STAND. COM. REP. NO. 616

                                   Honolulu, Hawaii
                                                     , 1999

                                   RE:  S.B. No. 1519
                                        S.D. 2




Honorable Norman Mizuguchi
President of the Senate
Twentieth State Legislature
Regular Session of 1999
State of Hawaii

Sir:

     Your Committee on Ways and Means, to which was referred S.B.
No. 1519, S.D. 1, entitled: 

     "A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO HOUSING,"

begs leave to report as follows:

     The purpose of this bill is to authorize the Housing and
Community Development Corporation of Hawaii to act as a
clearinghouse of information in order to ensure a supply of
federally assisted rental housing projects for low-income
renters.

     Specifically, this measure requires owners of federally
assisted rental housing projects to provide a one-year notice to
both tenants and the corporation of any intent to terminate a
subsidy contract on an assisted housing development or prepay its
mortgage.  Furthermore, if the owner intends to sell the project,
the owner must first provide a right of first refusal to the
tenant association of the development and certain nonprofit
organizations for a one hundred eighty-day period following the
notice to sell the project.  The corporation shall maintain and
disseminate lists of potential buyers of low-income rental
housing projects being terminated and offered for sale.

     Your Committee finds that the supply of the Section 8 low-
income rental housing projects subsidized by the United States

 
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                                   STAND. COM. REP. NO. 616
                                   Page 2


Department of Housing and Urban Development may decrease in the
future due to anticipated reductions in the subsidies offered by
the federal government to the housing project owners.  Decreased
subsidies increase the risks that owners will terminate the
federal subsidy contracts and sell off the housing projects,
forcing their renters out of their subsidized housing units.

     Your Committee believes that this measure is necessary to
protect low-income renters from the financial devastation that
will befall them in trying to secure market rate rental units.

     Your Committee has amended this measure by requiring
appraisers under the new law to be certified real estate
appraisers.  Furthermore, your Committee has amended this measure
by making technical nonsubstantive amendments for the purposes of
clarity and style.

     As affirmed by the record of votes of the members of your
Committee on Ways and Means that is attached to this report, your
Committee is in accord with the intent and purpose of S.B. No.
1519, S.D. 1, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass
Third Reading in the form attached hereto as S.B. No. 1519, S.D.
2.

                                 Respectfully submitted on behalf
                                 of the members of the Committee
                                 on Ways and Means,



                                 ________________________________
                                 CAROL FUKUNAGA, Co-Chair



                                 ________________________________
                                 ANDREW LEVIN, Co-Chair

 
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