SB 393: Civil actions: housing development projects.

Existing law provides that in a civil action brought by a plaintiff to challenge a housing development project that meets or exceeds the requirements for low- or moderate-income housing, a defendant may seek an order requiring the plaintiff to furnish an undertaking as security for costs and damages that may be incurred by the defendant if the bringing of the action or seeking by the plaintiff of particular relief, including injunctive relief, would result in a delay in carrying out the development project. Existing law requires this motion to be made on the grounds that (1) the action was brought in bad faith, vexatiously, to delay or thwart the low- or moderate-income nature of the housing development project and (2) the plaintiff will not suffer undue economic hardship by filing the undertaking. If the court determines, after hearing, that the grounds for the motion have been established, existing law requires the court to order the plaintiff to file an undertaking that may not exceed $500,000 as security for the defendants costs and damages.

This bill would require the motion described above to be made on the grounds that the action is without merit and that the action was brought in bad faith, vexatiously, for the purpose of delay, or to thwart the low- or moderate-income nature of the housing development project. The bill would permit the plaintiff, in responding to the motion, to seek to limit the amount of the undertaking by presenting evidence that filing the undertaking will cause the plaintiff to suffer undue economic hardship. The bill would require the court, in ordering the plaintiff to file such an undertaking, to take into consideration admitted evidence of the plaintiffs economic hardship and to avoid causing the plaintiff to suffer such hardship. The bill would authorize the court to decline to impose a bond on the plaintiff if the court determines that, based on the evidence, the bond would cause the plaintiff to suffer undue economic hardship.