California State Assemblyman Tri Ta, a Vietnamese-American representing the 70th District, is set to enact a new law effective from January 1, 2026, designed to assist homeowners affected by disasters in deferring property tax payments as a safeguard.
In California, homeowners are required to pay property taxes twice a year; failure to pay on time could result in penalties and interest being added by the tax authorities. Properties with long-standing defaults or overdue taxes could even be subject to auction under the law.
In certain situations, homeowners can apply to government agencies for installment payment plans; in cases of significant disasters, homeowners are allowed to postpone tax payments. However, Tri Ta believes that the conditions for tax deferral for disaster-affected homeowners need to be expanded.
Under current law, only homeowners who have successfully applied for an installment payment plan before the disaster occurred are eligible to postpone tax payments in the aftermath of the disaster. Tri Ta noted that this is unfair to many homeowners who have already submitted applications but have not yet been approved.
According to the upcoming AB1416 legislation: homeowners who have applied for an installment tax payment plan before a disaster strikes, even if the application process is not fully completed, will automatically be eligible for relief in deferring tax payments post-disaster. This provision aims to provide affected families with more time to rebuild their lives.
Tri Ta emphasized that existing legal loopholes have left many families at risk of losing their homes, stating, “If a homeowner has honestly and proactively applied for an installment payment plan before a disaster occurs, they should not lose the protection they are entitled to due to slow administrative processing.”
AB1416 has garnered bipartisan support and will officially take effect on January 1, 2026.