STAND. COM. REP. NO. 260

Honolulu, Hawaii

RE: S.B. No. 1522

Honorable Ronald D. Kouchi

President of the Senate

Thirty-Third State Legislature

Regular Session of 2025

State of Hawaii

Sir:

Your Committee on Transportation and Culture and the Arts, to which was referred S.B. No. 1522 entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO VEHICLE TITLE TRANSFERS,"

begs leave to report as follows:

The purpose and intent of this measure is to clarify that a transferor who complies with the portions of the statute requiring action on the transferor's part shall not be liable for any violation resulting from the operation of a transferred vehicle, even though the transferor remains the legal and registered owner of the vehicle, and that a copy of the transferor's notice of transfer form shall serve as a complete defense to any liability.

Your Committee received testimony in support of this measure from the Department of Customer Services of the City and County of Honolulu.

Your Committee finds that when an automobile transfer is made in the State and title is transferred from an owner to buyer, the transfer is not considered complete until the county receives certain documentation from the vehicle's new owner, the transferee. Until this process is complete, the vehicle remains legally registered to the original owner who is held liable for any penalties incurred by the transferee even though the transferor no longer retains possession of the vehicle. Accordingly, this measure clarifies the steps that a transferor may take to avoid liability from any violation resulting from operation of a transferred vehicle.

As affirmed by the record of votes of the members of your Committee on Transportation and Culture and the Arts that is attached to this report, your Committee is in accord with the intent and purpose of S.B. No. 1522 and recommends that it pass Second Reading and be referred to your Committee on Judiciary.

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committee on Transportation and Culture and the Arts,

________________________________

CHRIS LEE, Chair