STAND. COM. REP. NO.  765-10

Honolulu, Hawaii

                , 2010

RE:   S.B. No. 2277

      S.D. 2

      H.D. 1

Honorable Calvin K.Y. Say

Speaker, House of Representatives

Twenty-Fifth State Legislature

Regular Session of 2010

State of Hawaii

Sir:

     Your Committee on Housing, to which was referred S.B. No. 2277, S.D. 2, entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO THE HAWAII PUBLIC HOUSING AUTHORITY,"

begs leave to report as follows:

     The purpose of this bill is to make the Hawaii Public Housing Authority's (Authority) eviction procedure more efficient by:

     (1)  Requiring the Authority to provide a tenant delinquent in rent payments with written notice in accordance with federal requirements;

     (2)  Repealing most procedural requirements preliminary to an eviction hearing including, among other things, a meeting with the tenant and the provision of a sample letter for demanding a grievance hearing; and

     (3)  Clarifying that eviction hearings for federal low-income housing shall be conducted by an eviction board.

     The Authority and a concerned individual testified in support of this bill.  The American Civil Liberties Union of Hawaii opposed this measure.

     Your Committee notes that state law currently imposes requirements for eviction procedures that go above and beyond federally-mandated regulations.  The current system of notices, warnings, waiting periods, and delays is duplicative and unnecessarily long, particularly given that the eviction process, in practice, does not begin until a tenant is seriously delinquent and has been uncooperative with the Authority's attempts to remedy the situation.

     Your Committee has amended this bill by:

     (1)  Replacing the eviction board with a hearings officer appointed by the Authority; and

     (2)  Making technical, nonsubstantive amendments for clarity, consistency, and style.

     As affirmed by the record of votes of the members of your Committee on Housing that is attached to this report, your Committee is in accord with the intent and purpose of S.B. No. 2277, S.D. 2, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as S.B. No. 2277, S.D. 2, H.D. 1, and be referred to the Committee on Judiciary.

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committee on Housing,

____________________________

RIDA CABANILLA, Chair