Bill Text: HI SB277 | 2023 | Regular Session | Introduced

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Bill Title: Relating To The Hawaiian Homes Commission Act.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Republican 1-0)

Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2023-01-23 - Referred to HWN, JDC/WAM. [SB277 Detail]

Download: Hawaii-2023-SB277-Introduced.html

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THE SENATE	S.B. NO.	277
THIRTY-SECOND LEGISLATURE, 2023
STATE OF HAWAII

A BILL FOR AN ACT

 

 

RELATING TO THE HAWAIIAN HOMES COMMISSION ACT.

 

 

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

 

     SECTION 1.  Section 207 of the Hawaiian Homes Commission Act, 1920, as amended, is amended by amending subsection (c) to read as follows:

     "[(c)(1)] (c)  The following provisions shall apply to any license that meets the description of this subsection, regardless of whether the license is entitled "license", "permit", "memorandum of agreement", or bears any other title:

     (1)  The department is authorized to grant licenses as easements for railroads, telephone lines, electric power and light lines, gas mains, and the like.  The department is also authorized to grant licenses for lots within a district in which lands are leased under the provisions of this section, for:

          (A)  Churches, hospitals, public schools, post offices, and other improvements for public purposes; and

          (B)  Theaters, garages, service stations, markets, stores, and other mercantile establishments (all of which shall be owned by native Hawaiians or by organizations formed and controlled by native Hawaiians).

     (2)  The department is also authorized to grant licenses to the United States for reservations, roads, and other rights-of-way, water storage and distribution facilities, and practice target ranges.

     (3)  Any license issued under this subsection shall be subject to such terms, conditions, and restrictions as the department shall determine and shall not restrict the areas required by the department in carrying on its duties, nor interfere in any way with the department's operation or maintenance activities[.]; provided that:

          (A)  The license shall be granted based on fees that are equal to the fair market rental value of the lot; provided that this subparagraph shall not apply if the licensee is a lessee to a lease under subsection (a) or is on the department of Hawaiian home lands waitlist to become a lessee under subsection (a); and

          (B)  A licensee may not reassign a license to another party, or lease any portion of a licensed lot to another party."

     SECTION 2.  Section 208 of the Hawaiian Homes Commission Act, 1920, as amended, is amended to read as follows:

     "§208.  Conditions of leases.  Each lease made under the authority granted the department by section 207 of this Act, and the tract in respect to which the lease is made, shall be deemed subject to the following conditions, whether or not stipulated in the lease:

     (1)  The original lessee shall be a native Hawaiian, not less than eighteen years of age.  In case two lessees either original or in succession marry, they shall choose the lease to be retained, and the remaining lease shall be transferred, quitclaimed, or canceled in accordance with the provisions of succeeding sections.

     (2)  The lessee shall pay a rental of $1 a year for the tract [and the]; provided that if:

          (A)  The tract is not for residential use;

          (B)  The lessee is not the original lessee; and

          (C)  At the time the lease interest in the tract was transferred to the lessee, the lessee was not on the department of Hawaiian home lands waitlist for a lease of a tract under this Act,

          the lessee shall pay rent at fair market value.  The lease shall be for a term of ninety-nine years; [except] provided that the department may extend the term of any lease; provided further that the approval of any extension shall be subject to the condition that the aggregate of the initial ninety-nine year term and any extension granted shall not be for more than one hundred ninety-nine years.

     (3)  The lessee may be required to occupy and commence to use or cultivate the tract as the lessee's home or farm or occupy and commence to use the tract for aquaculture purposes, as the case may be, within one year after the commencement of the term of the lease.

     (4)  The lessee thereafter, for at least such part of each year as the department shall prescribe by rules, shall occupy and use or cultivate the tract on the lessee's own behalf.

     (5)  The lessee shall not in any manner transfer to, or otherwise hold for the benefit of, any other person or group of persons or organizations of any kind, except a native Hawaiian or Hawaiians, and then only upon the approval of the department, or agree so to transfer, or otherwise hold, the lessee's interest in the tract; [except] provided that the lessee, with the approval of the department, [also] may also transfer the lessee's interest in the tract to the following qualified relatives of the lessee who are at least one-quarter Hawaiian: husband, wife, child, or grandchild.  A lessee who is at least one-quarter Hawaiian who has received an interest in the tract through succession or transfer may, with the approval of the department, transfer the lessee's leasehold interest to a brother or sister who is at least one‑quarter Hawaiian.  Such interest shall not, except in pursuance of such a transfer to or holding for or agreement with a native Hawaiian or Hawaiians or qualified relative who is at least one-quarter Hawaiian approved of by the department or for any indebtedness due the department or for taxes or for any other indebtedness the payment of which has been assured by the department, including loans from other agencies where such loans have been approved by the department, be subject to attachment, levy, or sale upon court process.  The lessee shall not sublet the lessee's interest in the tract or improvements thereon; provided that a lessee may be permitted, with the approval of the department, to rent to a native Hawaiian or Hawaiians, lodging either within the lessee's existing home or in a separate residential dwelling unit constructed on the premises[.]; provided further that the foregoing exceptions shall not apply if the tract is also used for non-residential purposes.

