Senator Kelly Seyarto (R-Murrieta) is proud to announce his Housing Bill Package has been introduced in the Senate. It will bring California in compliance with Supreme Court rulings and protect taxpayers and local control.
SB 964 will update California code to match a 2023 Supreme Court ruling where a county is not allowed to keep profits from the sale of an auctioned property, if the property was seized and auctioned because of defaulted property taxes. Any profits made off such an auction should be restored to the owner.
“In cases of auctioned-off property where the owner has defaulted on their taxes, the government should not be making a profit,” said Senator Seyarto. “The Supreme Court already outlined in their decision last year that profits belong to the owner. This is a simple ownership principle supported by the 5th Amendment.”
SB 968 will allow local governments to roll over any housing units that exceed the Regional Housing Needs Allocations (RHNA) in a specific category to the next RHNA cycle. Currently, local governments must meet housing targets for certain types of new builds. If new builds in a category exceed the target number, this law will allow the local authority to use the extra units for the next cycle.
“Cost of building is already outrageous in California,” said Senator Seyarto. “This law will make it a little bit easier for local governments that already meet their housing unit targets to stay in compliance and continue to meet the needs of their communities and the state government.”
SB 1052 will implement the State Auditor’s recommendations regarding the Mobilehome Residency Law Protection Program, which was established in 2020 and has amassed over $8 million in unspent funds collected as “lot fees” from mobilehome park residents. It will eliminate the $10 monthly lot fee and provide greater oversight into whether residents’ complaints are adequately addressed. The recommendations were made after Senator Seyarto’s request for audit was approved and fulfilled by the Joint Audit Committee of the State Assembly and Senate.
“The lot fees were not intended to become a burden but to be used to make it easier for residents of mobilehome parks to seek legal aid,” said Senator Seyarto. “When I requested this audit last year, these are the types of findings I was worried would come to light. The recommendations from the State Auditor are sound, save taxpayers money, and should be implemented immediately to protect California’s mobilehome park residents.”
These bills will strengthen California’s ownership protections and local government authority to support their communities.