Real property transactions: Counties of Los Angeles and Ventura wildfires: unsolicited offers.

McKinnor’s measure targets wildfire-affected communities by creating a temporary Civil Code regime that prohibits unsolicited offers to purchase residential property in a defined set of ZIP Codes in Los Angeles and Ventura counties, and couples that prohibition with a mandatory buyer-seller attestation and a record attachment to the conveyance. The core shift is to constrain certain unsolicited purchase propositions during the emergency period and to formalize a verification step within the title-transfer process, accompanied by enforcement tools and remedies.

Under the proposal, an unsolicited offer to purchase a home would be limited to a defined geographic scope and would be evaluated against a precise definition that distinguishes post-enactment offers without public sale indicators from pre-enactment offers. Before title transfer, the buyer and seller must sign a written attestation stating the purchase agreement did not arise from an unsolicited offer in violation of the prohibition, and the signed attestation must be recorded as an attachment to the deed. The attestation creates a presumption that the accepted offer was solicited by the seller unless clear and convincing evidence to the contrary. The act also specifies that a licensed real estate professional who makes a prohibited offer would be deemed to have violated their licensing law, subject to enforcement by state or local prosecutors and licensing authorities.

Enforcement and remedies are outlined to address violations, including the authority of the Attorney General and local prosecutors to bring civil actions, a seller’s right to cancel a purchase agreement entered into in violation (exercisable within four months after contract execution), and penalties that include a civil fine of up to twenty-five thousand dollars per violation and a misdemeanor penalty (up to a thousand dollars fine or six months’ imprisonment). The measure provides that the remedies are nonexclusive and that failure to record the attestation does not affect notice to bona fide purchasers. The scope is anchored by a set of ZIP Codes and is tied to a temporary, emergency-driven sunset, with operative timing contingent on the act’s effective date and related provisions.

The bill frames an urgent need to shield wildfire-impacted residents from exploitative practices, as reflected in its findings and its limited duration, culminating in a January 1, 2027 sunset. The operative core of the provision would become effective 30 days after the act’s effective date, while an overarching conditional clause links the measure to a companion licensing reform—if that companion measure is enacted and becomes effective by a specified date and modifies licensing provisions to preclude the main provision from taking effect, Section 1 would not become operative. The policy context centers on aligning civil and licensing mechanisms, with enforcement avenues that include state and local prosecutors and a potential financial penalty framework, alongside a formal evidentiary step designed to improve transparency in transactions within the affected communities.