CIVIL

• AB 218 (Ward) Creates, as of January 1, 2023, a process for a petitioner seeking a change of gender to also request that their marriage license and certificate and their children’s birth certificates be reissued with updated information about the petitioner. act to amend Sections 1276 and 1277 of the Code of Civil Procedure, and to amend Sections 102426 and 102430 of, to amend, repeal, and add Sections 103400 and 103725 of, and to repeal and add Article 7 (commencing with Section 103425) of Chapter 11 of Part 1 of Division 102 of, the Health and Safety Code, relating to vital records.

• AB 287 (Quirk) This bill creates a three-year statute of limitations on civil actions for violations arising from a person engaging in unlicensed cannabis activities, extending the current one-year statute of limitations. act to amend Section 338 of the Code of Civil Procedure, relating to civil actions.

• AB 335 (Boerner Horvath) This bill clarifies that a consumer’s right to opt-out of the sale or sharing of their personal information (PI), provided by the California Consumer Privacy Act of 2018 (CCPA) and the California Privacy Rights Act (CPRA), respectively, does not apply to vessel or ownership information shared between a vessel manufacturer and dealer for the purpose of or in anticipation of a vessel repair covered by a warranty or recall conducted pursuant to federal law. act to amend Section 1798.145 of the Civil Code, relating to privacy.

• AB 424 (Stone) Establishes documentation and evidentiary standards related to the collection of private student loans. act to add Title 1.6C.15 (commencing with Section 1788.200) to Part 4 of Division 3 of the Civil Code, relating to student loans.

• AB 430 (Grayson) Allows the use of a Federal Trade Commission (FTC) identity theft report, in lieu of a police report, when a victim of identity theft seeks civil protections pursuant to the Rosenthal Fair Debt Collection Practices Act, the Identity Theft Law, and the Penal Code, as specified. act to amend Sections 1788.18, 1788.61, 1798.92, and 1798.93 of the Civil Code, and to amend Section 530.8 of the Penal Code, relating to debt collection.

• AB 453 (Cristina Garcia) Expands what actions constitute a sexual battery, under the Civil Code, to include an act that causes contact between a penis, from which a condom has been removed, and the intimate part of another who did not verbally consent to the condom being removed. act to amend Section 1708.5 of the Civil Code, relating to civil law.

• AB 514 (Ward) Exempts a person who is a victim of the distribution of sexually explicit material from an undertaking requirement, as specified; alters the knowledge threshold that makes a person liable for distributing sexually explicit materials; and allows a victim of the distribution of sexually explicit material to serve notice on a redistributor to cease distributing the material. act to amend Section 1708.85 of the Civil Code, and to amend Section 529 of the Code of Civil Procedure, relating to civil law.

• AB 556 (Maienschein) This bill establishes a private cause of action for damages against a person who misuses sperm, ova, or embryos in violation of Section 367g of the Penal Code. This bill provides for damages for a prevailing plaintiff, including actual or statutory damages. act to add Section 1708.5.6 to the Civil Code, relating to civil law.

• AB 716 (Bennett) Specifies that public access to court proceedings includes remote access, as defined. act to amend Section 124 of, and to repeal and add the heading of Article 1 (commencing with Section 124) of Chapter 6 of Title 1 of Part 1 of, the Code of Civil Procedure, relating to courts.

• AB 790 (Quirk-Silva) This bill makes clear that the Consumer Legal Remedies Act’s prohibition on certain home solicitations of senior citizens applies to Property Assessed Clean Energy (PACE) assessments that are part of a pattern or practice in violation of PACE regulations. act to amend Section 1770 of the Civil Code, relating to unfair business practices.

• AB 825 (Levine) This bill adds “genetic information” to the definition of personal information for purposes of the laws requiring certain businesses to implement and maintain reasonable security procedures and practices to protect personal information they own, license, or maintain. This bill requires businesses and agencies that maintain personal information to disclose a breach of genetic information. act to amend Sections 1798.29, 1798.81.5, and 1798.82 of the Civil Code, relating to information privacy.

• AB 861 (Bennett) Requires mobile home park management to comply with any park rule or regulation which prohibits mobile home owners from renting or subleasing unless management is renting or subleasing to an employee. act to amend Section 798.23 of the Civil Code, relating to mobile home parks.

• AB 891 (Cunningham) This bill provides that a representation by a minor that the minor’s parent or legal guardian has consented shall not be considered to be consent for purposes of contract formation. act to add Section 1568.5 to the Civil Code, relating to contracts.

• AB 1084 (Low) Requires a retail department store with 500 or more employees that sells childcare items or toys to maintain a gender neutral section or area. act to add Part 2.57 (commencing with Section 55.7) to Division 1 of the Civil Code, relating to civil rights.

• AB 1143 (Berman) Provides that in lieu of personal service of a petition for a civil harassment restraining order, if a respondent’s address is unknown, the court may authorize another method of service that is reasonably calculated to give actual notice to the respondent, if the court determines that a petitioner made a diligent effort to accomplish service, and may prescribe the manner in which proof of service must be made. act to amend Section 527.6 of the Code of Civil Procedure, relating to civil procedure.

