Securities, commodities & investment

(1)The California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) requires a lead agency, as defined, to prepare, or cause to be prepared, and certify the completion of, an environmental impact report (EIR) on a project that it proposes to carry out or approve that may have a significant effect on the environment or to adopt a negative declaration if it finds that the project will not have that effect. CEQA also requires a lead agency to prepare a mitigated negative declaration for a project that may have a significant effect on the environment if revisions in the project would avoid or mitigate that effect and there is no substantial evidence that the project, as revised, would have a significant effect on the environment. CEQA establishes administrative procedures for the review and certification of the EIR for a project and judicial review procedures for any action or proceeding brought to challenge the lead agency’s decision to certify the EIR or to grant project approvals. This bill would establish specified administrative and judicial review procedures for the administrative and judicial review of the EIR and approvals granted for a project related to the development of a specified stadium in the City of Los Angeles. Because the lead agency would be required to use these alternative procedures for administrative review of the EIR if the project applicant so chooses, this bill would impose a state-mandated local program. The bill would require the lead agency and applicant to implement specified measures, as a condition of approval of the project, to minimize traffic congestion and air quality impacts that may result from spectators driving to the stadium. (2)The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse local agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that reimbursement. This bill would provide that no reimbursement is required by this act for a specified reason. (3)This bill would make legislative findings and declarations as to the necessity of a special statute for the development of a stadium in the City of Los Angeles. Hide

Existing law requires that, upon a breach of the obligation of a mortgage or transfer of an interest in property, the trustee, mortgagee, or beneficiary record a notice of default in the office of the county recorder where the mortgaged or trust property is situated and mail the notice of default to the mortgagor or trustor, among other acts required prior to exercising a power of sale in a nonjudicial foreclosure proceeding. This bill would establish, contingent upon receipt of federal funding for all costs, and only until January 1, 2014, the Facilitated Mortgage Workout (FMW) Program. The program would be a process whereby borrowers and lenders would engage in conciliation sessions for purposes of developing a loan modification plan. These provisions would apply, except as specified, if the loan originated prior to January 1, 2009, the loan is the 1st mortgage or deed of trust secured by the property, the property is occupied by the borrower as the borrower’s principal residence, and the unpaid principal balance is not more than $729,750. The program would require that specified information regarding the FMW Program be included with the notice of default sent to a borrower, as defined, on a loan secured by residential real property of one- to 4-family dwelling units that is the primary residence of the borrower, as specified. The bill would require that this additional notice be recorded in the office of the county recorder. By expanding the duties of county recorders, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program. The bill would provide for an administrator of the program who would be appointed by the Governor and confirmed by the Senate. The program would require a borrower who elects to participate in the program to complete a specified form and return the form to the administrator of the program not later than 30 calendar days after receiving the notice of default. The program would require the borrower to submit other information to the administrator within 15 days of requesting to participate in the program, including tax returns, income verification, a specified deposit of funds, and a letter describing the borrower’s financial hardship, as specified. The program would require a borrower who elects to participate in the program to deposit with the administrator 50% of the current mortgage payment each month during participation in the FMW Program. The bill would also prohibit a mortgagee, trustee, beneficiary, or authorized agent from reporting negative credit information to a credit reporting agency about a borrower who has completed the FMW Program and accepted a mortgage loan modification. The bill would impose various administrative fees, and a specified minimum deposit, payable by the mortgagee, trustee, beneficiary, or authorized agent, or by the borrower, as specified, who participates in the FMW Program. The bill would also provide that the timelines set forth in the provision governing the exercise of the power of sale, as specified, would be suspended until the completion of the program, as specified. The bill would require the administrator of the program, among other duties, to implement rules and standards for selecting qualified neutral conciliation officers and to develop standards for forms and reports required to implement the program. The bill would also require the administrator, upon receipt of a borrower’s form whereby he or she elects to participate in the program, to nominate an individual to serve as a neutral conciliation officer from a list of qualified neutral conciliation officers in the county in which the property is located. The bill would establish the compensation for a neutral conciliation officer who provides his or her services to the program and require a neutral conciliation officer to use reasonable efforts to ensure that each FMW Program is completed within 60 calendar days of the neutral conciliation officer’s nomination. The bill would require the neutral conciliation officer to prepare a final report, as specified. The bill would also require, only until January 1, 2015, the administrator to report quarterly to the Legislature regarding the FMW Program, as specified. The bill would also require each mortgagee, trustee, beneficiary, or authorized agent participating in the program to post specified data about its loans on its Internet Web site.These provisions would become operative only upon the issuance of a notice from the administrator to the Governor and specified other legislative leaders, and the posting of the notice on an Internet Web site, declaring that the administrator has the capacity to make the program available to any borrower in every county who desires to participate.The bill would also make related and technical changes. The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse local agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that reimbursement. This bill would provide that, if the Commission on State Mandates determines that the bill contains costs mandated by the state, reimbursement for those costs shall be made pursuant to these statutory provisions. Hide

