Two Insurance Bills Sit on the Governor’s Desk Until September 30. What They’d Mean If You’re Selling in California

Ask a California homeowner what could derail their sale this fall and most say the mortgage rate. In practice, what quietly strands escrows is narrower: whether your buyer can get a homeowners policy on your house, at a price they can carry. Two bills that change the rules around that question are on the Governor’s desk right now, with a hard deadline ten days out.

What is actually on the desk

• ·SB 1301 (Sen. Ben Allen) was enrolled and presented to the Governor on September 9, 2026. Beginning January 1, 2028 it would require 90 days’ notice before an insurer non-renews a residential property policy — up from 75 — with the reasons stated, the inspection report provided within 15 days of a request, and 120 days’ notice when the reason can be remedied. It would also restrict non-renewal based solely on certain claim inquiries, claims history, or roof age in defined circumstances (California Legislature bill record, via CalMatters Digital Democracy)
• ·AB 1680 (Calderon) was enrolled and presented on September 14, 2026. It would require the California FAIR Plan Association to take corrective action on violations the Insurance Commissioner identifies, set civil penalties of up to $10,000 per violation — $20,000 if willful — and let the Commissioner require adjustments to policy limits (California Legislature bill record, via CalMatters Digital Democracy)
• ·Neither bill appeared in the Governor’s September 14 signing list or his September 18 legislative update (Office of the Governor)
• ·The deadline is constitutional, not discretionary. Under the California Constitution, article IV, section 10, a bill passed before September 1 and in the Governor’s possession on or after September 1 “that is not returned on or before September 30 of that year becomes a statute.” Signing is not the only path to law here

Why this lands on sellers, not just policyholders

A homeowners policy is not a side item in a home sale. The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau states it plainly: “Lenders typically also require you to have homeowner’s insurance as a condition of your loan.” If your buyer is financing and cannot bind coverage, the loan does not fund.

How common is that in California? The state’s insurer of last resort is the clearest public measure. From the Assembly Insurance Committee’s FAIR Plan oversight hearing background paper, dated January 28, 2026:

• ·668,609 FAIR Plan policies in force as of December 2025 — up 146% since September 2022
• ·$724 billion in total FAIR Plan exposure as of December 2025 — up 230% since September 2022
• ·Roughly 5,400 Pacific Palisades and Eaton wildfire claims handled, with nearly $3.5 billion paid to policyholders
• ·A $1 billion assessment on member insurance companies requested and approved on February 11, 2025
• ·Separately, Sen. Allen’s office states California has the fourth-highest non-renewal rate in the nation (Office of Sen. Ben Allen, February 20, 2026)

Every FAIR Plan policy is a California home the regular market declined to write — the same trend your buyer meets when they call for a quote.

The timing problem, in real numbers

The California Association of Realtors’ August 2026 home sales and price report, released September 16, put statewide median days on market at 28. Homes are going pending in under a month, and escrow runs on top of that. An insurance surprise found in week three is not a scheduling nuisance — it is a price re-trade or a cancellation.

Take the Bay Area as the concrete case: the same C.A.R. report put the region’s median at $1,272,000, down 0.2% year over year. A premium quote well above what a buyer budgeted can end a deal the lender had approved. The mechanics are identical on a home a third of that price in Fresno, Redding or Bakersfield — same call, same yes or no.

What a seller can do before listing

None of this is legal or insurance advice, and we are not insurance brokers. For coverage questions, talk to a licensed California insurance broker or the California Department of Insurance; for contract questions, a real estate attorney.

• ·Ask your own insurer, in writing, whether your policy is renewable and what a new owner would likely be quoted. You want that answer now, not in escrow.
• ·Keep your declarations page and claims history with your listing file, where a buyer’s insurance broker can reach them.
• ·Document mitigation you have already done — roof replacement, defensible space, ember-resistant vents — with dates and receipts. A buyer’s insurer asks about all of it.
• ·Ask that coverage be quoted during the buyer’s inspection contingency, not the week before closing.
• ·Disclose what you know. California’s seller disclosure duties are their own subject, covered in the disclosures you’ll actually need.

The number that is actually yours to set

You do not decide whether the Governor signs SB 1301, and you do not decide what an insurer quotes on your roof. You do decide what selling costs you.

A traditional listing-side commission of about 3% runs roughly $30,000 on a $1,000,000 home. Guided Home Realty lists your home on the same MLS every agent uses, with a licensed California broker, for a flat $999 at MLS launch (non-refundable) plus $5,000 from escrow when it closes — $5,999 total instead of a percentage. Against a traditional ~$30,000 commission, that is $24K+ you keep.

See real verified results, then start with a free, no-obligation estimate of your home’s value.