SB41 HD1.DOC

PART I

SECTION 1. The legislature finds that Act 326, Session Laws of Hawaii 2012, requires operators of transient accommodations to provide a local contact whenever an operator is not located on the island where a transient accommodation is located. The role of the local contact is limited, and any services other than those allowed under Act 326, Session Laws of Hawaii 2012, can constitute unlicensed real estate activity.

The purpose of this part is to clarify the role of a local contact for operators of transient accommodations.

SECTION 2. Section 467-1, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended by amending the definition of "custodian or caretaker" to read as follows:

""Custodian or caretaker" means any individual, who for compensation or valuable consideration, is employed as an employee by a single owner and has the responsibility to manage or care for that real property left in the individual's trust; provided that the term "custodian" or "caretaker" shall not include any individual who leases or offers to lease, or rents or offers to rent, or who acts as a designated agent pursuant to section 521-43(f) for any real estate for more than a single owner; provided further that a single owner shall not include an association of owners of a condominium, cooperative, or planned unit development."

SECTION 3. Act 326, Session Laws of Hawaii 2012, is amended by amending subsection (h) of section 237D- , Hawaii Revised Statutes, in section 2 of the Act, to read as follows:

"(h) For the purposes of this section:

"Local contact" means an individual residing on the same island as the transient accommodation or [~~company~~] entity that has its principal place of business on the same island as the transient accommodation, who is contracted by the operator of the transient accommodation to [~~provide services required by this section.~~] serve as the onsite contact for the operator, residing on the same island where the transient accommodation is located, whose name is required to be prominently posted in the transient accommodation and included in any transient accommodation contract or written rental agreement and who:

(1) Provides local point of contact services in the case of an emergency or natural disaster, including providing and receiving information;

(2) Transmits to the operator of the transient accommodation onsite questions, concerns, or property issues that arise regarding the transient accommodation; or

(3) Transmits the operator's responses, at the direction of the operator, to onsite inquiries about the transient accommodation.

Any other services provided by a local contact may be subject to licensing requirements under chapter 467. Nothing in this section shall be deemed to create an employer-employee relationship between an operator and [~~its~~] the operator's local contact[.] or to authorize a local contact to engage in activity for which a real estate broker's license or a real estate salesperson's license is required under chapter 467.

"Relevant information" means the operator's name, address, contact information, registration identification number issued pursuant to section 237D-4, and website address if advertising or soliciting the transient accommodation on the Internet."

PART II

SECTION 4. The legislature finds that section 467-9.5, Hawaii Revised Statutes, requires individuals seeking the opportunity to take the real estate licensing examination, to prove, among other things, that the applicant has experience as a full-time Hawaii-licensed real estate salesperson associated with a Hawaii-licensed real estate broker for at least three years of the five-year period immediately prior to submission of the experience certification application. The legislature further finds that Act 245, Session Laws of Hawaii 2001, repealed an exemption that allowed the real estate commission, at its discretion, to exempt an applicant from these licensure requirements, if the commission found that the applicant had other experience that the commission deemed to be equivalent to those requirements. The legislature additionally finds that this repeal has prevented individuals who have real estate experience but who, because of the economic downturn that began shortly after the enactment of Act 245 are unable to fulfill the rigid three out of five years requirement, from being able to take the licensing examination.

The purpose of this part is to create a discretionary exemption to the three out of five years requirement to allow for one of the required three years to be substituted with equivalent experience in the real estate field.

SECTION 5. Section 467-9.5, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended by amending subsection (a) to read as follows:

"(a) No individual shall be eligible for the licensing examination unless the individual is:

(1) A United States citizen, a United States national, or an alien authorized to work in the United States, and of the age of majority; and

(2) Applying for:

(A) The real estate salesperson examination and has satisfactorily completed a commission-approved prelicensing course for real estate salesperson candidates, which includes real estate principles, or its equivalent as determined by the commission; or

(B) The real estate broker examination and:

(i) Holds a current, unencumbered Hawaii real estate salesperson license or a current, unencumbered real estate salesperson or broker license in another state or in a jurisdiction recognized by the Association of Real Estate License Law Officials, with an equivalent real estate licensing law as determined by the commission;

(ii) Has satisfactorily completed a commission-approved prelicensing course for real estate broker candidates, or its equivalent as determined by the commission; and

(iii) Has experience as a full-time Hawaii-licensed real estate salesperson associated with a Hawaii-licensed real estate broker for at least three years of the five-year period immediately prior to the submission of the experience certification application and has practical real estate salesperson experience, as certified by the principal broker, principal brokers, broker in charge, or brokers in charge, as the case may be, during the subject period. The candidate shall secure commission approval of the candidate's experience certification application prior to the date of the examination. Subject to commission approval, a candidate may request a determination of equivalency for the experience requirement based on real estate salesperson license experience or a current, unencumbered real estate broker license in another state, or in a jurisdiction recognized by the Association of Real Estate License Law Officials, with an equivalent real estate licensing law as determined by the commission. The commission may waive up to one year of the required three years of experience required by this clause, if, by affidavit or other manner adopted by the commission, the individual demonstrates to have maintained through the date of the application at least five years of full-time experience in the real estate field and the commission, in its discretion, determines that experience to be equivalent to the one-year of experience waived."

PART III

SECTION 6. 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 that can be given effect without the invalid provision or application, and to this end the provisions of this Act are severable.

SECTION 7. Statutory material to be repealed is bracketed and stricken. New statutory material is underscored.

SECTION 8. This Act shall take effect upon its approval; provided that on June 30, 2016, part II of this Act shall be repealed and section 467-9.5(a), Hawaii Revised Statutes, shall be reenacted in the form in which it read on the day before the effective date of this Act.

THE SENATE	S.B. NO.	41
TWENTY-SEVENTH LEGISLATURE, 2013		S.D. 1
STATE OF HAWAII		H.D. 1