• AB 1221 (Flora) This bill clarifies that service contracts can cover a single product or a class of products, and provides explicit authorization for a service contractor to enter into automatically renewing month-to-month service contracts with consumers, subject to certain requirements. act to amend Sections 1791 and 1794.4 of the Civil Code, relating to consumer warranties.

• AB 1391 (Chau) This bill prohibits the sale of data or sale of access to data, as specified, that a person has obtained through the commission of a crime, and prohibits the purchase or use of data from a source known to have obtained or accessed that data through the commission of a crime. act to add Section 1724 to the Civil Code, relating to privacy.

• AB 1405 (Wicks) Establishes the Fair Debt Settlement Practices Act (Act) which provides requirements and prohibitions related to debt settlement services and related payment processing services. act to add Title 1.6C.17 (commencing with Section 1788.300) to Part 4 of Division 3 of the Civil Code, relating to consumer debt.

• AB 1580 (Committee on Judiciary) This bill sets forth procedures for identifying a natural person who must appear – and can be held accountable for failing to appear – at a debtor’s examination on behalf of an organization, when that organization fails to specify someone else who will appear on its behalf. act to amend Section 708.150 of the Code of Civil Procedure, relating to civil actions.

• SB 41 (Umberg) This bill establishes the Genetic Information Privacy Act, providing additional protections for genetic data by regulating the collection, use, maintenance, and disclosure of such data. act to add Chapter 2.6 (commencing with Section 56.18) to Part 2.6 of Division 1 of the Civil Code, relating to privacy.

• SB 308 (Min) This bill reduces the minimum amount, from $20,000 to $2,000, at which unclaimed cash subject to escheat must be transferred to the State Controller’s Office (SCO) via electronic funds transfer (EFT). act to amend Section 1532 of the Code of Civil Procedure, relating to unclaimed property.

• SB 331 (Leyva) This bill prohibits the use of non-disclosure agreements (NDAs) to settle employment and housing-related legal claims involving unlawful harassment, discrimination, or related retaliation of any kind, with limited exceptions when requested by the complainant. This bill also prohibits the inclusion, in an employment severance agreement, of terms that prohibit the separated employee from discussing unlawful conduct at their former workplace, unless the separated employee agrees to those terms under specified conditions designed to safeguard the separated employee’s rights. act to amend Section 1001 of the Code of Civil Procedure, and to amend Section 12964.5 of the Government Code, relating to civil actions.

• SB 332 (Dodd) This bill provides that a burn boss and a private landowner upon whose property a burn boss carries out a prescribed burn are immune from liability for damages or injuries to persons or property as the result of a prescribed burn, unless the burn was conducted in a grossly negligent manner. act to add Section 3333.8 to the Civil Code, relating to civil liability.

• SB 360 (Wilk) This bill extends, from January 1, 2022 to January 1, 2027, the sunset date on the provision of law applicable to escrow agent rating services. act to amend Section 1785.28.6 of the Civil Code, relating to escrow agent rating services.

• SB 391 (Min) This bill authorizes common interest development (CID) boards to meet by teleconference, without identifying a physical location where CID members may attend, in an area affected by a disaster or emergency, as specified. act to amend Section 4090 of, and to add Article 11 (commencing with Section 5450) to Chapter 6 of Part 5 of Division 4 of, the Civil Code, relating to common interest developments, and declaring the urgency thereof, to take effect immediately.

• SB 392 (Archuleta) This bill requires common interest developments (CIDs) to deliver specified documents to their members in the manner requested by the member, or by paper copy if the member has not indicated a preferred delivery mechanism. act to amend Sections 4041, 4045, 4055, 5200, 5220, 5230, 5260, 5310, and 5320 of, and to amend, add, and repeal Section 4040 of, the Civil Code, relating to common interest developments.

• SB 447 (Laird) This bill authorizes a decedent’s personal representative or successor in interest to recover damages for a decedent’s pain, suffering, or disfigurement in an action or proceeding on the decedent’s cause of action, as specified. act to amend Section 377.34 of the Code of Civil Procedure, relating to civil actions.

• SB 531 (Wieckowski) This bill requires specified notices to be provided to debtors in connection with the sale or assignment of delinquent consumer debt. This bill also establishes certain documentation requirements for debt collectors and provides a right to request specified information from those collecting on sold or assigned delinquent debt. act to add Section 1788.14.5 to the Civil Code, relating to consumer debt.

• SB 762 (Wieckowski) This bill requires arbitration providers in consumer or employee arbitrations to send invoices, at specified times and setting forth amounts due and due dates, for costs and fees required to be paid by the business or employer who drafted the contract. act to add Section 1657.1 to the Civil Code, and to amend Sections 1281.97 and 1281.98 of the Code of Civil Procedure, relating to contracts.

• SB 807 (Wieckowski) This bill makes procedural modifications to how the Department of Fair Employment and Housing (DFEH) enforces California’s civil rights laws. This bill also extends how long employers must retain specified employment records to match a recent increase in the length of time that workers have to file claims alleging employment discrimination. act to amend Sections 12930, 12946, 12960, 12961, 12962, 12963.5, 12965, 12981, and 12989.1 of the Government Code, relating to civil rights.