Way back in February of 21’, California Republican Phillip Chen introduced Assembly Bill 515, innocuously titled “Trespass.” This bill was written as an attempt to amend Section 602 of the Penal Code, relating to trespassing during the course of repossessions and was supported by the California Association of Licensed Repossessors (CALR). While it slow crawled it’s bipartisan passage through the democrat controlled state house and senate, recall survivor, California Governor Gavin Newsom, smacked it down with a veto showing just what his sentiments are toward the self-help repossession process.
The core of AB515 was actually quite reasonable. The bill was drafted to provide that existing trespassing laws do not apply to repossession agencies or their employees when they are on private property searching for collateral or repossessing collateral, and, upon completing that search or repossession, leave the private property immediately.
It is actually somewhat surprising that this passed through the two-democrat controlled lower houses at all. The Governor’s swift rebuke illustrates just where this state sits in future matters that could come into play should economic conditions worsen.
If this veto is any indication of the state’s mood toward self-help repossession, then the results of Assembly Concurrent Resolution 24 (ACR24), which amongst other studies, has on top of the list a study to determine “Whether the law should be revised that relates to creditors’ remedies, including, but not limited to, attachment, garnishment, execution, repossession of property (including the claim and delivery statute, self-help repossession of property, and the Commercial Code provisions on repossession of property), confession of judgment procedures, default judgment procedures, enforcement of judgments, the right of redemption, procedures under private power of sale in a trust deed or mortgage, possessory and nonpossessory liens, insolvency, and related matters.”
Last year the state assembly crumbled under withering pressure from the credit union, bank and real estate lobbies in passing a lengthy repossession and foreclosure moratorium in AB2501. It should come as little surprise when ACR24’s sponsor, Assemblymember Edwin Chau (D) comes back with a proposal to either end or hinder self-help repossessions and foreclosures in the state.
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