STAND. COM. REP. NO. 2490

Honolulu, Hawaii

RE:    S.B. No. 2233

Honorable Donna Mercado Kim

President of the Senate

Twenty-Seventh State Legislature

Regular Session of 2014

State of Hawaii

Madam:

     Your Committees on Commerce and Consumer Protection and Judiciary and Labor, to which was referred S.B. No. 2233 entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO BUREAU OF CONVEYANCES,"

beg leave to report as follows:

     The purpose and intent of this measure is to:

     (1)  Extend the sunset date of Act 119, Session Laws of Hawaii 2013, relating to the deregistration of fee non-time share interests; and

     (2)  Clarify the actions taken after a certificate of title for a fee time share interest is deregistered and marked cancelled by the Assistant Registrar.

     Your Committees received testimony in support of this measure from the Department of Accounting and General Services, Department of Land and Natural Resources, and McCorriston Miller Mukai MacKinnon LLP.  Your Committees received comments on this measure from the Hawaii State Judiciary.

     Your Committees find that although there have not been a large number of requests for deregistration of real property from the Land Court, over the past three years it has become apparent that the voluntary registration process originally set up by Act 120, Session Laws of Hawaii 2009, has certain issues that need to be addressed, including notice to persons or entities who may have an interest in land to be deregistered, the effect of deregistration on condominium property regimes, and the coordination of the deregistration process between the Bureau of Conveyances, the Office of the Registrar of the Land Court, and the state land surveyor.  Your Committees further find that since the passage of Act 119, Session Laws of Hawaii 2013, an informal working group has been discussing these issues.  This measure permits voluntary deregistration of fee non-time share interests to continue while the working group furthers its discussion.

     As affirmed by the records of votes of the members of your Committees on Commerce and Consumer Protection and Judiciary and Labor that are attached to this report, your Committees are in accord with the intent and purpose of S.B. No. 2233 and recommend that it pass Second Reading and be placed on the calendar for Third Reading.

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committees on Commerce and Consumer Protection and Judiciary and Labor,

____________________________ CLAYTON HEE, Chair

____________________________ ROSALYN H. BAKER, Chair