Existing law regulates investments made by public pension and retirement systems and defines the term “placement agent” to mean a person or entity hired, engaged, or retained by an external manager, as defined, to raise money or investment from a public retirement system in California. Existing law, the Political Reform Act of 1974, provides for the comprehensive regulation of the lobbying industry, including defining the term “lobbyist” and regulating the conduct of lobbyists. Among its provisions, the act requires lobbyists to register with the Secretary of State and to file periodic disclosure reports, and it prohibits lobbyists from engaging in certain activities, including accepting or agreeing to accept any payment in any way contingent upon the defeat, enactment, or outcome of any proposed legislative or administrative action, as defined. This bill would amend the existing definition of “placement agent” to mean a person, as defined, hired, engaged, or retained by, or serving for the benefit of or on behalf of, an external manager, as defined, to act as a finder, solicitor, marketer, consultant, broker, or other intermediary in connection with the offer or sale of the securities, assets, or services of an external manager to a public retirement system in California for compensation, and would exclude from that definition an employee, officer, director, equityholder, partner, member, or trustee of an external manager who spends 13 or more of his or her time, during a calendar year, managing the securities or assets owned, controlled, invested, or held by the external manager. The bill would define “placement agent” in a similar way for purposes of the Political Reform Act of 1974, except that the definition would be limited to an individual acting in connection with the offer or sale of the securities, assets, or services of an external manager to a state public retirement system in California and would not include employees, officers, or directors of specified external managers or of affiliates of those external managers. In addition, the bill would prohibit a person from acting as a placement agent in connection with any potential system investment made by a state public retirement system unless that person is registered as a lobbyist and is in full compliance with the Political Reform Act of 1974 as that act applies to lobbyists. The bill would also require a person acting as a placement agent in connection with any potential system investment made by a local public retirement system to file any applicable reports with a local government agency that requires lobbyists to register and file reports and to comply with any applicable requirements imposed by a local government agency. The bill would provide that an individual acting as a placement agent is a lobbyist for purposes of the Political Reform Act of 1974 and is thereby required to comply with all regulations and restrictions imposed on lobbyists by the act, and the bill would further expand the definition of “administrative action” for purposes of the act to include, with regard only to placement agents, the decision by any state agency to enter into a contract to invest state public retirement system assets on behalf of a state public retirement system. The bill would specify that a placement agent who is registered with the Securities and Exchange Commission and regulated by the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority is permitted to receive a payment of fees for contractual services provided to an investment manager, except to the extent that payment of fees is prohibited by the proscription on contingency payments to placement agents. Additionally, the bill would require the Public Employees’ Retirement System and the State Teachers’ Retirement System to each provide to the Legislature, not later than August 1, 2012, a report on the use of placement agents in connection with investments made by those retirement systems. Existing law makes a knowing or willful violation of the Political Reform Act of 1974 a misdemeanor and subjects offenders to criminal penalties. This bill would impose a state-mandated local program by creating additional crimes. The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse local agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that reimbursement. This bill would provide that no reimbursement is required by this act for a specified reason. The Political Reform Act of 1974, an initiative measure, provides that the Legislature may amend the act to further the act’s purposes upon a 23 vote of each house and compliance with specified procedural requirements. This bill would declare that it furthers the purposes of the act. Hide

Existing law, until January 1, 2013, and as applied to mortgages and deeds of trust recorded between January 1, 2003, and December 31, 2007, that are secured by owner-occupied residential real property containing no more than 4 dwelling units, requires a mortgagee, trustee, beneficiary, or authorized agent to contact the borrower, as defined, prior to filing a notice of default, in order to assess the borrower’s financial situation and explore options for the borrower to avoid foreclosure. Existing law requires the notice of default to include a specified declaration from the mortgagee, beneficiary, or authorized agent regarding its contact with the borrower. This bill would, until January 1, 2013, extend those requirements for those types of dwellings to apply to mortgages or deeds of trust recorded prior to January 1, 2009, if the loans are required to be reviewed under federal Home Affordable Modification Program (HAMP) guidelines, or between January 1, 2003, and January 1, 2009, if the loans are not required to be reviewed under HAMP guidelines. The bill would require a mortgagee, beneficiary, or authorized agent, within a specified time period prior to the filing of a notice of default, to provide the borrower with written information regarding loan modifications and a specified notice regarding the borrower’s rights during the foreclosure process, subject to specified exceptions. The bill would require an unspecified state entity to make that notice available in English and specified languages. The bill would further revise the borrower contact requirements described above by requiring a mortgagee, beneficiary, or authorized agent to make reasonable borrower solicitation efforts, as specified, to explore options for the borrower to avoid foreclosure. The bill would prohibit a mortgagee, trustee, beneficiary, or authorized agent from filing a notice of default until the borrower has been evaluated and determined to be ineligible for a loan modification or the borrower has failed to submit an application prior to the passing of the deadline. The bill would specify minimum time periods in which the borrower may submit an application or supplemental information for a loan modification, and would require the mortgagee, beneficiary, or authorized agent, if it denies the application, to send a denial explanation letter within a specified time period. These requirements would not apply to a mortgagee, beneficiary, or authorized agent that has no loan modification option available to the borrower or to a grandfathered party, as defined. This bill would further require, until January 1, 2013, with respect to those properties described above, that a mortgagee, beneficiary, or authorized agent, concurrently with the filing of a notice of default, record a declaration of compliance that attests to specified facts relating to its borrower solicitation and foreclosure avoidance efforts, except as provided. The bill would authorize the borrower to bring an action within one year of the trustee sale to void the foreclosure or request an injunction if, among other things, the mortgagee, beneficiary, or authorized agent records a notice of default without completing reasonable borrower solicitation efforts, or to recover specified damages if the mortgagee, trustee, beneficiary, or authorized agent fails to record a declaration of compliance or materially comply with specified provisions, if specified conditions exist. The bill would provide that a mortgagee, trustee, beneficiary, or authorized agent shall have no civil liability if it satisfies specified requirements prior to the initiation of legal action by the borrower. Hide