Report Title:
Discrimination in Real Property; Rentals; Arrest and Court Record
Description:
Amends chapter 515, Hawaii Revised Statutes, to prohibit discrimination in real estate transactions because of arrest and court record.
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THE SENATE |
S.B. NO. |
2987 |
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TWENTY-THIRD LEGISLATURE, 2006 |
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STATE OF HAWAII |
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A BILL FOR AN ACT
RELATING TO DISCRIMINATION IN REAL PROPERTY.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF HAWAII:
SECTION 1. Chapter 515, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended by adding a new section to be appropriately designated and to read as follows:
"§515- Inquiries into conviction record. (a) Subject to subsection (b), an owner or any other person engaging in a real estate transaction, or a real estate broker or salesperson, may inquire about and consider an individual's criminal conviction record concerning a real estate transaction; provided that the conviction record bears a rational relationship to the use or occupancy of a housing accommodation.
(b) Inquiry into and consideration of conviction records for prospective real estate transactions shall take place only after a person has received a conditional offer of sale, exchange, rental, or lease of real property which may be withdrawn if the person has a conviction record that bears a rational relationship to the use or occupancy of the housing accommodation.
(c) For purposes of this section, "conviction" means an adjudication by a court of competent jurisdiction that the defendant committed a crime, not including final judgments required to be confidential pursuant to section 571-84; provided that the owner or other person engaging in a real estate transaction, or real estate broker or salesperson, may consider the defendant's conviction record falling within a period that shall not exceed the most recent ten years, excluding periods of incarceration. If the defendant claims that the period of incarceration was less than what is shown on the defendant's conviction record, the owner or other person engaging in a real estate transaction, or real estate broker or salesperson, shall provide the defendant with an opportunity to present documentary evidence of a date of release to establish a period of incarceration that is shorter than the sentence imposed for the defendant's conviction.
(d) Notwithstanding subsections (b) and (c), the requirement that inquiry into and consideration of a defendant's conviction record may take place only after the individual has received a conditional offer of sale, exchange, rental, or lease of real property, and the limitation to the most recent ten-year period, excluding the period of incarceration, shall not apply to owners or other persons engaging in real estate transactions, or real estate brokers or salespersons, who are expressly permitted to inquire into an individual's criminal history for housing purposes pursuant to any federal or state law other than subsection (a), including but not limited to sections 201G-32 and 201G-42."
SECTION 2. Section 515-2, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended by adding a new definition to be appropriately inserted and to read as follows:
""Arrest and court record" includes any information about an individual having been questioned, apprehended, taken into custody or detention, held for investigation, charged with an offense, served a summons, arrested with or without a warrant, tried, or convicted pursuant to any law enforcement or military authority."
SECTION 3. Section 515-3, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended to read as follows:
"§515-3 Discriminatory practices. It is a discriminatory practice for an owner or any other person engaging in a real estate transaction, or for a real estate broker or salesperson, because of race, sex, including gender identity or expression, sexual orientation, color, religion, marital status, familial status, ancestry, disability, age, arrest and court record, or human immunodeficiency virus infection:
(1) To refuse to engage in a real estate transaction with a person;
(2) To discriminate against a person in the terms, conditions, or privileges of a real estate transaction or in the furnishing of facilities or services in connection therewith;
(3) To refuse to receive or to fail to transmit a bona fide offer to engage in a real estate transaction from a person;
(4) To refuse to negotiate for a real estate transaction with a person;
(5) To represent to a person that real property is not available for inspection, sale, rental, or lease when in fact it is available, or to fail to bring a property listing to the person's attention, or to refuse to permit the person to inspect real property, or to steer a person seeking to engage in a real estate transaction;
(6) To print, circulate, post, or mail, or cause to be published a statement, advertisement, or sign, or to use a form of application for a real estate transaction, or to make a record or inquiry in connection with a prospective real estate transaction, that indicates, directly or indirectly, an intent to make a limitation, specification, or discrimination with respect thereto;
(7) To offer, solicit, accept, use, or retain a listing of real property with the understanding that a person may be discriminated against in a real estate transaction or in the furnishing of facilities or services in connection therewith;
(8) To refuse to engage in a real estate transaction with a person or to deny equal opportunity to use and enjoy a housing accommodation due to a disability because the person uses the services of a guide dog, signal dog, or service animal; provided that reasonable restrictions or prohibitions may be imposed regarding excessive noise or other problems caused by those animals. For the purposes of this paragraph:
"Blind" shall be as defined in section 235-1;
"Deaf" shall be as defined in section 235-1;
"Guide dog" means any dog individually trained by a licensed guide dog trainer for guiding a blind person by means of a harness attached to the dog and a rigid handle grasped by the person;
"Reasonable restriction" shall not include any restriction that allows any owner or person to refuse to negotiate or refuse to engage in a real estate transaction; provided that as used in this paragraph, the "reasonableness" of a restriction shall be examined by giving due consideration to the needs of a reasonable prudent person in the same or similar circumstances. Depending on the circumstances, a "reasonable restriction" may require the owner of the service animal, guide dog, or signal dog to comply with one or more of the following:
(A) Observe applicable laws including leash laws and pick-up laws;
(B) Assume responsibility for damage caused by the dog; or
(C) Have the housing unit cleaned upon vacating by fumigation, deodorizing, professional carpet cleaning, or other method appropriate under the circumstances.
