HB202 HD1.DOC

SECTION 1. Chapter 521, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended by adding a new section to be appropriately designated and to read as follows:

"§521- Foreclosure; notice to tenant. (a) A successor-in-interest shall give written notice to a tenant or subtenant in possession of a rental housing unit to vacate the property within forty-five days from the date the notice is delivered to the tenant or subtenant, pursuant to subsection (b), before the tenant or subtenant may be removed from the property.

(b) The notice required in subsection (a) may be delivered by any of the following means:

(1) By delivering a copy to the tenant personally;

(2) If the tenant is absent from the tenant's residence or usual place of business, by leaving a copy of the notice with a person of suitable age and discretion at either place and mailing a copy of the notice to the tenant at the tenant's place of residence; or

(3) If the tenant's whereabouts cannot be ascertained or a person of suitable age or discretion cannot be found, then by affixing a copy of the notice in a conspicuous place at the rental housing unit and mailing a copy of the notice to the tenant or current occupant at the rental housing unit. Service upon a subtenant may be made in the same manner."

SECTION 2. Section 521-71, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended to read as follows:

"§521-71 Termination of tenancy; landlord's remedies for holdover tenants[.]; foreclosure. (a) When the tenancy is month-to-month, the landlord may terminate the rental agreement by notifying the tenant, in writing, at least forty-five days in advance of the anticipated termination. When the landlord provides notification of termination, the tenant may vacate at any time within the last forty-five days of the period between the notification and the termination date, but the tenant shall notify the landlord of the date the tenant will vacate the dwelling unit and shall pay a prorated rent for that period of occupation.

(b) When the tenancy is month-to-month, the tenant may terminate the rental agreement by notifying the landlord, in writing, at least twenty-eight days in advance of the anticipated termination. When the tenant provides notice of termination, the tenant shall be responsible for the payment of rent through the twenty-eighth day.

(c) Before a landlord terminates a month-to-month tenancy where the landlord contemplates voluntary demolition of the dwelling units, conversion to a condominium property regime under chapter 514A or 514B, or changing the use of the building to transient vacation rentals, the landlord shall provide notice to the tenant at least one hundred twenty days in advance of the anticipated demolition or anticipated termination. If notice is revoked or amended and reissued, the notice period shall begin from the date it was reissued or amended. Any notice provided, revoked, or amended and reissued shall be in writing. When the landlord provides notification of termination pursuant to this subsection, the tenant may vacate at any time within the one-hundred-twenty-day period between the notification and the termination date, but the tenant shall notify the landlord of the date the tenant will vacate the dwelling unit and shall pay a prorated rent for that period of occupation.

(d) When the tenancy is less than month-to-month, the landlord or the tenant may terminate the rental agreement by notifying the other at least ten days before the anticipated termination.

(e) Whenever the term of the rental agreement expires, whether by passage of time, by mutual agreement, by the giving of notice as provided in subsection (a), (b), (c), or (d) or by the exercise by the landlord of a right to terminate given under this chapter, if the tenant continues in possession after the date of termination without the landlord's consent, the tenant may be liable to the landlord for a sum not to exceed twice the monthly rent under the previous rental agreement, computed and prorated on a daily basis, for each day the tenant remains in possession. The landlord may bring a summary proceeding for recovery of the possession of the dwelling unit at any time during the first sixty days of holdover. [~~Should~~] If the landlord [~~fail~~] fails to commence summary possession proceedings within the first sixty days of the holdover, in the absence of a rental agreement, a month-to-month tenancy at the monthly rent stipulated in the previous rental agreement shall prevail beginning at the end of the first sixty days of holdover.

(f) Before a successor-in-interest to a foreclosed property may terminate a tenancy under subsection (a), (c), or (d) that is month-to-month or less than month-to-month and commence a summary proceeding for possession, the successor-in-interest shall notify the tenant of the foreclosure. Notice shall be given at least forty-five days prior to the date of the summary proceeding for possession. Notwithstanding subsection (e), after giving notice under this subsection, for each day the tenant remains in possession after termination of the rental agreement under subsection (a), (c), or (d) and to the date of commencement of the summary proceeding for possession, the tenant may be liable to the successor-in-interest for a sum not to exceed the monthly rent under the rental agreement and any other charges specified under the terms of the rental agreement, computed and prorated on a daily basis. Thereafter, the tenant may be liable to the successor-in-interest for the sums authorized under subsection (e) for each day the tenant remains in possession.

As used in this subsection, "successor-in-interest" means a person who acquired an interest in the property through a foreclosure.

[~~(f)~~] (g) Any notice of termination initiated for the purposes of evading the obligations of the landlord under subsections 521-21(d) or (e) shall be void."

SECTION 3. Section 667-5, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended to read as follows:

"§667-5 Foreclosure under power of sale; notice; affidavit after sale. (a) When a power of sale is contained in a mortgage, and where the mortgagee, the mortgagee's successor in interest, or any person authorized by the power to act in the premises[,] desires to foreclose under power of sale upon breach of a condition of the mortgage, the mortgagee, successor, or person shall be represented by an attorney who is licensed to practice law in the State and is physically located in the State. The attorney shall:

(1) Give notice of the mortgagee's, successor's, or person's intention to foreclose the mortgage and of the sale of the mortgaged property, by publication of the notice once in each of three successive weeks (three publications), the last publication to be not less than fourteen days before the day of sale, in a newspaper having a general circulation in the county in which the mortgaged property lies; and

(2) Give any notices and do all acts as are authorized or required by the power contained in the mortgage.

(b) Copies of the notice required under subsection (a) shall be:

(1) Filed with the state director of taxation; and

(2) Posted on the premises not less than twenty-one days before the day of sale.

(c) Upon the request of any person entitled to notice pursuant to this section and sections 667-5.5 and 667-6, the attorney, the mortgagee, successor, or person represented by the attorney shall disclose to the requestor the following information:

(1) The amount to cure the default, together with the estimated amount of the foreclosing mortgagee's attorneys' fees and costs, and all other fees and costs estimated to be incurred by the foreclosing mortgagee related to the default prior to the auction within five business days of the request; and

(2) The sale price of the mortgaged property once auctioned.

(d) A tenant in possession of a mortgaged property shall be notified fifteen days before the actual sale of the mortgaged property.

[~~(d)~~] (e) Any sale, of which notice has been given as [~~aforesaid,~~] provided in this section, may be postponed from time to time by public announcement made by the mortgagee or by some person acting on the mortgagee's behalf. Upon request made by any person who is entitled to notice pursuant to section 667-5.5 or 667-6, or this section, the mortgagee or person acting on the mortgagee's behalf shall provide the date and time of a postponed auction[,] or, if the auction is canceled, information that the auction was canceled. The mortgagee, within thirty days after selling the property in pursuance of the power, shall file a copy of the notice of sale and the mortgagee's affidavit, setting forth the mortgagee's acts in the premises fully and particularly, in the bureau of conveyances.

[~~(e)~~] (f) The affidavit and copy of the notice shall be recorded and indexed by the registrar, in the manner provided in chapter 501 or 502, as the case may be.

[~~(f)~~] (g) This section is inapplicable if the mortgagee is foreclosing as to personal property only."

SECTION 4. Statutory material to be repealed is bracketed and stricken. New statutory material is underscored.

SECTION 5. This Act shall take effect on July 1, 2009.

HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES	H.B. NO.	202
TWENTY-FIFTH LEGISLATURE, 2009		H.D. 1
STATE OF HAWAII