THE SENATE	S.B. NO.	2100
THIRTY-SECOND LEGISLATURE, 2024
STATE OF HAWAII

A BILL FOR AN ACT

 

 

Relating to DISCRIMINATORY PRACTICES.

 

 

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF HAWAII:

 

     SECTION 1.  Section 368F-2, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended to read as follows:

     "[[]§368F-2[]]  Discriminatory practices in a rental transaction based on source of income[.] or creditworthiness.  It shall be a discriminatory practice for a landlord to:

     (1)  Indicate in any manner used to advertise the availability of a rental property that the landlord will not rent a property to a person participating in a housing assistance program;

     (2)  Discourage in any manner a person from seeking to engage in a rental transaction based on the person's participation in a housing assistance program;

     (3)  Refuse to engage in a rental transaction with a person because of the person's participation in a housing assistance program or requirements related to participation in a housing assistance program; [or]

     (4)  Require rental conditions that are different from those required for a person not participating in a housing assistance program[.]; or

     (5)  Refuse to engage in a rental transaction with a potential tenant because of the tenant's credit history, credit report, or creditworthiness."

     SECTION 2.  Section 368F-3, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended to read as follows:

     "[[]§368F-3[]]  Exemptions.  Section 368F-2 shall not apply to:

     (1)  Landlords who are determining in a commercially reasonable manner the ability of a potential tenant to pay rent by:

          (A)  Verifying the source and amount of income of the potential tenant; or

          (B)  Evaluating the stability[,] and security[, and creditworthiness] of the potential tenant or any source of income of the potential tenant;

     (2)  Landlords with ownership of not more than four dwelling units in the State at the time of the alleged discriminatory rental transaction; provided that this paragraph shall not apply if an owner, whether individually or through a business entity, owns more than a ten per cent interest in more than four dwelling units in the State at the time of the alleged discriminatory rental transaction;

     (3)  Landlords in a case where a source of income is not approved within twenty-one days of a person's submission of a good faith request for tenancy approval, which shall include the inspection of a unit;

     (4)  The rental of any housing accommodation in a building that contains housing accommodations for not more than two families living independently of each other if the owner or lessor resides in one of the housing accommodations;

     (5)  The rental of a room or up to four rooms in a housing accommodation by an owner or lessor if the owner or lessor resides in the housing accommodation; and

     (6)  The rental of an affordable housing project subsidized by public funds or lands."

     SECTION 3.  Section 378-2, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended by amending subsection (a) to read as follows:

     "(a)  It shall be an unlawful discriminatory practice:

     (1)  Because of race, sex including gender identity or expression, sexual orientation, age, religion, color, ancestry, disability, marital status, arrest and court record, reproductive health decision, or domestic or sexual violence victim status if the domestic or sexual violence victim provides notice to the victim's employer of [such] their status or the employer has actual knowledge of [such] their status:

          (A)  For any employer to refuse to hire or employ or to bar or discharge from employment, or otherwise to discriminate against any individual in compensation or in the terms, conditions, or privileges of employment;

          (B)  For any employment agency to fail or refuse to refer for employment, or to classify or otherwise to discriminate against, any individual;

          (C)  For any employer or employment agency to print, circulate, or cause to be printed or circulated any statement, advertisement, or publication or to use any form of application for employment or to make any inquiry in connection with prospective employment, that expresses, directly or indirectly, any limitation, specification, or discrimination;

          (D)  For any labor organization to exclude or expel from its membership any individual or to discriminate in any way against any of its members, employer, or employees; or

          (E)  For any employer or labor organization to refuse to enter into an apprenticeship agreement as defined in section 372-2; provided that no apprentice shall be younger than sixteen years of age;

     (2)  For any employer, labor organization, or employment agency to discharge, expel, or otherwise discriminate against any individual because the individual has opposed any practice forbidden by this part or has filed a complaint, testified, or assisted in any proceeding respecting the discriminatory practices prohibited under this part;

