Opinion ID: 1158402
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 9

Heading: Whether section 17537.6 misstates the law

Text: As noted above, section 17537.6, subdivision (a)(1) makes unlawful a representation that [t]he preparation or recordation of a homestead declaration will in any manner prevent the forced sale of a judgment debtor's dwelling. Section 17537.6, subdivision (b)(1) goes even further, requiring an affirmative disclosure that RECORDING A HOMESTEAD DECLARATION DOES NOT PROTECT YOUR HOME AGAINST FORCED SALE BY A CREDITOR. (Original capitalization.) Morse contends these provisions of section 17537.6 mandate the giving of false legal advice. (He also suggests the section is unconstitutional because it proscribes truthful speech, i.e., that a recorded declaration may prevent a forced sale.) By rejecting his argument that his advertisements were not misleading regarding forced sales, the Court of Appeal necessarily, albeit implicitly, also rejected Morse's premise that section 17537.6, subdivision (a)(1) is incorrect regarding forced sales. (See pp. 201-202, ante. ) (4) In this court, Morse reiterates his view that section 17537.6 requires false advice because, in his view, a recorded homestead declaration can prevent the forced sale of a judgment debtor's home. He relies primarily on Webb v. Trippet (1991) 235 Cal. App.3d 647 [286 Cal. Rptr. 742] ( Webb ), a decision that he apparently did not bring to the attention of the Court of Appeal in the civil enforcement action. In Webb, the court reversed an order directing the sale of a judgment debtor's real property. The real property owner had recorded a homestead declaration. A creditor thereafter obtained a monetary judgment against the owner. The owner disappeared and did not reestablish residence on the property. (A conservator was appointed for the owner's estate.) The issue was whether the owner was entitled to a homestead exemption, even though he no longer resided on the property. The conservator contended there is no express requirement of actual residence when a homestead declaration has been filed. The trial court implicitly determined that continuous residence is necessary to invoke either the automatic homestead exemption or the declared homestead exemption. The Court of Appeal disagreed. It explained that an automatic exemption applies when a party has continuously resided in a dwelling from the time that a creditor's lien attaches until a court's determination that the exemption applies. Put simply, residence was found to be a requirement for the exemption. The court explained, however, that a recorded homestead declaration ... is entitled to a presumption of validity and may be abandoned only by specific statutorily prescribed methods. ( Id. at p. 652.) Because the judgment creditor had not shown that the owner had abandoned the homestead, for example, by establishing another residence as the owner's principal dwelling, the creditor was not entitled to a forced sale of the home. Morse's reliance on Webb, supra, 235 Cal. App.3d 647, is too broad. The narrow and dispositive question was whether the debtor was entitled to the declared homestead exemption in light of his disappearance, that is, whether the creditor had proved the debtor's abandonment of the homestead. ( Id. at pp. 651-652.) In a practical sense, Morse is correct that the declaration in Webb prevented a forced sale, at least for a while. He ignores, though, the context. The court made clear that, if abandonment were proved, the exemption should be lifted and the property may then be ordered for sale. ( Id. at p. 652.) For our present purpose, all that Webb shows is that a declared homestead may, depending on the circumstances, offer an advantage over the automatic homestead exemption. For example, in Webb the property owner lost the automatic exemption because he had ceased to reside on the property, whereas his declared homestead continued in effect until a statutorily prescribed form of abandonment was shown. Morse is simply incorrect in his steadfast assertion that a homestead declaration prevents a forced sale. Code of Civil Procedure section 704.970 states in simple and easily understood language: Whether or not a homestead declaration has been recorded: [¶] (a) Nothing in this article affects the right of levy pursuant to a writ of execution. (See also 5 Miller & Starr, Cal. Real Estate (2d ed. 1989) § 13:35, p. 277.) Section 17537.6 does not, as Morse asserts, misstate the law. To the contrary, it is the law.