Property insurance: discrimination.

Senator Cortese's property insurance discrimination measure prohibits California insurers from considering income sources or housing assistance when evaluating residential insurance applications. The legislation amends state insurance law to prevent carriers from denying, canceling or refusing to renew policies based on an applicant's income level or receipt of government housing aid, including federal Section 8 vouchers.

Under the measure, insurance applications and investigation reports cannot request information about residents' income sources or housing assistance status, unless the resident owns the property. For buildings with both residential and commercial uses, insurers retain the ability to evaluate non-residential tenants' income sources when determining insurability. The bill maintains insurers' authority to make underwriting decisions based on other legitimate risk factors not specifically prohibited by law.

The provisions apply to admitted insurers licensed to issue residential property insurance in California. While the bill expands protected characteristics under state insurance law, it makes no changes to existing prohibitions on discrimination based on sex, race, religion, disability and other protected categories. The measure requires a simple majority vote for passage and involves no state appropriations or fiscal impacts.