SB2208

SECTION 1. The legislature finds that the 2006 amendments to the federal Violence Against Women Act of 1998 expressly prohibit federally funded public housing agencies from terminating a lease due to incidents or threats of domestic violence, dating violence, or stalking. Protection should also be extended by the State to any victim of domestic violence who is a tenant in a rental housing unit under a rental agreement.

The purpose of this Act is to provide protections for a victim of domestic violence in rental housing.

SECTION 2. Section 521-8, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended by adding a new definition to be appropriately inserted and to read as follows:

""Victim of domestic violence" means a person who, within the last year:

(1) Was a victim of a felony or misdemeanor crime of violence committed by a current or former spouse, by a person with whom the victim shares a child in common, or by a person who is cohabitating with or has cohabitated with the victim;

(2) Was the victim of stalking as defined by section 711‑1106.5;

(3) Obtained a current valid temporary restraining order or current valid protective order pursuant to section 586-4 or 586-5.5; or

(4) Had a current valid protective order pursuant to section 586-4 or 586-5.5 violated; or

(5) Sought assistance concerning domestic violence from a community resource, including a domestic violence agency, a minister, a therapist, or social service agency."

SECTION 3. Chapter 521, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended by adding a new section to be appropriately designated and to read as follows:

"§521- Protection for victim of domestic violence. (a) When a tenant, an applicant for a rental agreement, or a member of the tenant's or applicant's household is a victim of domestic violence, a landlord shall not terminate or fail to renew a rental agreement, refuse to enter into a rental agreement, or otherwise retaliate in the leasing of a residence based upon the tenant's status as a victim of domestic abuse. A tenant who is a victim of domestic violence may terminate a rental agreement without penalty, subject to the following conditions:

(1) The tenant shall provide the landlord with written notice requesting release from the rental agreement and the date of release shall be within thirty days of the date of the written notice or earlier upon mutual agreement of the parties;

(2) The tenant shall be responsible for the rent until the date of release and shall not be liable for future rent, early termination penalties or fees, or penalties pursuant to section 521-70(d) if the tenant vacates the dwelling unit by the agreed upon date of release, except that:

(A) The tenant shall be liable for any delinquent, unpaid rent or other amounts owed to the landlord that accrued prior to the date of release by the tenant under this section; and

(B) A landlord may maintain any claim available under section 521-69; and

(3) Notwithstanding the release of the tenant from a lease agreement under this section, the tenancy shall continue for any remaining tenant under the terms of the rental agreement.

(b) At the tenant's expense and upon written request, a landlord shall change the locks to the tenant's residence or authorize the tenant to do so within three business days of the receipt of the written request.

(c) A landlord may request verification of a tenant's status as a victim of domestic violence. Any verification information shall be confidential and may be disclosed only when required as evidence in a summary possession proceeding, an action for unpaid rent or damages, upon the written consent of the tenant, or as otherwise required by law. Upon the request of the landlord, the tenant may provide as verification:

(1) A letter of verification or other documentation from a law enforcement agency that states that the tenant notified the law enforcement agency that the tenant was a victim of domestic violence;

(2) A copy of a current valid temporary restraining order or current valid protective order pursuant to section 586-4 or 586-5.5; or

(3) A signed declaration by a community resource, including a domestic violence agency, a minister, a therapist, or other social service agency that the tenant has sought assistance concerning the domestic violence from."

SECTION 4. Section 521-74, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended to read as follows:

"§521-74 Retaliatory evictions and rent increases prohibited[.]; other prohibited actions. (a) Notwithstanding that the tenant has no written rental agreement or that it has expired, so long as the tenant continues to tender the usual rent to the landlord or proceeds to tender receipts for rent lawfully withheld, no action or proceeding to recover possession of the dwelling unit may be maintained against the tenant, nor shall the landlord otherwise cause the tenant to quit the dwelling unit involuntarily, nor demand an increase in rent from the tenant; nor decrease the services to which the tenant has been entitled, after:

(1) The tenant has complained in good faith to the department of health, landlord, building department, office of consumer protection, or any other governmental agency concerned with landlord-tenant disputes of conditions in or affecting the tenant's dwelling unit [~~which~~] that constitutes a violation of a health law or regulation or of any provision of this chapter; [or]

(2) The department of health or other governmental agency has filed a notice or complaint of a violation of a health law or regulation or any provision of this chapter; or

(3) The tenant has in good faith requested repairs under section 521-63 or 521-64.

