STAND. COM. REP. NO. 3421
Honolulu, Hawaii
RE: H.B. No. 1869
H.D. 1
S.D. 1
Honorable Ronald D. Kouchi
President of the Senate
Twenty-Ninth State Legislature
Regular Session of 2018
State of Hawaii
Sir:
Your Committee on Commerce, Consumer Protection, and Health, to which was referred H.B. No. 1869, H.D. 1, entitled:
"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO THE LANDLORD TENANT CODE,"
begs leave to report as follows:
The purpose and intent of this measure is to exempt from the Landlord-Tenant Code a seller of residential real property who occupies the residential real property after the transfer of the seller's ownership rights.
Your Committee
received testimony in support of this measure from the Hawai‘i Association of REALTORS. Your Committee received comments on this
measure from the Department of Commerce and Consumer Affairs.
Your Committee finds
that in a typical real estate transaction, sellers move out of a property prior
to closing, a time when the seller's ownership rights are transferred to the
buyer and the buyer takes occupancy and control of the property upon the
closing of escrow and the transfer of title from the seller to the buyer. However, if a seller does not or refuses to
move out, the seller becomes a holdover seller.
According to testimony received by your Committee, there are times when a seller may need to extend occupancy of the property beyond the close of escrow, most commonly when a seller needs more time to move. Your Committee further finds that although there is an exclusion in the Landlord-Tenant Code for buyers who need to take early occupancy of a residential real property prior to closing, there is not a similar exclusion for holdover sellers. This measure therefore establishes a specific exemption from the Landlord-Tenant Code for holdover sellers. Your Committee notes that under this measure, a holdover seller who improperly maintains occupancy could still be removed from the residential real property, but only through an ejectment proceeding.
Your Committee has amended this measure by:
(1) Changing its effective date to November 1, 2018; and
(2) 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, Consumer Protection, and Health that is attached to this report, your Committee is in accord with the intent and purpose of H.B. No. 1869, H.D. 1, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as H.B. No. 1869, H.D. 1, S.D. 1, and be placed on the calendar for Third Reading.
Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committee on Commerce, Consumer Protection, and Health,
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________________________________ ROSALYN H. BAKER, Chair |
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