AB 2598: Cities and counties: ordinances: violations.

Existing law authorizes the legislative body of a city or a county to make, by ordinance, any violation of an ordinance subject to an administrative fine or penalty and limits the maximum fine or penalty amounts for infractions, to $100 for the first violation, $200 for a 2nd violation of the same ordinance within one year of the first violation, and $500 for each additional violation of the same ordinance within one year of the first violation. For violations of city or county building and safety codes determined to be an infraction, existing law limits the amount of the fine to $100 for a first violation, $500 for a 2nd violation of the same ordinance within one year, and $1,000 for each additional violation of the same ordinance within one year of the first violation.

The bill would, for violations of a local building and safety code determined to be an infraction, increase the amounts of the fines to $130 for a first violation, $700 for a 2nd violation of the same ordinance within one year, and $1,300 for each additional violation of the same ordinance within one year of the first violation. The bill would additionally provide for a fine of $2,500 for each additional violation of the same ordinance within 2 years of the first violation if the property is a commercial property that has an existing building at the time of the violation and the violation is of a local building and safety code that is an infraction and is due to failure by the owner to remove visible refuse or failure to prohibit unauthorized use of the property.

The bill would additionally require a city or county levying fines pursuant to these provisions to establish a process for granting a hardship waiver to reduce the amount of the fine for a second or third violation of the same ordinance or local building and safety code that is an infraction upon a showing by the responsible party that the responsible party has made a bona fide effort to comply after the first violation and that payment of the full amount of the fine would impose an undue financial burden on the responsible party.