While some may be happy to put the year behind them, CCAR leaders, volunteers and members accomplished many things in 2020. CCAR’s year-end financial report, along with Association updates can be viewed here.
CCAR 2020 Annual Report Now Available
C.A.R. Unveils Fair Housing & Equity Legislative Package
Need Housing Now Initiative Urges Legislature to Address Housing Affordability and Availability
Earlier this month C.A.R. unveiled its Fair Housing and Equity legislative package designed to help address ongoing fair housing and equity issues that persist, especially for communities of color. The package is part of C.A.R.’s statewide Californians Need Housing Now initiative, which urges the Legislature to enact policies that address the issue of affordability and availability plaguing many communities across California with increased housing supply and fair housing reforms. These bills address the historic inequities facing Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC) that have made it more difficult for these communities to access and afford housing in California.
Legislation that C.A.R. is supporting includes requiring implicit bias training for realtors, removing discriminatory language in property records, prohibiting discrimination against people living in affordable housing and repealing Article 34 of the California Constitution. Details of those pieces of legislation are as follows:
Prohibiting Discrimination Against Residents Living in Affordable Housing
Assembly Bill 491 (Gonzalez)-First Hearing Pending: This bill will ensure that multifamily properties provide the occupants of affordable units the same access to common entrances, common areas, and amenities that are available to the occupants of market-rate units and do not isolate affordable units to a specific floor or area.
Uniform Partition of Heirs Property Act (UPHPA)
Assembly Bill 633 (Calderon)- This bill adds California to the list of states that utilize the Uniform Partition of Heirs Property Act (UPHPA). Under current law, if several heirs jointly inherit a property and there is no will, trust or other method of conveying the property at the time of the owner’s death, one heir can go to court to force the sale of the entire property, often at below-market rates. Furthermore, heirs who may be in an immediate need of money have been taken advantage of by predatory persons who buy small shares and then force these below-market sales at which they purchase the property. These forced partition sales have had an outsized negative impact on those in financially disadvantaged groups, more of whom tend not to have wills or trusts. This measure seeks to preserve family wealth by providing a series of simple due process protections to ensure all parties receive their fair share of the inherited proceeds and ensure the best value for the inherited property is obtained. AB 633 passed its first committee hearing, Assembly Judiciary.
Implicit Bias Training for Real Estate Professionals
Senate Bill 263 (Rubio) – This bill now requires a licensee’s continuing education requirement to include a two-hour course on implicit bias training for real estate licensees, including actionable steps licensees can take to prevent implicit bias. It also requires the current fair housing training to include participation in interactive training where roleplay scenarios are used to illustrate live-experiences from the perspective of both a consumer and a licensee. AB 263 passed its committee hearing in Sen. Business, Professions, and Economic Development.
Repealing Article 34
Senate Constitutional Amendment 2 (Wiener, Allen)- Enacted by voters in 1950, Article 34 of the California Constitution requires that any development comprised of “low-rent” dwellings, financed in whole or in part by federal, state, or local government, be approved by a vote of the people in the jurisdiction where the project is located. Article 34 does not just apply to “public housing” but also affects mixed-income developments that often contain units partially “subsidized” by local government. Since 1992, C.A.R. has had policy supporting affordable workforce housing and has sought to advance policies seeking to increase the state’s housing supply. C.A.R. is a co-sponsor of S.C.A. 2, which seeks to repeal Article 34 in its entirety. This bill is pending referral to a policy committee.
If you have any questions about the above legislation, please contact C.A.R. at [email protected].
New C.A.R. Legislation Addresses Housing Barriers
Less than half of Black households earn the minimum income needed to purchase a home as compared to whites, illustrating the homeownership gap and wealth disparity for people of color, women, people with disabilities, indigenous people and members of the LGBTQ community, according to a recent C.A.R. report.
The Californians Need Housing Now initiative urges the Legislature to enact policies that address California’s worsening housing affordability crisis with increased housing supply and fair housing reforms. Specifically, the bills address the historic and ongoing inequities facing Black, Indigenous and people of color (BIPOC) that have made it harder for these communities to access and afford housing in California
Fair Housing and Equity legislative solutions include requiring California real estate professionals to take implicit bias training, removing discriminatory language in property records, prohibiting discrimination against people living in affordable housing, repealing Article 34 of the California Constitution and eliminating forced partition sales.
Prop. 19: Property Tax Exemptions From Reassessment
Thanks to Prop 19, homeowners aged 55+, people with severe disabilities and victims of natural disasters can move closer to family, medical care, or to a home that better meets their needs anywhere in California without a tax penalty*
Prop 19 also removed unfair restrictions on Californians with severe disabilities, allowing homeowners to move to a replacement home anywhere in California without a tax penalty*
And after wildfires destroyed more than 24,000 family homes in the past few years, wildfire victims have faced massive property tax hikes when relocating to another home. Prop 19 allows victims of wildfires or natural disasters to transfer the property tax base of their damaged house to a replacement home anywhere in California*
C.A.R. has launched a dedicated website for Proposition 19 to provide you with all the information you need to help clients take full advantage of the important tax benefits made possible through this new legislation, effective April 1, 2021.
| CA Prop. 19 Website >
| C.A.R. Prop. 19 Frequently Asked Questions >
*Purchasing a more expensive home will result in an adjusted tax increase based on the original property’s Prop 13 tax basis.
Bruce Adams, COO Retiring – Join Us for Virtual Send-off Party!
YOU’RE INVITED TO A VIRTUAL COCKTAIL PARTY in honor of CCAR’s Chief Operating Officer Bruce Adams who will retire at the end of February. We thank him for his decade-long service to the Association and wish him the very best as he pursues endless new horizons!
Thursday, February 25, 2021 from 4:00-5:30 pm via Zoom.
Platinum Partner, NAR Corporate Ally Program
CCAR is proud to be a RESO Platinum Certified MLS, the highest level of certification available.
