Sponsored Legislation

AB 747 will help to stem the tide of nonexistent or fraudulent notice. The new law requires that each attempt at service of process be recorded with a photograph bearing a date and time stamp and GPS coordinates.

AB 774 protects low-income consumers who are subject to a debt collection judgment by preserving retirement savings, ensuring due process and accuracy in wage garnishments and bank levies, and providing that amounts wrongfully seized are returned in full.

SB 766 increases consumer protections for car buyers by codifying the Federal Trade Commission’s CARS rule which prohibits exploitative junk fees, and requires car dealers to disclose the full price of a car upon request. SB 766 also gives California used car buyers and lessors a first-in-the-nation 3-day “cooling off” period to return used cars.

SB 825 amends the CCFPL to clarify and underscore the full authority of the DFPI to enforce consumer financial protection laws against all deceptive and predatory practices.

AB 2837 strengthens the notification process, provides more time to request exemption, and offers express remedies to over-garnished/over-levied Californians. Too many low-income Californians do not know that there is a debt collection case against them until money is seized from their wages or bank account. And there is no clear recourse for people who do not receive the required notice, whose wages are over-garnished, or whose bank accounts are over-levied.

SB 1061, the product of a mighty coalition of consumer and worker advocates, prohibits the inclusion of that medical debt on credit reports. When someone incurs medical expenses they cannot afford, those unpaid bills often turn into medical debt that is included on their credit report. This practice damages their credit score and may affect their ability to get an affordable car loan or a mortgage, to rent an apartment, and even to get certain jobs.

SB 278 would have clarified that turning a blind eye to elder abuse is not a way to avoid responsibility. California law holds accountable anyone who assists in or commits elder financial abuse. But some federal courts have let businesses off the hook for failing to act on obvious cases of abuse.

AB 1119 rebalances the power dynamic between debt collectors and families with consumer debt. First, AB 1119 reduces the need for court appearances as people who get a notice to appear in court, but whose income and property are under the threshold protected by existing California law, will now be able to file a financial affidavit rather than taking up court time. Second, AB 1119 makes clear that there is no jail time for failure to pay debts in “limited civil” cases in superior court.

AB1414 prohibits common counts, which allow creditors and debt buyers to circumvent the usual rules of evidence and civil procedure, from being used in debt collection cases.

SB 478 adds a provision to the California Legal Remedies Act that prohibits businesses from advertising a price that does not include all required fees (excluding taxes).

AB 199, previously SB 355, incorporates provisions expanding eligibility for automatic court filing-fee waivers into the Budget Act of 2022.

SB 1200 provides relief to debt-burdened Californians subject to debt-collection lawsuits. SB 1200 reduces the interest rate on most personal and medical debt judgments from 10% to 5% per year, and limits renewals of those judgments to a single five-year period.

SB 633 provides that, for certain types of consumer contracts, where the tradesperson or business knows or has reason to know that a co signer or guarantor is not proficient in English, the tradesperson or business must provide a translated notice in Spanish, Chinese, Tagalog, Vietnamese, and Korean, as translated and made available by the Business, Consumer Services, and Housing Agency.

AB 1405 establishes the Fair Debt Settlement Practices Act (Act) to prohibit debt settlement companies from engaging in specified practices or acts and to authorize a harmed consumer to bring a civil action against the provider by debt settlement companies.

AB 390 allows consumers to cancel online subscriptions for unwanted goods and services immediately and at any time. AB 390 also requires businesses to provide a link or button on their website or a readily accessible email address for termination.

AB 430 modifies the documentation requirements involved in various statutes that provide civil protections for victims of identity theft. The bill replaces obsolete references to a Federal Trade Commission Affidavit of Identity Theft.

AB 790 would amend a provision of the Consumer Legal Remedies Act so that it clearly applies to PACE fraud and be used to hold program administrators liable for their involvement in these schemes.

AB 832 restricts landlords’ ability to evict tenants or to recover COVID back rent debt if tenants have applied for or would qualify for rental relief payments under federal and state efforts including the Emergency Rental Assistance Payments (ERAP) program. In addition, AB 832 "masks" actions to evict tenants for nonpayment of COVID rent debt or to collect that debt so that they will not appear on credit reports or tenant screening reports.

AB 1864 enacts the California Consumer Financial Protection Law (CCFPL) to provide the Department of Financial Protection & Innovation (DFPI) with the tools, including UDAAP (Unfair, Deceptive or Abusive Acts and Practices) authority, to monitor financial product and service purveyors of all kinds. AB 1864 makes explicit that the Department also has the authority under the Dodd-Frank Act to exercise UDAAP jurisdiction over providers not covered by the CCFPL.

AB 2463 prevents judgment creditors from foreclosing on homes for an unsecured consumer debt.