(a) Whenever ownership of any cemetery authority is proposed to be transferred, the cemetery authority shall notify the Cemetery and Funeral Bureau in the Department of Consumer Affairs. A change in ownership, for purposes of this section, shall be deemed to occur whenever more than 50 percent of the equitable ownership of a cemetery authority is transferred in a single transaction or in a related series of transactions to one or more persons, associations, or corporations. The notice shall specify the address of the principal offices of the cemetery authority, and whether it will be changed or unchanged, and shall specify the name and address of each new owner and the stockholders. A person or entity that knowingly provides false information shall be subject to a civil penalty for each violation in the minimum amount of two thousand five hundred dollars ($2,500) and the maximum amount of twenty-five thousand dollars ($25,000). An action for a civil penalty under this provision may be brought by any public prosecutor in the name of the people of the State of California and the penalty imposed shall be enforceable as a civil judgment.

(b) Notice of the change of ownership shall be published in a newspaper of general circulation in the county in which the cemetery is located. The notice shall specify the address of the principal offices of the cemetery authority, whether changed or unchanged, and shall specify the name and address of each new owner and each stockholder owning more than 5 percent of the stock of each new owner.

(c) If there is a change of ownership pursuant to this section, the existing certificate of authority shall lapse and a new certificate of authority shall be obtained from the Cemetery and Funeral Bureau. No person shall purchase a cemetery, including purchase at a sale for delinquent taxes, or purchase more than 50 percent of the equitable ownership of a cemetery authority without having obtained a certificate of authority from the Cemetery and Funeral Bureau prior to the purchase of the cemetery or the ownership interest in the cemetery authority.

(d) Every cemetery authority shall post and continuously maintain at each public entrance to the cemetery a sign specifying the current name and address of the cemetery authority, a statement that the name and address of each director and officer of the cemetery authority may be obtained by contacting the Cemetery and Funeral Bureau, and shall have either of the following:

(1) The address of the Cemetery and Funeral Bureau.

(2) A statement that the address of the Cemetery and Funeral Bureau is available at the office of the cemetery.

(e) The signs shall be at least 16 inches high and 24 inches wide and shall be prominently mounted upright and vertical.

(f) The Cemetery and Funeral Bureau shall suspend the certificate of authority of any cemetery authority that is in violation of this section. No person shall obtain a certificate of authority under intentionally false or misleading statements and no person shall delegate authority of ownership under this section, except to another person licensed by the bureau. The certificate may be reinstated only upon compliance with these requirements.

(Amended by Stats. 2008, Ch. 490, Sec. 3. Effective January 1, 2009.)