STAND. COM. REP. NO. 1477

Honolulu, Hawaii

, 2025

RE: S.B. No. 822

S.D. 2

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 Consumer Protection & Commerce, to which was referred S.B. No. 822, S.D. 2, entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO THE LANDLORD TENANT CODE,"

begs leave to report as follows:

The purpose of this measure is to establish the Residential Landlord-Tenant Code Working Group to:

(1) Conduct a comprehensive review of the Residential Landlord-Tenant Code to determine, among other things, whether amendments and updates are necessary; and

(2) Submit a report of its findings and recommendations, including any proposed legislation, to the Legislature before the Regular Session of 2027.

Your Committee received testimony in support of this measure from the Judiciary; County of Hawaiʻi Office of Housing and Community Development; Hawaii Council of Community Associations; and Hawaiʻi Association of REALTORS.

Your Committee finds that the Residential Landlord-Tenant Code, codified as chapter 521, Hawaii Revised Statutes, provides a framework for the regulation of landlord-tenant relationships. Enacted in 1972, the Code has not undergone a thorough review since its inception, despite piecemeal updates over the years. The rental housing landscape in Hawaii has evolved significantly since that time and it is increasingly evident that the Code is in need of a comprehensive review to better address and reflect the needs of landlords and tenants in the present-day rental housing market. This measure therefore establishes a Working Group that explore solutions and propose necessary amendments to the Code.

Your Committee has amended this measure by:

(1) Inserting a purpose section;

(2) Clarifying that the Residential-Landlord Tenant Code Working Group (Working Group) is a three-year working group and placing the Working Group within the Department of the Attorney General, rather than the Judiciary;

(3) Clarifying and expanding the responsibilities of the Working Group;

(4) Amending the membership of the Working Group;

(5) Deleting reimbursement language relating to the members of the Working Group;

(6) Requiring the Working Group to submit an initial report to the Legislature prior to the Regular Session of 2026 and a final report no later than July 1, 2028;

(7) Requiring the initial meeting of the Working Group to convene no later than July 1, 2025;

(8) Changing the dissolution date of the Working Group to July 1, 2028;

(9) Changing the effective date to July 1, 3000, to encourage further discussion; and

(10) 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 Consumer Protection & Commerce that is attached to this report, your Committee is in accord with the intent and purpose of S.B. No. 822, S.D. 2, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as S.B. No. 822, S.D. 2, H.D. 1, and be referred to your Committee on Judiciary & Hawaiian Affairs.

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

____________________________

SCOT Z. MATAYOSHI, Chair