(b) Notwithstanding that the tenant has no written rental agreement or that it has expired, so long as the tenant continues to tender the usual rent to the landlord or proceeds to tender receipts for rent lawfully withheld, no action or proceeding to recover possession of the dwelling unit may be maintained against the tenant, nor shall the landlord otherwise cause the tenant to quit the dwelling unit involuntarily, based upon the tenant's status as a victim of domestic violence. Nothing in this subsection shall prevent the landlord from establishing and proving a legitimate non-discriminatory reason for an action or proceeding to recover possession of the dwelling unit.

[~~(b)~~] (c) Notwithstanding [~~subsection (a),~~] subsections (a) and (b), the landlord may recover possession of the dwelling unit if:

(1) The tenant is committing waste, or a nuisance, or is using the dwelling unit for an illegal purpose or for other than living or dwelling purposes in violation of the tenant's rental agreement;

(2) The landlord seeks in good faith to recover possession of the dwelling unit for immediate use as the landlord's own abode or that of the landlord's immediate family;

(3) The landlord seeks in good faith to recover possession of the dwelling unit for the purpose of substantially altering, remodeling, or demolishing the premises;

(4) The complaint or request of subsection (a) relates only to a condition or conditions caused by the lack of ordinary care by the tenant or another person in the tenant's household or on the premises with the tenant's consent;

(5) The landlord has received from the department of health certification that the dwelling unit and other property and facilities used by or affecting the use and enjoyment of the tenant were on the date of filing of the complaint or request in compliance with health laws and regulations;

(6) The landlord has in good faith contracted to sell the property, and the contract of sale contains a representation by the purchaser corresponding to paragraph (2) or (3); or

(7) The landlord is seeking to recover possession on the basis of a notice to terminate a periodic tenancy, which notice was given to the tenant previous to the complaint or request of subsection (a)[.] or prior to the landlord's knowledge of the tenant's status as a victim of domestic violence.

[~~(c)~~] (d) Any tenant from whom possession has been recovered or who has been otherwise involuntarily dispossessed, in violation of this section, is entitled to recover the damages sustained by the tenant and the cost of suit, including reasonable attorney's fees.

[~~(d)~~] (e) Notwithstanding subsection (a), the landlord may increase the rent if:

(1) The landlord has received from the department of health certification that the dwelling unit and other property and facilities used by and affecting the use and enjoyment of the tenant were on the date of filing of the complaint or request of subsection (a) in compliance with health laws and regulations;

(2) The landlord has become liable for a substantial increase in property taxes, or a substantial increase in other maintenance or operating costs not associated with the landlord's complying with the complaint or request, not less than four months prior to the demand for an increase in rent; and the increase in rent does not exceed the prorated portion of the net increase in taxes or costs;

(3) The landlord has completed a capital improvement of the dwelling unit or the property of which it is a part and the increase in rent does not exceed the amount which may be claimed for federal income tax purposes as a straight-line depreciation of the improvement, prorated among the dwelling units benefited by the improvement;

(4) The complaint or request of subsection (a) relates only to a condition or conditions caused by the want of due care by the tenant or another person of the tenant's household or on the premises with the tenant's consent; or

(5) The landlord can establish, by competent evidence, that the rent now demanded of the tenant does not exceed the rent charged other tenants of similar dwelling units in the landlord's building or, in the case of a single-family residence or where there is no similar dwelling unit in the building, does not exceed the market rental value of the dwelling unit."

SECTION 5. If any provision of this Act, or the application thereof to any person or circumstance is held invalid, the invalidity does not affect other provisions or applications of the Act, which can be given effect without the invalid provision or application, and to this end the provisions of this Act are severable.

SECTION 6. Statutory material to be repealed is bracketed and stricken. New statutory material is underscored.

SECTION 7. This Act shall take effect upon its approval.

INTRODUCED BY:	_____________________________

THE SENATE	S.B. NO.	2208
TWENTY-FOURTH LEGISLATURE, 2008
STATE OF HAWAII