STAND. COM. REP. NO. 1560

Honolulu, Hawaii

, 2005

RE: S.B. No. 971

S.D. 2

H.D. 1

 

 

 

Honorable Calvin K.Y. Say

Speaker, House of Representatives

Twenty-Third State Legislature

Regular Session of 2005

State of Hawaii

Sir:

Your Committee on Consumer Protection & Commerce, to which was referred S.B. No. 971, S.D. 2, entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO TIME SHARE,"

begs leave to report as follows:

The purpose of this bill is to improve the regulation of time shares by, among other things:

(1) Reducing the written disclosure that must be provided to prospective time share purchasers offered a prize or gift as part of an advertising or promotion plan, from all terms and conditions, to the material terms and conditions attached to the prize or gift;

(2) Deleting from the list of items to be included in the written disclosure, the exchange privileges and limitations of the time share project being sold;

(3) Clarifying that the prohibition on receiving money or property from a prospective purchaser prior to signing a time share purchase contract is inapplicable to money paid for a tourist activity or any other product or service offered to induce attendance at a time share sales presentation;

 

(4) Replacing the existing time share booth signage requirement with one that there be a sign:

(A) Containing the words "time share" or "time sharing" in letters that are at least three inches tall and in a color that contrasts with the background; and

(B) Posted on or in the booth in an upright position, perpendicular to the ground, and in a location that is easily visible to passersby;

(5) Prohibiting the posting of anything near the required sign that would indicate that a time share booth is not being used for time share solicitation purposes;

(6) Exempting from the signage requirement, time share booths located within a project subject to a time share plan; and

(7) Providing that signs and banners, as opposed to promotional or other written materials, need not disclose that the product or activity involves time share, except as otherwise mandated for time share booth signs.

Your Committee received testimony in support of this measure from the American Resort Development Association's Hawaii Chapter and Pahio Resorts, Inc.

Your Committee believes that this measure will reduce regulatory burdens on the time share industry while protecting and informing potential consumers of time share interests.

Your Committee has amended this measure by:

(1) Providing an effective date of July 1, 2099, in the interest of facilitating further discussion among the interested parties; and

(2) Making technical, nonsubstantive amendments for 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. 971, S.D. 2, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Third Reading in the form attached hereto as S.B. No. 971, S.D. 2, H.D. 1.

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

 

____________________________

KENNETH HIRAKI, Chair