The foregoing list is illustrative only, and neither exhaustive nor mandatory;
"Service animal" means any animal that is trained to provide those life activities limited by the disability of the person;
"Signal dog" means any dog that is trained to alert a deaf person to intruders or sounds;
(9) To solicit or require as a condition of engaging in a real estate transaction that the buyer, renter, or lessee be tested for human immunodeficiency virus infection, the causative agent of acquired immunodeficiency syndrome;
(10) To refuse to permit, at the expense of a person with a disability, reasonable modifications to existing premises occupied or to be occupied by the person if modifications may be necessary to afford the person full enjoyment of the premises. A real estate broker or salesperson, where it is reasonable to do so, may condition permission for a modification on the person agreeing to restore the interior of the premises to the condition that existed before the modification, reasonable wear and tear excepted;
(11) To refuse to make reasonable accommodations in rules, policies, practices, or services, when the accommodations may be necessary to afford a person with a disability equal opportunity to use and enjoy a housing accommodation;
(12) In connection with the design and construction of covered multifamily housing accommodations for first occupancy after March 13, 1991, to fail to design and construct housing accommodations in such a manner that:
(A) The housing accommodations have at least one accessible entrance, unless it is impractical to do so because of the terrain or unusual characteristics of the site; and
(B) With respect to housing accommodations with an accessible building entrance:
(i) The public use and common use portions of the housing accommodations are accessible to and usable by disabled persons;
(ii) Doors allow passage by persons in wheelchairs; and
(iii) All premises within covered multifamily housing accommodations contain an accessible route into and through the housing accommodations; light switches, electrical outlets, thermostats, and other environmental controls are in accessible locations; reinforcements in the bathroom walls allow installation of grab bars; and kitchens and bathrooms are accessible by wheelchair; or
(13) To discriminate against or deny a person access to, or membership or participation in any multiple listing service, real estate broker's organization, or other service, organization, or facility involved either directly or indirectly in real estate transactions, or to discriminate against any person in the terms or conditions of such access, membership, or participation."
SECTION 4. Section 515-5, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended to read as follows:
"§515-5 Discriminatory financial practices. It is a discriminatory practice for a person, a representative of such person, or a real estate broker or salesperson, to whom an inquiry or application is made for financial assistance in connection with a real estate transaction or for the construction, rehabilitation, repair, maintenance, or improvement of real property, because of race, sex, including gender identity or expression, sexual orientation, color, religion, marital status, familial status, ancestry, disability, age, arrest and court record, or human immunodeficiency virus infection:
(1) To discriminate against the applicant;
(2) To use a form of application for financial assistance or to make or keep a record or inquiry in connection with applications for financial assistance that indicates, directly or indirectly, an intent to make a limitation, specification, or discrimination unless the records are required by federal law;
(3) To discriminate in the making or purchasing of loans or the provision of other financial assistance for purchasing, constructing, improving, repairing, or maintaining a dwelling, or the making or purchasing of loans or the provision of other financial assistance secured by residential real estate; or
(4) To discriminate in the selling, brokering, or appraising of residential real property."
SECTION 5. Section 515-6, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended to read as follows:
"§515-6 Restrictive covenants and conditions. (a) Every provision in an oral agreement or a written instrument relating to real property that purports to forbid or restrict the conveyance, encumbrance, occupancy, or lease thereof to individuals because of race, sex, including gender identity or expression, sexual orientation, color, religion, marital status, familial status, ancestry, disability, age, arrest and court record, or human immunodeficiency virus infection, is void.
(b) Every condition, restriction, or prohibition, including a right of entry or possibility of reverter, that directly or indirectly limits the use or occupancy of real property on the basis of race, sex, including gender identity or expression, sexual orientation, color, religion, marital status, familial status, ancestry, disability, age, or human immunodeficiency virus infection is void, except a limitation, on the basis of religion, on the use of real property held by a religious institution or organization or by a religious or charitable organization operated, supervised, or controlled by a religious institution or organization, and used for religious or charitable purposes.
(c) It is a discriminatory practice to insert in a written instrument relating to real property a provision that is void under this section or to honor or attempt to honor such a provision in the chain of title."
SECTION 6. Section 515-7, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended to read as follows:
"§515-7 Blockbusting. It is a discriminatory practice for a person, representative of a person, or a real estate broker or salesperson, for the purpose of inducing a real estate transaction from which the person, representative, or real estate broker or salesperson may benefit financially, because of race, sex, including gender identity or expression, sexual orientation, color, religion, marital status, familial status, ancestry, disability, age, arrest and court record, or human immunodeficiency virus infection:
(1) To represent that a change has occurred or will or may occur in the composition of the owners or occupants in the block, neighborhood, or area in which the real property is located; or
(2) To represent that this change will or may result in the lowering of property values, an increase in criminal or antisocial behavior, or a decline in the quality of schools in the block, neighborhood, or area in which the real property is located."
SECTION 7. Section 515-16, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended to read as follows:
"§515-16 Other discriminatory practices. It is a discriminatory practice for a person, or for two or more persons to conspire:
(1) To retaliate, threaten, or discriminate against a person because of the exercise or enjoyment of any right granted or protected by this chapter, or because the person has opposed a discriminatory practice, or because the person has made a charge, filed a complaint, testified, assisted, or participated in an investigation, proceeding, or hearing under this chapter;
(2) To aid, abet, incite, or coerce a person to engage in a discriminatory practice;
(3) To interfere with any person in the exercise or enjoyment of any right granted or protected by this chapter or with the performance of a duty or the exercise of a power by the commission;
(4) To obstruct or prevent a person from complying with this chapter or an order issued thereunder;
(5) To intimidate or threaten any person engaging in activities designed to make other persons aware of, or encouraging such other persons to exercise rights granted or protected by this chapter; or
(6) To threaten, intimidate or interfere with persons in their enjoyment of a housing accommodation because of the race, sex, color, religion, marital status, familial status, ancestry, disability, age, arrest and court record, or HIV infection of such persons, or of visitors or associates of such persons."
SECTION 8. New statutory material is underscored.
SECTION 9. This Act shall take effect upon its approval.
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INTRODUCED BY: |
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