STAND. COM. REP. NO. 2131

Honolulu, Hawaii

RE:    S.B. No. 2822

       S.D. 1

Honorable Donna Mercado Kim

President of the Senate

Twenty-Seventh State Legislature

Regular Session of 2014

State of Hawaii

Madam:

     Your Committee on Commerce and Consumer Protection, to which was referred S.B. No. 2822 entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO CRIMINAL HISTORY RECORD CHECKS FOR REAL ESTATE APPRAISERS,"

begs leave to report as follows:

     The purpose and intent of this measure is to authorize the Department of Commerce and Consumer Affairs to conduct criminal history record checks on real estate appraiser license applicants, as required by federal law.

     Your Committee received testimony in support of this measure from the Professional and Vocational Licensing Division of the Department of Commerce and Consumer Affairs, Regulated Industries Complaints Office of the Department of Commerce and Consumer Affairs, and one individual.

     Your Committee finds that pursuant to Title XI of the federal Financial Institutions Reform, Recovery and Enforcement Act of 1989, the Appraiser Qualifications Board has the authority to establish the qualification criteria for state licensing, certification, and re-certification of real property appraisers.  Your Committee further finds that the Appraiser Qualifications Board has adopted a requirement that all candidates for real property appraiser credentials must undergo background screening, a requirement that each state must implement no later than January 1, 2015.  This measure permits the Department of Commerce and Consumer Affairs to conduct criminal background checks on real estate appraiser license applicants, thereby complying with federal law.

     Your Committee has amended this measure by making a technical, nonsubstantive amendment for the purposes of clarity and consistency.

     As affirmed by the record of votes of the members of your Committee on Commerce and Consumer Protection that is attached to this report, your Committee is in accord with the intent and purpose of S.B. No. 2822, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as S.B. No. 2822, S.D. 1, and be referred to the Committee on Judiciary and Labor.

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committee on Commerce and Consumer Protection,

____________________________

ROSALYN H. BAKER, Chair