Honorable Calvin K.Y. Say

Speaker, House of Representatives

Twenty-Third State Legislature

Regular Session of 2005

State of Hawaii

Sir:

Your Committee on Consumer Protection & Commerce, to which was referred S.B. No. 1345, S.D. 1, entitled:

begs leave to report as follows:

The purpose of this bill is to encourage parties with condominium disputes that have not been resolved by mediation, to submit these disputes to the Condominium Dispute Resolution Pilot Program (CDRPP) for resolution in an administrative forum by:

Testimony in support of this measure was received from the Department of Commerce and Consumer Affairs (DCCA), Hawaii Council of Associations of Apartment Owners, Hawaii Independent Condominium & Cooperative Owners, and an interested citizen. The Community Associations Institute Hawaii supported the intent of this bill.

Your Committee finds that Act 164 established the CDRPP in section 514A-121.5, Hawaii Revised Statutes, allowing certain unsuccessfully mediated disputes to be administratively resolved by DCCA. However, the issues that could be appealed for an administrative hearing may have been too limited, since not a single case has been appealed to DCCA's hearings officer. This bill attempts to address this problem by broadening the range of issues that may be appealed. Your Committee notes that the 30 hearing limit per fiscal year on CDRPP cases still stands.

As affirmed by the record of votes of the members of your Committee on Consumer Protection & Commerce that is attached to this report, your Committee is in accord with the intent and purpose of S.B. No. 1345, S.D. 1, and recommends that it pass Second Reading and be referred to the Committee on Finance.