SECTION 1.
The Legislature finds and declares all of the following:(a) In 1998, the Legislature established the Safe at Home program within the office of the Secretary of State to allow victims of domestic violence to apply for a substitute address to be used in public records in order to prevent their assailants, or potential assailants, from finding their work or home address. Through subsequent legislation, the program has been expanded to include victims of sexual assault, stalking, elder abuse, human trafficking, reproductive health care service providers, employees, volunteers, and patients.
(b) A person applying for protection under the Safe at Home program may not simply sign up. Rather, to ensure the integrity of the program, the law requires the application to include a sworn statement that the applicant has good reason to believe that they are a victim and fear for their safety, and permits applicants to provide evidence with the application, including, but not limited to, police, court, or other government agency records or files; documentation from legal, clerical, medical, or other professionals from whom the applicant sought assistance in dealing with the alleged abuse or stalking; and any other evidence that supports the sworn statement alleging that the applicant is a victim.
(c) When a Safe at Home participant owns a home in a planned community property such as a condominium, townhouse, or community housing, the owner is required to become part of a homeowners’ association.
(d) Membership associations in these planned communities typically provide the list of all owner names, addresses, and contact numbers to all owners in the homeowners’ association. The usual stated purpose is to provide the information to candidates for board election campaigns.
(e) Furthermore, the homeowners’ board often shares the same information with their management company, which in turn shares with third-party vendors, for instance, in order to set up an online owner bulletin board where property owner and resident information can be viewed online by other owners and residents. The shared owner information contains personal identifying information including the name, occupant, unit number, contact information, and addresses. This information may also be given to vendors.
(f) Requests to opt out of the listings to the homeowners’ board do not work to resolve the concerns raised by sharing personal information of Safe at Home participants, as granted board decisions and policies may change when the board or management team changes.
(g) Opting out does not work even if the participant notifies the board and management that they will opt not to vote in elections, as the opt-out provision in existing law is permissive and there is no repercussion when the owner’s request is ignored. This results in the owner’s information being shared, including in publicly available online web portals, which may expose a Safe at Home participant’s confidential address information to their stalker or abuser.