(a) (1) Before a property owner executes an assessment contract the program administrator shall do the following:

(A) Make an oral confirmation that at least one owner of the property has a copy of the contract assessment documents required by paragraph (2) of subdivision (a) of Section 5898.20 or Section 5899 or 5899.3, or § 53328.1 of the Government Code, as applicable, with all the key terms completed, the financing estimate and disclosure form specified in Section 5898.17, and the right to cancel form specified in Section 5898.16, with hard copies available upon request.

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(B) Make an oral confirmation of the key terms of the assessment contract, in plain language, with the property owner on the call or to a verified authorized representative of the owner on the call and shall obtain acknowledgment from the property owner on the call to whom the oral confirmation is given.

(2) The oral confirmation required pursuant to paragraph (1) shall include, but is not limited to, all the following information:

(A) The property owner on the call has the right to have other persons present for the call, and an inquiry as to whether the property owner would like to exercise the right to include anyone else on the call. This shall occur at the onset of the call, after the determination of the preferred language of communication.

(B) The property owner on the call is informed that they should review the assessment contract and financing estimate and disclosure form with all other owners of the property.

(C) The efficiency improvement being installed is being financed by a PACE assessment.

(D) The total estimated annual costs the property owner will have to pay under the assessment contract, including applicable fees.

(E) The total estimated average monthly amount of funds the property owner would have to save in order to pay the annual costs under the PACE assessment, including applicable fees.

(F) That the county annual secured property tax bill, which will include the installment of the PACE lien, will be mailed by the county tax collector no later than November 1 each year, and that if the lien is recorded after the fiscal year closes but before the bill is mailed, the first installment may not appear on the county tax bill until the following year.

(G) The term of the assessment contract.

(H) That payments on the assessment contract will be made through an additional annual assessment on the property and paid either directly to the county tax collector’s office as part of the total annual secured property tax bill, or through the property owner’s mortgage impound account, and that if the property owner pays taxes through an impound account, the property owner should notify the property owner’s mortgage lender to discuss adjusting the monthly mortgage payment by the estimated monthly cost of the PACE assessment.

(I) That the property will be subject to a lien during the term of the assessment contract and that the obligations under the assessment contract may be required to be paid in full before the property owner sells or refinances the property.

(J) That the property owner has disclosed whether the property has received or is seeking additional PACE assessments and has disclosed all other PACE assessments or special taxes that are or are about to be placed on the property, if known to and understood by the property owner.

(K) That any potential utility savings are not guaranteed, and will not reduce the assessment payments or total assessment amount.

(L) That the program administrator and contractor do not provide tax advice, and that the property owner should seek professional tax advice if the property owner has questions regarding tax credits, tax deductibility, or of other tax impacts on the PACE assessment or assessment contract.

(M) That if that property tax payment is delinquent within the fiscal year, the county tax collector will assess a 10-percent penalty and may assess related costs, as required by state law. A delinquent payment also subjects the property to foreclosure. If the delinquent payment continues past June 30 of a given year and defaults, the county tax collector will assess penalties at the rate of 1 ½ percent per month (18 percent per year), and the property will continue to be subject to foreclosure and may become subject to the county tax collector’s right to sell the property at auction.

(N) That the property owner has a three-business day right to cancel the assessment contract pursuant to subdivision (b) of Section 5898.16, and that canceling the assessment contract may also cancel the home improvement contract under Section 5940.

(O) That it is the responsibility of the property owner to contact the property owner’s home insurance provider to determine whether the efficiency improvement to be financed by the PACE assessment is covered by the property owner’s insurance plan.

(P) That the property owner may repay an amount owed pursuant to an assessment contract prior to the date that amount is due under the contract without early repayment penalty.

(b) The program administrator shall comply with the following when giving the oral confirmation described in subdivision (a):

(1) The program administrator shall record the oral confirmation in an audio format in accordance with applicable laws.

(2) The program administrator may not comply with the requirement in subdivision (a) through the use of a prerecorded message, or other similar device or method.

(3) Recording of an oral confirmation shall be retained by the program administrator for a period of at least five years from the time of the recording.

(c) The provisions of this section shall be in addition to the documents required to be provided to the property owner under Sections 5898.16 and 5898.17.

(d) At the commencement of the oral confirmation, the program administrator shall ask if the property owner on the call would prefer to communicate during the oral confirmation primarily in a language other than English that is specified in § 1632 of the Civil Code. If the preferred language is supported by the program administrator, the oral confirmation shall be given in that primary language, except where the property owner on the call chooses to communicate through the property owner’s own interpreter. If the preferred language is not supported and an interpreter is not chosen by the property owner on the call, the PACE assessment transaction shall not proceed. For purposes of this subdivision, “the property owner’s own interpreter” means a person, who is not a minor, is able to speak fluently and read with full understanding both the English language and any of the languages specified in § 1632 of the Civil Code, and who is not employed by, and whose services are not made available through, the program administrator, the public agency, or the contractor.

(e) (1) Beginning on January 1, 2019, if the oral confirmation was conducted primarily in a language other than English that is specified in § 1632 of the Civil Code, the program administrator shall deliver in writing the disclosures and contract or agreement required by law, including, but not limited to, the following:

(A) Assessment contract documents specified in paragraph (2) of subdivision (a) of Section 5898.20 or Section 5899 or 5899.3, or a special tax described in § 53328.1 of the Government Code.

(B) The financing estimate and disclosure form specified in Section 5898.17.

(C) The right to cancel form specified in Section 5898.16.

(2) Before the execution of any contract or agreement described in paragraph (1), the program administrator shall deliver a translation of the disclosures, contract, or agreement in the language in which the oral confirmation was conducted, that includes a translation of every term and condition in that contract or agreement.

(f) This section shall become operative on January 1, 2029.

(Amended (as added by Stats. 2018, Ch. 837) by Stats. 2020, Ch. 156, Sec. 5. (AB 1551) Effective January 1, 2021. Section operative January 1, 2029, by its own provisions.)