(a) This article does not apply to the following sales:

(1) Sales or transfers pursuant to court order, including, but not limited to, sales ordered by a probate court in administration of an estate, sales pursuant to a writ of execution, sales by any foreclosure sale, sales by a trustee in bankruptcy, sales by eminent domain, and sales resulting from a decree for specific performance.

(2) Sales or transfers to a mortgagee by a mortgagor or successor in interest who is in default, sales to a beneficiary of a deed of trust by a trustor or successor in interest who is in default, transfers by any foreclosure sale after default, any foreclosure sale after default in an obligation secured by a mortgage, sale under a power of sale or any foreclosure sale under a decree of foreclosure after default in an obligation secured by a deed of trust or secured by any other instrument containing a power of sale, or sales by a mortgagee or a beneficiary under a deed of trust who has acquired the real property at a sale conducted pursuant to a power of sale under a mortgage or deed of trust or a sale pursuant to a decree of foreclosure or has acquired the real property by a deed in lieu of foreclosure.

(3) Sales or transfers by a fiduciary in the course of the administration of a trust, guardianship, conservatorship, or decedent’s estate. This exemption shall not apply to a sale if the trustee is a natural person who is a trustee of a revocable trust and the seller is a former owner of the property or an occupant in possession of the property within the preceding year.

(4) Sales or transfers from one coowner to one or more other coowners.

(5) Sales or transfers made to a spouse, or to a person or persons in the lineal line of consanguinity of one or more of the sellers.

(6) Sales or transfers between spouses resulting from a judgment of dissolution of marriage or of legal separation of the parties or from a property settlement agreement incidental to that judgment.

(7) Sales or transfers by the Controller in the course of administering Chapter 7 (commencing with Section 1500) of Title 10 of Part 3 of the Code of Civil Procedure.

(8) Sales or transfers under Chapter 7 (commencing with Section 3691) or Chapter 8 (commencing with Section 3771) of Part 6 of Division 1 of the Revenue and Taxation Code.

(9) Sales, transfers, or exchanges to or from any governmental entity.

(10) The sale, creation, or transfer of any lease of any duration except a lease with an option to purchase or a ground lease coupled with improvements.

(b) Sales and transfers not subject to this article may be subject to other disclosure requirements, including those under Sections 8589.3, 8589.4, and 51183.5 of the Government Code and Sections 2621.9, 2694, and 4136 of the Public Resources Code. In sales not subject to this article, agents may make required disclosures in a separate writing.

(c) Notwithstanding the definition of sale in Section 10018.5 of the Business and Professions Code and Section 2079.13, the terms “sale” and “transfer,” as they are used in this section, shall have their commonly understood meanings. The changes made to this section by Assembly Bill 1289 of the 2017–18 Legislative Session shall not be interpreted to change the application of the law as it read prior to January 1, 2019.

(Amended by Stats. 2019, Ch. 310, Sec. 7. (AB 892) Effective January 1, 2020.)