Discover the latest real estate laws for 2025! From ADU Amnesty to Buyer Representation Agreements, stay informed on the changes shaping the industry.
AB 2533 - Extends the ADU Amnesty Law to unpermitted ADUs and JADUs built before 2020. Requires cities to provide a clear process for homeowners to obtain permits on their ADUs.
AB 2992 - Buyer Representation Agreements Requires a buyer representation agreement to be executed between a buyer's agent and a buyer as soon as practicable, but no later than the execution of the buyer's offer to purchase real property.
AB 295 - Foreclosure Surplus Funds Chasers Existing law already requires a trustee to distribute all surplus funds following a trustee's sale to the borrower and anyone else who is entitled to those funds. There are companies which seek out these borrowers and others by offering to assist in acquiring surplus funds, oftentimes at 25% to 40% of their entitled amount. AB 295 seeks to restrict these surplus fund chasers from contacting a borrower and others until 90 days after the trustee's deed has been recorded. Effective July 19, 2025
AB 2424 - Delivery of Listing Agreement Extends Foreclosure Sale by 45 Days. This is in effect if the trustee receives a listing agreement from the trustor at least 5 days before the sale date. This extension can only be used once. For more details see the law in its entirety.
AB 3108 - Expands the Definition of Predatory Lending. Defines criminal mortgage fraud to include acts by a mortgage loan broker or any person who originates loans to include misleading a borrower into signing a business loan when the borrower intended the loan to be for consumer purposes or signing for a bridge loan when the loan will not be used to acquire or construct a new dwelling.
AB 2016 - Distribution of Assets outside of Probate if Less than 750,000. This allows a successor to petition the court to sell property less than 750,000 without probate administration.
SB 552 - Swimming Pool and Spa Safety. For single family residences this law requires a home inspection report include which drowning prevention safety features are in place and if they are operable and appropriately labeled.
SB 1051 - Landlord/Tenant Victim of Abuse Lock Change Protection. This new law clarifies that the landlord is responsible for the cost of changing the locks; extends the lock change protection to immediate family or household members of a tenant; expands the acceptable supporting documentation of abuse or violence triggering the lock change protection; and prohibits a landlord from taking adverse action against a prospective tenant because of their use of the lock change protection.
AB 2747 - Positive Credit Reporting. Requires residential landlords to offer each tenant obligated on a lease the option of having the tenant's positive rental payment information reported to at least one nationwide consumer reporting agency. Exempts small, non-corporate landlords.
SB 1103 - Tenant Rights Extended to Small Commercial Tenants. 30 and 90-day notice to increase rent, 30 and 60 day notice to terminate tenancy, and translated copy of the lease if negotiated in specific languages. Also, transparency for fees a landlord may charge to recover building operating costs.
AB 2622 - Contractor Exemptions. A person who is not licensed may advertise for construction work or a work of improvement as long as the total contract price for labor, material, and all other items on a project is less than $1,000 and the person states in the advertisement that they are not licensed as a contractor. This exemption does not apply when it is part of a larger project or when a contractor employs another person to perform work.
This is just a partial list and not a full explanation of the California laws coming in 2025. The complete laws can be accessed at: http://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/
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