     (3)  For any person, whether an employer, employee, or not, to aid, abet, incite, compel, or coerce the doing of any of the discriminatory practices forbidden by this part, or to attempt to do so;

     (4)  For any employer to violate the provisions of section 121-43 relating to nonforfeiture for absence by members of the national guard;

     (5)  For any employer to refuse to hire or employ or to bar or discharge from employment any individual because of assignment of income for the purpose of satisfying the individual's child support obligations as provided for under section 571-52;

     (6)  For any employer, labor organization, or employment agency to exclude or otherwise deny equal jobs or benefits to a qualified individual because of the known disability of an individual with whom the qualified individual is known to have a relationship or association;

     (7)  For any employer or labor organization to refuse to hire or employ, bar or discharge from employment, withhold pay from, demote, or penalize a lactating employee because the employee breastfeeds or expresses milk at the workplace.  For purposes of this paragraph, the term "breastfeeds" means the feeding of a child directly from the breast;

     (8)  For any employer to refuse to hire or employ, bar or discharge from employment, or otherwise to discriminate against any individual in compensation or in the terms, conditions, or privileges of employment of any individual because of the individual's credit history or credit report[, unless the information in the individual's credit history or credit report directly relates to a bona fide occupational qualification under section 378-3(2)]; or

     (9)  For any employer to discriminate against any individual employed as a domestic, in compensation or in terms, conditions, or privileges of employment because of the individual's race, sex including gender identity or expression, sexual orientation, age, religion, color, ancestry, disability, marital status, or reproductive health decision."

     SECTION 4.  Section 378-2.7, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is repealed.

     ["[§378-2.7]  Employer inquiries into and consideration of credit history or credit report.  (a)  Notwithstanding section [378‑2(a)(8)]:

     (1)  Inquiry into and consideration of a prospective employee's credit history or credit report may take place only after the prospective employee has received a conditional offer of employment, which may be withdrawn if information in the credit history or credit report is directly related to a bona fide occupational qualification;

     (2)  The prohibition against an employer's refusal to hire or employ, barring or terminating from employment, or otherwise discriminating on the basis of credit history shall not apply to employers who are expressly permitted or required to inquire into an individual's credit history for employment purposes pursuant to any federal or state law;

     (3)  The prohibition against an employer's refusal to hire or employ, barring or terminating from employment, or otherwise discriminating on the basis of credit history shall not apply to managerial or supervisory employees; and

     (4)  The prohibition against an employer's refusal to hire or employ, barring or terminating from employment, or otherwise discriminating on the basis of credit history shall not apply to employers that are financial institutions in which deposits are insured by a federal agency having jurisdiction over the financial institution.

     (b)  For the purposes of this section:

     "Managerial employee" means an individual who formulates and effectuates management policies by expressing and making operative the decisions of the individual's employer.

     "Supervisory employee" means an individual having authority, in the interest of the employer, to hire, transfer, suspend, lay off, recall, promote, discharge, assign, reward, or discipline other employees, or responsibility to direct them, or to adjust their grievances, or effectively to recommend such action, if in connection with the foregoing the exercise of such authority is not of a merely routine or clerical nature, but requires the use of independent judgment."]

     SECTION 5.  Statutory material to be repealed is bracketed and stricken.  New statutory material is underscored.

     SECTION 6.  This Act shall take effect upon its approval.

 

INTRODUCED BY:	_____________________________

 

 

 

Report Title:

Credit History; Credit Score; Creditworthiness; Discrimination; Housing; Employment

 

Description:

Prohibits landlords from discriminating against a potential tenant based on the tenant's credit history, credit score, or creditworthiness.  Expands prohibition on employers from discriminating against an individual in compensation or in the terms, conditions, or privileges of employment because of the individual's credit history or credit report.

 

 

 

The summary description of legislation appearing on this page is for informational purposes only and is not legislation or evidence of legislative intent.