FAIR Plan Reform Is Signed: What AB 1680 and AB 69 Mean for Your Escrow Timeline
Insurance has quietly become the most common reason a California escrow slips. On September 27, 2026 the Legislature's answer arrived on the books.
According to the Governor's legislative update for that date, these residential insurance bills were signed:
AB 1680, California FAIR Plan Association. Known as the Make It FAIR Act.
AB 69, FAIR Plan policy notices and renewals.
SB 1301, residential property insurance nonrenewals.
AB 1931, insurance for home protection companies, which is the home warranty side of the file.
SB 1206, the insurance omnibus bill.
Two were vetoed: SB 877 on residential property insurance loss estimate transparency, and SB 878 on insurance business practices.
What the Make It FAIR Act Actually Requires
AB 1680 was authored by Assemblymember Lisa Calderon and sponsored by Insurance Commissioner Ricardo Lara. The Department of Insurance announced the bill on February 2, 2026 and described what it directs the plan to do:
Offer comprehensive homeowners coverage comparable to standard insurers, which removes the need for separate policies covering water damage and liability.
Expand staffing to handle claim volume and consumer complaints.
Improve clearinghouse programs that move policyholders back to the regular market.
Adopt three to five year strategic planning, like other insurers.
Open governing committee meetings and publish annual reports.
Conduct formal climate risk assessments and report climate related financial risk.
Create formal capital and liquidity management plans.
The Department's September 2, 2026 release placed AB 1680 in a ten bill consumer protection package and framed its core function as requiring the insurer run board to implement the Commissioner's recommendations.
Why This Reaches Your Transaction
The first item on that list is the one that changes things.
A FAIR Plan policy today is a fire policy. It is not a homeowners policy. Buyers in high risk areas usually end up with two contracts: the FAIR Plan policy for fire, and a difference in conditions policy from a surplus lines carrier to cover water damage, liability, and theft. Two applications, two quotes, two binders, two premiums, and two chances for something to arrive late.
Lenders do not fund on a partial picture. If the difference in conditions policy is still being quoted on day fourteen, the loan is not clear to close regardless of how clean the rest of the file is.
If AB 1680 moves the FAIR Plan toward comprehensive coverage, that two policy structure can collapse into one. That is a simplification but it's not immediate.
The FAIR Plan operates under its plan of operation and the Commissioner's orders, and coverage changes of this size move through rate filings and operational build out.
Have your client research what FAIR Plan covers, confirm the current offering at cfpnet.com.
How to Sequence the Insurance Step
Insurance behaves like the HOA packet. It has a long lead time, so it goes early or it goes badly.
Quote before the offer. In a wildfire exposed area, an insurability check belongs in the showing conversation. A buyer who learns the premium after acceptance is a buyer who may want to renegotiates or cancels.
Identify the structure on day one. Admitted carrier, or FAIR Plan plus a difference in conditions policy. Those are two different timelines and the file should say which one it is.
Get the binder to the lender early. Not the quote. The binder, with the mortgagee clause correct, because a wrong lender name sends it back for reissue.
How a Transaction Coordinator Supports This
A coordinator does not place insurance and does not advise on coverage. Those belong to a licensed insurance professional.
What a coordinator does is keep the chase from falling on the agent. Two binders to collect, a mortgagee clause to verify, a lender condition to clear, and a contingency date that does not care why the carrier is slow. That is tracking work, and it is exactly what drops when an agent is carrying several files at once.
The Short Version
AB 1680 and AB 69 were signed on September 27, 2026. The direction is more FAIR Plan oversight, broader coverage, and better notice to policyholders.
None of it is retroactive to the file you are working today. Quote current coverage, confirm the policy structure on day one, and get binders in early.
AIDE tracks insurance contingency removal due date as part of full service transaction coordination across California. If you want that support on your files, see our services. If you want to learn the work yourself, the AIDE TC Training Course covers contingency tracking, and file management start to finish. No license required.
AIDE Transaction Coordination | aide-re.com | support@aide-re.com
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