On Monday, August 31, 2020, the state of California legislature passed AB 1885, to increase the California homestead exemption. The bill will eliminate the current 3-tiered homestead exemption $75,000, $100,000, $175,000 C.C.P. Section 704.730 and replaces it with a county-based prior-year median single-family home value, with a floor of $300,000 and a ceiling of $600,000. Counties with home values between those numbers will get the median sale price for that county.
This is Your Exemption if Governor Newsom Signs AB 1885.
Median Home Sales By Counties:
- Los Angeles County: $600,000 (Estimated $664,500 Median)
- Riverside County: $400,500
- San Bernardino County: $370,215
- Orange County: $600,000 (Estimated $765,497 Median)
- San Diego County: $600,000 (Estimated $628,500 Median)
Now Is The Time To Contact Governor Newsom and Demand He to Sign AB 1885.
However, as of yet Governor Newsom has NOT signed AB 1885 to law. Please send your email letter supporting AB 1885 to the governor at leg.unit@gov.ca.gov. After a year of economic disaster and unemployment we should be fearful of the current homestead exemption which does not protect home equity in the State of California and will force hardworking folks who only want to start over with the real possibility of forced sales of their forever home. The fact is that 45 years ago the California homestead exemption protected almost the full value of a median priced home, but today the homestead exemption covers barely 15%. Also, many other states with much lower home costs have far higher exemption amounts, with 8 states providing their homeowners with an unlimited exemption.
Please share this post with your family, friends, neighbors, and colleagues. We should not let this increased homestead be snatched away because we didn’t do everything we could to counter the disinformation campaigns, which are certain to be mounted to prevent the bill from becoming law. Let the governor know its about time to protect our homes.