Honorable Calvin K.Y. Say

Speaker, House of Representatives

Twenty-First State Legislature

Regular Session of 2002

State of Hawaii

Sir:

Your Committee on Consumer Protection and Commerce, to which was referred S.B. No. 410, S.D. 3, entitled:

begs leave to report as follows:

The purpose of this bill is to facilitate the interisland shipment of motor vehicles by repealing the requirement of a legal owner's written consent to the shipment. The bill also allows lenders, law enforcement, and other parties to monitor the interisland transport of vehicles by requiring the carrier to maintain vehicle shipment records and make them available for inspection for a minimum of three years.

Testimony in support of this measure was received from Young Brothers, Limited. First Hawaiian Bank supported the intent of the bill and offered an amendment. The Honolulu Police Department (HPD) and Bank of Hawaii testified in opposition.

Your Committee finds that the current law was written to prevent the unauthorized or fraudulent transporting of vehicles between islands. The law requires that a person shipping a vehicle between islands provide the shipper with current vehicle registration, identification, and proof of insurance.

In addition, if the shipping customer is the registered, but not the legal owner of the vehicle, the customer must also provide the shipper with the written consent of the legal owner. In these cases the legal owner is usually the financial institution that financed the sale of the vehicle. If the shipping customer is the authorized agent of a legal or registered owner, the agent must present a notarized letter from the legal or registered owner to ship the vehicle.

Your Committee finds that the written consent requirement imposes an undue burden on consumers and shippers who are sometimes unclear as to the distinction between a registered owner and a legal owner. Moreover, it should be noted that no such requirement exists for shipping vehicles to Hawaii or between states in the continental United States.

Your Committee finds that this measure facilitates the interisland shipping process while balancing the interests of shippers, consumers, and law enforcement. Although your Committee recognizes the concerns raised by HPD, your Committee feels that the vehicle identification number recordation and recordkeeping requirements provide safeguards against unauthorized or fraudulent shipping which adequately address those concerns.

As affirmed by the record of votes of the members of your Committee on Consumer Protection and Commerce that is attached to this report, your Committee is in accord with the intent and purpose of S.B. No. 410, S.D. 3, and recommends that it pass Third Reading.