(a) (1) If a person or legal entity required to file a statement described in Section 480 fails to do so within 90 days from the date a written request is mailed by the assessor, a penalty of either: (A) one hundred dollars ($100), or (B) 10 percent of the taxes applicable to the new base year value reflecting the change in ownership of the real property, manufactured home, or floating home, whichever is greater, but not to exceed five thousand dollars ($5,000) if the property is eligible for the homeowners’ exemption or twenty thousand dollars ($20,000) if the property is not eligible for the homeowners’ exemption if the failure to file was not willful, shall, except as otherwise provided in this section, be added to the assessment made on the roll. The penalty shall apply for failure to file a complete change in ownership statement notwithstanding the fact that the assessor determines that no change in ownership has occurred as defined in Chapter 2 (commencing with Section 60) of Part 0.5. The penalty may also be applied if after a request the transferee files an incomplete statement and does not supply the missing information upon a second request.

(2) The assessor shall mail the written request specified in paragraph (1) to the mailing address of the transferee as provided by subdivision (f).

(b) If a person or legal entity required to file a statement described in Section 480.1 or 480.2 fails to do so within 90 days from the earlier of (1) the date of the change in control or the change in ownership of the corporation, partnership, limited liability company, or other legal entity, or (2) the date of a written request by the State Board of Equalization, a penalty of 10 percent of the taxes applicable to the new base year value reflecting the change in control or change in ownership of the real property owned by the corporation, partnership, or legal entity, or 10 percent of the current year’s taxes on that property if no change in control or change in ownership occurred, shall be added by the county assessor to the assessment made on the roll. The penalty shall apply for failure to file a complete statement with the board notwithstanding the fact that the board determines that no change in control or change in ownership has occurred as defined in subdivision (c) or (d) of Section 64. The penalty may also be applied if after a request the person or legal entity files an incomplete statement and does not supply the missing information upon that second request to complete the statement. That penalty shall be in lieu of the penalty provisions of subdivision (a).

(c) The penalty for failure to file a timely statement pursuant to Sections 480, 480.1, and 480.2 for any one transfer may be imposed only one time, even though the assessor may initiate a request as often as he or she deems necessary.

(d) The penalty shall be added to the roll in the same manner as a special assessment and treated, collected, and subject to the same penalties for the delinquency as all other taxes on the roll in which it is entered.

(1) When the transfer to be reported under this section is of a portion of a property or parcel appearing on the roll during the fiscal year in which the 90-day period expires, the current year’s taxes shall be prorated so the penalty will be computed on the proportion of property which has transferred.

(2) Any penalty added to the roll pursuant to this section between January 1 and June 30 may be entered either on the unsecured roll or the roll being prepared. After January 1, the penalty may be added to the current roll only with the approval of the tax collector.

(3) If the property is transferred or conveyed to a bona fide purchaser for value or becomes subject to a lien of a bona fide encumbrancer for value after the transfer of ownership resulting in the imposition of the penalty and before the enrollment of the penalty, the penalty shall be entered on the unsecured roll in the name of the transferee whose failure to file the change in ownership statement resulted in the imposition of the penalty.

(e) When a penalty imposed pursuant to this section is entered on the unsecured roll, the tax collector may immediately file a certificate authorized by Section 2191.3.

(f) Notice of any penalty added to either the secured or unsecured roll pursuant to this section, which shall identify the parcel or parcels for which the penalty is assessed, and the written request to file a statement specified in subdivision (a), which shall identify the real property, manufactured home, or floating home for which the statement is required to be filed, shall be mailed by the assessor to the transferee at his or her address contained in any recorded instrument or document evidencing a transfer of an interest in real property, manufactured home, or floating home or the address specified for mailing tax information contained in the preliminary change in ownership report. If the transferee has subsequently notified the assessor of a change in address for mailing tax information, the assessor shall mail the notice of any penalty, or the written request to file a statement specified in subdivision (a), to this address. If there is no address specified for mailing tax information on either the recorded instrument, the document evidencing a transfer of an interest in real property, manufactured home, or floating home or on the filed preliminary change in ownership report, and the transferee has not provided an address for purposes of mailing tax information, the assessor shall mail the notice of any penalty, or the written request to file a statement specified in subdivision (a), to the transferee at any address reasonably known to the assessor.

(Amended by Stats. 2015, Ch. 454, Sec. 7. (SB 803) Effective January 1, 2016.)