to voluntarily notify the parties who signed the deed, quitclaim deed or deed of trust does not result in any liability against the recorder or the county. The recorder is not required to retain a copy of the returned notice if undeliverable.
As a condition of recording, the recorder may demand the deed include an assessor’s identification number in the following format:
Assessor’s Identification Number ____-_____-____.
Reported by Jeffery Marino
This amendment explicitly states several exceptions to advance fee rules previously implied in the law.
Advance fee for broker services clarified
Business and Professions Code § 10026
Amended by A.B. 1762
Effective: January 1, 2011
“Advance fee” is a fee collected by a real estate broker or his agent for a service requiring a license before the service is fully and completely performed by the broker or agent.
Three situations for a broker’s receipt of an advance fee are not covered by “advance fee” rules. The exceptions include:
- a broker’s receipt of client funds to pay the costs of advertisements in a newspaper or any other written publication for the purposes of marketing a property for sale or lease;
- a fee earned under a limited service contract on completion of the service. A limited service contract is a written agreement for statutorily-listed real estate services to include the sale, exchange, leasing and renting of real estate. Under a limited service contract, these services are performed as stand-alone services, on a task-by-task basis, and compensation is received on a per-service basis upon completion of the service; and
- an employment agreement for payment of a broker fee earned and payable upon the completion of services to be rendered.
A licensed broker accepting an advance fee must submit a copy of the advance fee agreement they intend to use to the Department of Real Estate (DRE) for approval before it may be used in a transaction. The DRE publishes a form which, if submitted to the DRE for approval, will be approved. [For more information on the requirements for a valid advance fee agreement, see the DRE memo, Essential elements of an advance fee agreement . For an example of a valid advance fee agreement, see the DRE memo, Advance fee agreement sample.]
Editor’s note — This amendment does not change or alter the conduct of brokers or sales agents. A legislative analyst working on this bill commented that none of the situations listed above have ever been interpreted by the Department of Real Estate (DRE) as requiring an advance fee agreement. A labor union proposed this amendment as a preemptive measure to ensure the DRE does not attempt to require an advance fee agreement for these contingency fee situations in the future.
