STAND.
COM. REP. NO. 164
Honolulu, Hawaii
, 2025
RE: H.B. No. 532
H.D. 1
Honorable Nadine K. Nakamura
Speaker, House of Representatives
Thirty-Third State Legislature
Regular Session of 2025
State of Hawaii
Madame:
Your Committee on Transportation, to which was referred H.B. No. 532 entitled:
"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO VEHICLE TITLES,"
begs leave to report as follows:
The
purpose of this measure is to:
(1) Reduce the period in which a transferee is required to forward the certificate of ownership to the Director of Finance when a title of vehicle is transferred from thirty days to fourteen days; and
(2) Allow a letter of attestation to the Director of Finance to act as an endorsed certificate for a motor vehicle transfer.
Your Committee finds that when a vehicle is transferred, the transfer is not considered complete until the county receives a certificate of ownership documenting the transfer. This creates an issue when the buyer of a vehicle fails to submit the required documentation and the vehicle remains legally registered to the previous owner. As a result, the previous owner may be liable for things like parking tickets or certain infractions even though they are no longer in possession of the vehicle.
Your Committee has amended this measure by:
(1) Deleting language that would have:
(A) Reduced the period in which a transferee is required to forward the certificate of ownership to the Director of Finance when a title of vehicle is transferred from thirty days to fourteen days; and
(B) Authorized a letter of attestation to the Director of Finance to act as an endorsed certificate for motor vehicle transfer;
(2) Specifying that proof that the transferor has filed a required notice form shall serve as a complete defense to any action brought against the transferor for an act or omission, civil or criminal, arising out of the use, operation, or abandonment of the vehicle by another person after the transferor's filing of the notice form;
(3) Establishing a penalty for a transferor who submits false or fraudulent information regarding transferring a title to a vehicle;
(4) Requiring the courts, by July 1, 2026, to create new forms permitting transferors to respond to actions arising out of the use, operation, or abandonment of transferred vehicles;
(5) Changing the effective date to July 1, 3000, to encourage further discussion; and
(6) Making technical, nonsubstantive amendments for the purposes of clarity, consistency, and style.
As affirmed by the record of votes of the members of your Committee on Transportation that is attached to this report, your Committee is in accord with the intent and purpose of H.B. No. 532, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as H.B. No. 532, H.D. 1, and be referred to your Committee on Judiciary & Hawaiian Affairs.
Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committee on Transportation,
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____________________________ DARIUS KILA, Chair |
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