CONFERENCE COMMITTEE REP. NO. 154-04

Honolulu, Hawaii

, 2004

RE: S.B. No. 2210

S.D. 2

H.D. 1

C.D. 1

 

 

Honorable Robert Bunda

President of the Senate

Twenty-Second State Legislature

Regular Session of 2004

State of Hawaii

Honorable Calvin K.Y. Say

Speaker, House of Representatives

Twenty-Second State Legislature

Regular Session of 2004

State of Hawaii

Sir:

Your Committee on Conference on the disagreeing vote of the Senate to the amendments proposed by the House of Representatives in S.B. No. 2210, S.D. 2, H.D. 1, entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO CONDOMINIUMS,"

having met, and after full and free discussion, has agreed to recommend and does recommend to the respective Houses the final passage of this bill in an amended form.

The purpose of this measure is to appropriate funds for the continuation of a condominium specialist position to provide information to condominium owners about the changes to the condominium laws proposed in this measure.

Your Committee on Conference has amended this measure by replacing its contents with the language of S.B. No. 2210, S.D. 2, which recodified the laws governing condominiums, and by making further changes thereto. As amended, this measure:

(1) Effective July 1, 2005, repeals parts I, V, and VII of chapter 514A, Hawaii Revised Statutes (HRS), pertaining to condominium law general provisions and definitions, condominium management, and arbitration, enacts new provisions governing these areas, and makes conforming amendments throughout HRS;

(2) Reserves for future enactment provisions relating to the creation, alteration, termination, registration, and administration of condominiums, and the protection of condominium purchasers;

(3) Establishes a condominium dispute resolution pilot program, pursuant to which parties that have been unsuccessful in mediating condominium disputes may request an administrative hearing through the Department of Commerce and Consumer Affairs (DCCA);

(4) Appropriates $25,000 from the condominium management education fund (CMEF) for the pilot program; and

(5) Appropriates $150,000 from the CMEF to conduct post-bill passage educational activities and for the continuation of a condominium specialist position in DCCA to assist with these activities.

Your Committee on Conference recognizes that there continue to be concerns about the proposed new condominium laws, primarily in the area of condominium management. Therefore, this measure addresses some of these concerns by restoring certain rights and duties that were eliminated under the new provisions. For instance, under this measure, as amended, association board officers and members continue to owe a fiduciary duty to the board, standard proxy forms must contain a box marked "for quorum purposes only", and the minimum nine-member board requirement is retained for certain condominiums.

This measure, as amended, also deviates from the original recodification scheme by deleting the repeal of part VI of chapter 514A, HRS, (part VI) relating to sales to owner-occupants. Your Committee on Conference finds that part VI should not be repealed, as originally recommended by the Real Estate Commission. Therefore your Committee requests the Commission, during the legislative interim, to develop recommendations for the integration of part VI into the new condominium law.

As affirmed by the record of votes of the managers of your Committee on Conference that is attached to this report, your Committee on Conference is in accord with the intent and purpose of S.B. No. 2210, S.D. 2, H.D. 1, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Final Reading in the form attached hereto as S.B. No. 2210, S.D. 2, H.D. 1, C.D. 1.

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the managers:

ON THE PART OF THE HOUSE

ON THE PART OF THE SENATE

____________________________

KENNETH T. HIRAKI, Co-Chair

____________________________

RON MENOR, Co-Chair

____________________________

DWIGHT Y. TAKAMINE, Co-Chair

____________________________

BRIAN T. TANIGUCHI, Co-Chair