Chapter 3. Financing of California Revenue And Taxation Code >> Division 2. >> Part 10.6. >> Chapter 3.

A participating county may charge an application fee from a claimant upon that claimant's submission of an application form to participate in the program, consistent with Section 54985 of the Government Code. The application fees derived from all claimants in a participating county shall be used to offset that county's costs incurred in administering the program. The proceeds of the fee shall be deposited in an account within the Property Tax Deferral Fund, established by Section 20822, to be used exclusively to pay those administrative costs.

(a) A participating county shall charge claimants interest on the amount of property taxes deferred pursuant to this part. The effective annual interest rate shall be 7 percent, or the effective annual yield earned in the prior fiscal year by the Pooled Money Investment Account plus 2 percent, whichever is higher, rounded to the nearest full percent.
  (b) The interest rate provided for by subdivision (a) shall be applied as of the first day of the month in which a deferment payment is made pursuant to this chapter and every day of the month thereafter until the lien is discharged. In the event that any payment is applied, in any month, to reduce the amount owed under the lien, the interest rate shall be applied to the balance of the amount owed beginning on the first day of the following month.
  (c) In computing interest in accordance with this section, fractions of a cent shall be disregarded.

Each participating county shall establish a Property Tax Deferral Fund within its treasury. Expenditures from this fund shall be for the sole purposes of making property tax deferment subvention payments pursuant to subdivision (c) of Section 20811 and offsetting the county's administrative costs, as described in Section 20820.

(a) The deferment of property taxes pursuant to this chapter shall not affect the obligation of a borrower to continue to make payments to a lender with respect to an impound account, trust, or other type of account described in Section 2954 of the Civil Code which was established prior to the effective date of the act that added this section.
  (b) (1) No lender shall require a borrower to maintain an impound, trust, or other similar type of account with regard to property taxes once the borrower has deferred these taxes pursuant to this chapter and submits to the lender evidence of tax deferment under this part, except in the following circumstances:
  (A) Federal law, regulation, rule, or program requires the borrower to maintain an impound, trust, or other similar type of account with regard to property taxes.
  (B) The borrower is required to make payments to a lender using the type of account described in Section 2954 of the Civil Code for a loan that is made, guaranteed, or insured by a federal government lending or insuring agency.
  (C) The prohibition would impair the express obligations of a loan agreement.
  (2) If not previously used in payment or partial payment of property taxes, any payment made by a borrower to an impound, trust, or other similar type of account prior to the time of submission of evidence of tax deferment pursuant to this part shall be refunded to the borrower within 30 days thereafter.
  (c) No lender or other person authorized to take sale on real property shall file a notice of default based solely on a borrower's failure to pay property taxes if the borrower provides evidence of participation in the property tax deferment program established pursuant to this part. A borrower who is a claimant shall provide evidence of participation to each lender upon a participating county' s approval of the claimant's application to participate in the program.
  (d) A letter or other written confirmation from the county identifying an individual as a participant in the program, provided pursuant to paragraph (4) of subdivision (c) of Section 20811, shall be considered as evidence of participation for purposes of this section.

If the deferment claim is filed timely, then any delinquent penalties and interest for that fiscal year shall be canceled unless the failure to perfect the claim was due to willful neglect on the part of the claimant or his or her representative. In the event of such willful neglect, any property tax deferment subvention payment may be used only if it is accompanied by sufficient amounts to pay the delinquent interest and penalties.

If a property tax deferment repayment is made to satisfy an obligation secured by a lien for property tax deferment, and the repayment exceeds the amount owed to the participating county under the lien, the county shall refund the overpayment to the party entitled thereto.