Government Affairs Update
January 30, 2009
The ‘09 session has started with a bang. The Legislature has introduced:
• 1680 Senate bills
• 1843 House bills
The Government Affairs Committee and staff have been hard at work reviewing these 3,523 bills and are pleased to report that all of our major top initiatives we have focused on have bills introduced:
TOP INITIATIVES
Act 137
Act 137 is such an important issue that 7 versions have been introduced to correct the unintended consequences the Act has caused:
SB34 (CPN has already issued a public hearing on 2-4-09 9:30 a.m. in Conference Room 229.)
Historic Preservation Act
If you were excited about the status of Act 137 then brace yourselves because there are 10 versions to fix the Historic Preservation Act. The Historic Preservation Act required expensive archival photographs for all properties over 50 years old.
Both Act 137 and Historic Preservation are not only introduced by Legislators in the Senate and House but also as part of the Governor’s Package.
Private Transfer Fees
Private Transfer Fees are attached to new developments by Associations or developers to fund basically anything. In Hawai‘i, some PTF’s are 1.75% that is over $10,000 on a median-priced of $575,000, which would apply anytime the home is sold.
HB874 (PTF)
Unauthorized Practice of Law
These bills are introduced to protect REALTORS® in doing their business, such as filling out contracts and negotiating on behalf of clients.
BILLS TO WATCH
Other bills to keep an eye on this session as they will directly affect the way REALTORS® do business:
SB646. Create a protected class in real property transactions based on lawful source of income.
HB812. Allows a tenant who is a victim of domestic violence, sexual abuse, or harassment by stalking to terminate his or her rental agreement.
HB1608. Prohibits landlord-tenant agreements from having no pet clauses.
HB1609. Creates a protected class based on ownership of domestic animals.
Stay tuned to next week’s bulletin which will go over the many foreclosure bills which range from requiring the new foreclosed property owner to validate the previous rental agreement to requiring a new foreclosure owner up to 120 days notice before requiring a tenant to move.