Bill Text: CA AB1111 | 2011-2012 | Regular Session | Chaptered

---

Bill Title: Debt collection: homeless youth.

Spectrum: Slight Partisan Bill (Democrat 2-1)

Status: (Passed) 2011-10-04 - Chaptered by Secretary of State - Chapter 466, Statutes of 2011. [AB1111 Detail]

Download: California-2011-AB1111-Chaptered.html

---

BILL NUMBER: AB 1111	CHAPTERED
	BILL TEXT

	CHAPTER  466
	FILED WITH SECRETARY OF STATE  OCTOBER 4, 2011
	APPROVED BY GOVERNOR  OCTOBER 4, 2011
	PASSED THE SENATE  AUGUST 29, 2011
	PASSED THE ASSEMBLY  MAY 23, 2011
	AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY  MAY 3, 2011

INTRODUCED BY   Assembly Members Fletcher and Mitchell
   (Coauthor: Senator De León)

                        FEBRUARY 18, 2011

   An act to add Section 1463.011 to the Penal Code, relating to debt
collection.


	LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


   AB 1111, Fletcher. Debt collection: homeless youth.
   Existing law requires the Judicial Council to adopt guidelines for
a comprehensive program concerning the collection of moneys owed for
fees, fines, forfeitures, penalties, and assessments imposed by
court order.
   This bill would prohibit a court from garnishing wages or levying
a bank account for the enforcement and collection of fees, fines,
forfeitures, or penalties imposed by a court against a person under
25 years of age who has been issued a citation for truancy,
loitering, curfew violations, or illegal lodging that is outstanding
or unpaid if the court obtains information that the person is
homeless or has no permanent address, as defined. This bill would
authorize a court to use these collection procedures when that person
is 25 years of age or older, or if the court subsequently obtains
evidence that the individual is no longer homeless. The bill would
make related findings and declarations.


THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:

  SECTION 1.  The Legislature finds and declares all of the
following:
   (a) There are approximately 1.6 million homeless youths
nationwide, according to the United States Department of Justice.
   (b) Homeless youths generally become homeless because they flee
dangerous homes, are barred from home by their parents, or are former
foster children forced to live on their own at 18 years of age.
   (c) Homeless youths are routinely ticketed for offenses that are
the inevitable symptoms of homelessness. These offenses include
truancy, loitering, curfew violations, and illegal lodging.
   (d) The California Research Bureau has documented that if a
homeless youth fails to show up to contest or pay a ticket, that
homeless youth's wages or bank accounts may be garnished.
   (e) Garnishment of the wages and savings of a homeless youth makes
it far more difficult for homeless youths to rent their own
apartments and end their homelessness by their own willpower and
initiative.
   (f) In many cases, taking money from homeless youths makes it
more, and not less, likely that they will continue to be homeless,
and may actually encourage the commission of offenses the laws are
meant to dissuade, including illegal lodging and loitering.
   (g) It is therefore in the best interest of the state to
discourage wage and bank account garnishment practices that make it
more difficult for youths who are homeless to obtain housing through
their own hard work without exculpating them from the offenses they
commit.
  SEC. 2.  Section 1463.011 is added to the Penal Code, to read:
   1463.011.  (a) Notwithstanding any other provision of law, if a
court, during the course of its routine process to collect fees,
fines, forfeitures, or other penalties imposed by a court due to a
citation issued for the violation of a state or local law, obtains
information indicating that a person under 25 years of age, who has
been issued a citation for truancy, loitering, curfew violations, or
illegal lodging that is outstanding or unpaid, is homeless or has no
permanent address, the court shall not garnish the wages or levy
against bank accounts of that person until that person is 25 years of
age or older, as that age is recorded by that person's credit report
or other document already in the possession of, or previously
provided to, the court.
   (b) For purposes of this section a person is considered to be
"homeless" or as having "no permanent address" if that person does
not have a fixed, regular, adequate nighttime residence, or has a
primary nighttime residence that is one of the following:
   (1) A supervised publicly or privately operated shelter designed
to provide temporary living accommodations, including, but not
limited to, welfare hotels, congregate shelters, and transitional
housing for the mentally ill.
   (2) An institution that provides a temporary residence for
individuals intended to be institutionalized.
   (3) A public or private place not designed for, or ordinarily used
as, a regular sleeping accommodation for human beings.
   (c) Nothing in this section shall be construed to prevent a court
from engaging in any other lawful debt collection activities.
   (d) Nothing in this section shall be construed to require a court
to perform any further investigation or financial screening into any
matter beyond the scope of its regular duties.
   (e) Nothing in this section shall be construed to prevent the
Judicial Council from altering any best practices or recommendations
for collection programs pursuant to Section 1463.010.
   (f) Nothing in this section shall be construed to prevent a court
from garnishing a person's wages or levying against a person's bank
accounts if the court, subsequent to its initial determination that
the person was a homeless youth exempt from wage garnishment or levy
under this section, obtains evidence that the individual is no longer
homeless.