Existing law requires a seller of a real property that is located in a high or very high fire hazard severity zone to provide to the buyer documentation stating that the property is in compliance with specified fire safety requirements or local vegetation management ordinances. If the seller of a real property as described above has not obtained that documentation of compliance, existing law requires the seller and the buyer to enter into a written agreement pursuant to which the buyer agrees to obtain documentation of compliance with those specified fire safety requirements or local vegetation management ordinances. In a local jurisdiction that has not enacted an ordinance requiring an owner or buyer to obtain documentation of compliance, and if a state or local agency, or other government entity, or other qualified nonprofit entity, provides an inspection with documentation for the jurisdiction in which the property is located, existing law requires the buyer to obtain documentation of compliance within one year of the date of the close of escrow.

This bill would additionally require the seller to notify the local fire department having jurisdiction over the property, or the Department of Forestry and Fire Protection if the property is within a state responsibility area, as provided, of the written agreement and of the buyer’s obligation to obtain documentation of compliance. The bill would also require that fire department, or the Department of Forestry and Fire Protection, as applicable, to conduct a compliance inspection at the property if it has not received documentation of compliance from a qualified entity or otherwise certified compliance within one year of the date of the close of escrow. The bill would authorize the local fire department to prioritize compliance inspections and reinspections based on certain factors. By increasing the duties of local entities, this bill would impose a state-mandated local program.

This bill would provide that a local fire department is authorized to recover the costs of compliance inspections and reinspections, as specified. The bill would also provide that the above-described provisions do not modify the immunities granted to a local fire department under any provision of law, as specified. The bill would state that these 2 provisions do not constitute a change in, but are declaratory of, existing law.

The bill would include findings that changes proposed by this bill address a matter of statewide concern rather than a municipal affair and, therefore, apply to all cities, including charter cities.