Attorneys who file a construction-related disability access claim must now include additional documents under AB 1521.
The law, which went into effect in October 2015, included a revision to the mandatory written advisory that must be provided with a demand letter or complaint. It requires that a verified answer form be provided with a demand letter or complaint and extended an existing requirement that lawyers send a copy of the demand letter to the State Bar of California, which is required until Jan. 1, 2019.
In addition, lawyers who send or serve a complaint must notify the California Commission on Disability Access within five business days of judgment, settlement or dismissal and provide the agency with certain information.
It also lays out the definition of a "high-frequency litigant," sets a special fee of $1,000 for those litigants and requires they disclose the number of previous complaints they have filed, the reason they were in the geographic area where they encountered the problem and state why they visited the place subject to their complaint.
In addition, the law established procedures for a court stay and early evaluation conferences in cases that involve a high-frequency litigant and set up procedures for requesting a court order for a joint inspection of the premises during an early evaluation conference.