AB 2038 California Assembly · 2025-2026 Regular Session

Residential property insurance: cancellations and nonrenewals.

Summary

Existing law generally regulates classes of insurance, including residential property insurance. Existing law requires an insurer, in the case of a total loss to the primary insured structure under a policy of residential property insurance, for at least the next two annual renewal periods, but no less than 24 months of coverage from the date of the loss, to renew the policy under certain circumstances, including that the total loss to the primary insured structure was caused by a disaster. Existing law prohibits an insurer from canceling or refusing to renew a policy of residential property insurance for a property located in a ZIP Code within or adjacent to a fire perimeter for one year after the declaration of a state of emergency, if the cancellation or nonrenewal is based solely on the fact that the insured structure is located in an area in which a wildfire has occurred. This bill would instead require an insurer to renew the policy of residential property insurance, under the above-described circumstances, for at least the next three annual renewal periods, but no less than 36 months of coverage from the date of the loss. The bill would also prohibit an insurer from canceling or refusing to renew a policy of residential property insurance for a property located in a ZIP Code within or adjacent to a fire perimeter for two years after the declaration of a state of emergency.

Issues: ✓ Housing

Bill status passed both 4 of 5 stages cleared

Introduction

Feb 2026

Committee Review

Aug 2026

Assembly Passage

May 2026

Senate Passage

Aug 2026

Governor

Introduced Feb 17, 2026 Last action Aug 27, 2026

Maddy AI version diff · 3 comparisons

What changed between versions

08/30/26 - Enrolled → AB2038 · 2 edits

MINOR

The diff reflects a change from the formal enrolled bill document to a web page rendering of the same bill. No substantive policy changes were made; the legislative text of AB 2038 is identical in both versions. The differences are limited to formatting, navigation elements, and additional metadata such as co-author attribution and bill status timeline.

TECHNICAL

The document was reformatted from a formal enrolled legislative document (with page numbers, chapter placeholder, and governor's approval line) into a web page layout with site navigation, search tools, and bill tracking features.

Additional metadata was added in the web version, including co-author attribution (Assembly Members Harabedian and Zbur), introduction date (February 17, 2026), and a bill status timeline showing key dates for each legislative action.

02/17/26 - Introduced → 03/16/26 - Amended Assembly · 8 edits · Mar 16, 2026

MODERATE

AB 2038 was substantially expanded from a technical cleanup of crop insurance adjuster licensing rules into a major consumer protection bill that extends wildfire-related insurance protections for homeowners. The amendment adds new provisions requiring insurers to offer residential property insurance renewals for 36 months (up from 24) after a disaster-caused total loss, and doubles the post-wildfire cancellation moratorium from one year to two years. A co-author (Assembly Member Zbur) was added, legislative findings were inserted, and fiscal committee review was triggered.

SCOPE

The bill now amends Section 675.1 of the Insurance Code in addition to Section 14085, expanding its scope from a technical crop insurance adjuster licensing fix to a substantive residential property insurance consumer protection measure.

New legislative findings (Section 1) were added explaining the rationale: wildfires cause multi-year recovery, the existing one-year moratorium is insufficient, and the Legislature intends to strengthen consumer protections with a loss-based framework.

Assembly Member Zbur was added as a co-author of the bill.

REQUIREMENT

After a total loss to a primary insured structure caused by a disaster, insurers must now offer renewal for at least three annual renewal periods (minimum 36 months) instead of two annual renewal periods (minimum 24 months).

The prohibition on canceling or refusing to renew residential property insurance based solely on location within or adjacent to a wildfire perimeter was extended from one year to two years after the declaration of a state of emergency.

ELIGIBILITY

The wildfire cancellation moratorium now explicitly applies to all policies of residential property insurance in effect at the time of the declared emergency, clarifying its applicability.

FISCAL

Fiscal committee review changed from 'no' to 'yes,' indicating the amendment triggers a fiscal impact analysis due to the new insurance market obligations.

TECHNICAL

Minor pronoun changes in Section 14085 (changing 'he or she' to 'they') and formatting corrections to the crop insurance adjuster licensing provisions.

Floor votes · Senate Aug 26, 2026 · Assembly May 11, 2026

How they voted

28–5

Passed · 7 other

Total votes 40

Aug 26, 2026

D Democratic30

26 Yea 1 Nay 3

86% Yea

R Republican10

2 Yea 4 Nay 4

40% Nay

Vote distribution

All Yea All Nay Mixed No data

Full legislative history

Actions timeline

Total actions

Key actions

Committee

Amendments

Aug 27, 2026

Lower · Passed

In Assembly. Ordered to Engrossing and Enrolling.

lower

Aug 26, 2026

Upper · Passed

Read third time. Passed. Ordered to the Assembly. (Ayes 27. Noes 5.).

upper

Aug 13, 2026

Upper · Passed

From committee: Do pass. (Ayes 6. Noes 1.) (August 13).

upper

Jun 29, 2026

Committee

In committee: Referred to APPR. suspense file.

upper

Jun 10, 2026

Upper · Passed

From committee: Do pass and re-refer to Com. on APPR. (Ayes 4. Noes 0.) (June 10). Re-referred to Com. on APPR.

upper

May 20, 2026

Committee

Referred to Com. on INS.

upper

May 11, 2026

Lower · Passed

Read third time. Passed. Ordered to the Senate. (Ayes 53. Noes 9. Page 4991.)

lower

Apr 29, 2026

Lower · Passed

From committee: Do pass. (Ayes 10. Noes 1.) (April 29).

lower

Apr 15, 2026

Lower · Passed

From committee: Do pass and re-refer to Com. on APPR. (Ayes 13. Noes 3.) (April 15). Re-referred to Com. on APPR.

lower

Mar 17, 2026

Committee

Re-referred to Com. on INS.

lower

Mar 16, 2026

Introduced

From committee chair, with author's amendments: Amend, and re-refer to Com. on INS. Read second time and amended.

lower

Mar 16, 2026

Committee

Referred to Com. on INS.

lower

Feb 18, 2026

Lower · Passed

From printer. May be heard in committee March 20.

lower

1 primary · 1 co-sponsor