STAND. COM. REP. NO.2819

Honolulu, Hawaii

, 2002

RE: S.B. No. 410

S.D. 3

 

 

Honorable Robert Bunda

President of the Senate

Twenty-First State Legislature

Regular Session of 2002

State of Hawaii

Sir:

Your Committee on Commerce, Consumer Protection and Housing, to which was referred S.B. No. 410, S.D. 2, entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO TRANSPORTATION,"

begs leave to report as follows:

The purpose of this measure is to facilitate the interisland shipment of motor vehicles by repealing the requirement of a legal owner's written consent to the shipment.

Young Brothers, Ltd., testified in support of this measure. The Hawaii Bankers Association, Hawaii Credit Union League, and Honolulu Police Department opposed the measure.

Current law requires that a person shipping a vehicle between islands provide the shipper with current vehicle registration, identification, and proof of insurance. If the shipping customer is the registered, but not the legal owner of the vehicle, the customer must provide the shipper with the written consent of the legal owner, who is typically the financial institution that financed the sale of the vehicle. An authorized agent of a legal or registered owner must present, in addition to the above required documents, a notarized letter from the legal or registered owner. These requirements were established to prevent the unauthorized or fraudulent transporting of vehicles.

Your Committee finds that the written consent requirement imposes an undue burden on consumers and shippers who are sometimes unclear as to the distinction between a registered owner and a legal owner. If a vehicle's legal owner is a mainland financial institution, additional time is required to obtain the written authorization. Further, your Committee notes that a legal owner's written consent is not required for vehicles being transported between states on the mainland or from the mainland to Hawaii.

This measure replaces the document presentation requirements imposed on legal and registered owners and authorized agents with a requirement that shippers verify certain information related to the vehicle, including personal information of the customer, vehicle identification information, and compliance with registration and insurance requirements. The measure also makes a conforming amendment to include shipping agents and persons accompanying a vehicle in transit within the provision authorizing a fine for violation of the interisland shipping requirements.

Upon careful consideration, your Committee has amended this measure by replacing its contents with the contents of a similar measure, H.B. No. 813, H.D. 1. As amended this measure:

(1) Deletes the amendment to section 286-57, Hawaii Revised Statutes;

(2) Retains the document presentation requirements for the interisland shipment of vehicles, except as to the legal owner's written consent to the shipment; and

(3) Requires shippers to record by physical inspection the vehicle's vehicle identification number (VIN), maintain a record of the shipment, including a description of the vehicle, for a minimum of three years, and make these records available to law enforcement.

Your Committee finds that this measure, as amended, facilitates the interisland shipping process while balancing the interests of shippers, consumers, and law enforcement. The VIN recordation and recordkeeping requirements, which currently apply to the shipment of used vehicles out of the State, provide safeguards against unauthorized or fraudulent shipping.

As affirmed by the record of votes of the members of your Committee on Commerce, Consumer Protection and Housing that is attached to this report, your Committee is in accord with the intent and purpose of S.B. No. 410, S.D. 2, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Third Reading in the form attached hereto as S.B. No. 410, S.D. 3.

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

____________________________

RON MENOR, Chair