1. real estate

www.naiopsocal.org
SAMPLE LETTER SENT TO SENATORS
July 28, 2014 (Sent via FAX and USPS)
Name
District
Address
Sacramento, CA 95814
SUBJECT:
AB 2416 (STONE) LIENS: LABORERS AND EMPLOYEES
OPPOSE
NAIOP 2014 OFFICERS AND
BOARD OF DIRECTORS
PRESIDENT
Jim Proehl, PM Realty Group
PRESIDENT-ELECT
Thomas W. Wulf, Lowe Enterprises Real Estate Group
VICE PRESIDENT
Kevin Jennings, Bank of America Merrill Lynch
TREASURER
James V. Camp, Starwood CPG Operations, LLC
SECRETARY
Lance Ryan, Watson Land Company
Honorable Senator -------- :
PROGRAMS AND EDUCATION LIAISON
Pamela L. Westhoff, Sheppard Mullin
The Southern California Chapter of NAIOP represents the owners and
developers of commercial and industrial real estate in Orange and Los
Angeles Counties. It is our members who provide office buildings,
industrial facilities and other work places to the workers of Southern
California. It is our members who are most dramatically impacted by AB
2416.
PAST PRESIDENT
Lang Cottrell, Goodman Birtcher
We respectfully OPPOSE AB 2416 (Stone), as amended on June 26,
2014, as it would cripple California businesses by allowing any employee,
governmental agency, authorized representative, or any entity to which a
portion of the employee’s wages are payable, to record liens on an
employer's real property, personal property or any property where an
employee "performed work" for an alleged, yet unproven, wage claim.
Although we agree with the intent of AB 2416 to provide employees with
payment for wages properly due, the real and unintended consequences of
AB 2416 will be to unfairly burden California property owners and
businesses with meritless wage liens on their property, which will require
time and legal costs to resolve. Specifically, AB 2416:
- Provides Pre-Judgment Lien:
Allows an employee to seize an
employer’s or third party’s property through the recordation of a wage
lien before a court or the Labor Commissioner has determined the
employee is entitled to the alleged unpaid wages;
- Harms Innocent Third Parties: Allows an employee to file a lien on the
property of a third party where work was performed, despite the fact
that the third party had no knowledge or control over the wages paid to
or withheld to the employee;
- Creates More Burden on the Judicial Branch: Forces a third party
property owner as well as an employer to incur legal fees by pursuing
an action before the Labor Commissioner or a court in order to have an
invalid lien removed from their property, which will create more
litigation and more cost to the overburdened judicial branch;
Angela Azizian, GE Capital Real Estate
Brian Baker, CIBC World Markets Corp.
Beth Calder, CBRE
Ronda Clark, Jones Lang LaSalle
Drew Emmel, Allen Matkins
Scott Farb, CohnReznick
Tom Greubel, Irvine Company Office Properties
Kevin Hayes, Lincoln Property Company
Aaron Hill, Bixby Land Company
John Hollingsworth, Colliers International
Fran Inman, Majestic Realty Co.
Kevin Ivey, KPRS Construction Services, Inc.
Lillian Kuo, Shea Properties
Ray Lawler, Hines
Larry Lukanish, SARES REGIS Group
Kevin MacKenzie, HFF, L.P.
Patrick Maloney, Circle Industrial
Gregory May, Newmark Grubb Knight Frank
Justin McCusker, C.J. Segerstrom & Sons
James McFadden, Cushman & Wakefield
Scott McPherson, U.S. Bank
Jeff Moore, CBRE
Steve Muller, The Muller Company
Susan Orloff, Ryan, LLC
Russ Parker, Parker Properties
Cynthia Pettyjohn, First American Comm. Due Diligence
John Premac, Chicago Title Company
Scott San Filippo, Greenlaw Partners
Joel Stensby, KPRS Construction Services, Inc.
Alison Vukovich, LBA Realty
Stephane M. Wandel, The Boeing Company
David Wensley, Cox, Castle & Nicholson LLP
Gregory J. West, Johnson Capital
NAIOP SoCAL EXECUTIVE STAFF
Cynthia G. Fusco, Executive Director
Vickie Talley, Director of Legislative Affairs
Page Two
- Interferes With Transfer or Sale of Real Property: Any wage lien
recorded on real property will halt the sale or transfer of that property
until the lien can be resolved between the parties or through judicial
action. This will severely disrupt both commercial and personal real
estate in California, which is now just seeing signs of improvement.
- No Protections to Prevent the Lien from Being Recorded: The alleged
protections for innocent third parties in AB 2416, such as a surety
bond, judicial review, or the exemption of someone’s principal
residence, will not arise until AFTER the lien has been recorded on the
property.
Because there is no judicial or Labor Commissioner
oversight in AB 2416 BEFORE the lien is recorded, invalid liens will
be placed on real and personal property and it will be the burden of
the property owner to pay legal fees in order prove it falls within one of
the various exclusions in the bill.
- New Protections Against Wage Theft Already Exist: Recent legislative
and administrative action is trying to resolve the wage theft issue,
without creating the above-listed unintended consequences. Through
the passage of AB 1386 (2013) that just went into effect on January
1, 2014, the Labor Commissioner can now assert a post-judgment lien
on an employer’s property.
Moreover, the Labor Commissioner
launched a statewide campaign in April 2014 to tackle wage theft in
California: www.wagetheftisacrime.com. We should allow these new
tools to take effect before adopting such sweeping and detrimental
legislation as AB 2416.
For these reasons, we are OPPOSED to AB 2416 and urge you to vote
“NO.”
Sincerely,
Vickie Talley
Director of Legislative Affairs
cc: NAIOP SoCal Board of Directors and Members
Chapter Office: 2900 Bristol St., Ste. G-105, Costa Mesa, CA 92626 Tel: (714) 979-9131
Fax: (714) 979-0403
Legislative Office: 25241 Paseo de Alicia, Ste. 120, Laguna Hills, CA 92653 Tel: (949) 380-3300
Fax: (949) 380-3310