     (6)  Notwithstanding the provisions of paragraph (5), the lessee, with the consent and approval of the commission, may mortgage or pledge the lessee's interest in the tract or improvements thereon to a recognized lending institution authorized to do business as a lending institution in either the State or elsewhere in the United States; provided the loan secured by a mortgage on the lessee's leasehold interest is insured or guaranteed by the Federal Housing Administration, Department of Veterans Affairs, or any other federal agency and their respective successors and assigns, which are authorized to insure or guarantee such loans, or any acceptable private mortgage insurance as approved by the commission.  The mortgagee's interest in any such mortgage shall be freely assignable.  Such mortgages, to be effective, must be consented to and approved by the commission and recorded with the department.

               Further, notwithstanding the authorized purposes of loan limitations imposed under section 214 of this Act and the authorized loan amount limitations imposed under section 215 of this Act, loans made by lending institutions as provided in this paragraph, insured or guaranteed by the Federal Housing Administration, Department of Veterans Affairs, or any other federal agency and their respective successors and assigns, or any acceptable private mortgage insurance, may be for such purposes and in such amounts, not to exceed the maximum insurable limits, together with such assistance payments and other fees, as established under section 421 of the Housing and Urban Rural Recovery Act of 1983 which amended Title II of the National Housing Act of 1934 by adding section 247, and its implementing regulations, to permit the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development to insure loans secured by a mortgage executed by the homestead lessee covering a homestead lease issued under section 207(a) of this Act and upon which there is located a one to four family single family residence.

     (7)  The lessee shall pay all taxes assessed upon the tract and improvements thereon.  The department may pay such taxes and have a lien therefor as provided by section 216 of this Act.

     (8)  The lessee shall perform such other conditions, not in conflict with any provision of this Act, as the department may stipulate in the lease; provided that an original lessee shall be exempt from all taxes for the first seven years after commencement of the term of the lease."

     SECTION 3.  Section 220.5 of the Hawaiian Homes Commission Act, 1920, as amended, is amended by amending subsection (e) to read as follows:

     "(e)  The project developer agreement may permit the developer, after the developer has completed construction of any required off-site improvement, to assign or sublease with the department's approval portions of the leased lands in which the construction of any required off-site improvement has been completed to a purchaser or sublessee who shall assume the obligations of the developer relative to the parcel being assigned or subleased, including the construction of any on-site improvement.  The department may permit a developer to share in the lease rent from the assigned lease for a fixed period in order to recover costs and profit.  This subsection shall not be construed to authorize:

     (1)  A lessee awarded a lease pursuant to section 207(a) of this Act to sublet the tract in violation of paragraph (5) of section 208 of this Act; or

     (2)  A licensee issued a lease pursuant to section 207(c) of this Act to transfer the license or lease a licensed lot in violation of section 207(c)."

     SECTION 4.  Section 222 of the Hawaiian Homes Commission Act, 1920, as amended, is amended by amending subsection (b) to read as follows:

     "(b)  When land originally leased by the department in accordance with chapter 171, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is, in turn, subleased by the department's lessee or sublessee, the department shall submit, upon the first day of the convening of any regular session, a written report to the legislature which shall cover the sublease transactions occurring in the fiscal year prior to the regular session and shall contain the names of the persons involved in the transaction, the size of the area under lease, the purpose of the lease, the land classification of the area under lease, the tax map key number, the lease rental, the reason for approval of the sublease by the department, and the estimated net economic result accruing to the department, lessee, and sublessee.  This subsection shall not be construed to authorize:

     (1)  A lessee awarded a lease pursuant to section 207(a) of this Act to sublet the tract in violation of paragraph (5) of section 208 of this Act; or

     (2)  A licensee issued a license pursuant to section 207(c) of this Act to transfer the license or lease a licensed lot in violation section 207(c)."

     SECTION 5.  This Act does not affect rights and duties that matured, penalties that were incurred, and proceedings that were begun before its effective date.

     SECTION 6.  The provisions of the amendments made by this Act to the Hawaiian Homes Commission Act, 1920, as amended, are declared to be severable, and if any section, sentence, clause, or phrase, or the application thereof to any person or circumstances is held ineffective because there is a requirement of having the consent of the United States to take effect, then that portion only shall take effect upon the granting of consent by the United States and effectiveness of the remainder of these amendments or the application thereof shall not be affected.

     SECTION 7.  Statutory material to be repealed is bracketed and stricken.  New statutory material is underscored.

     SECTION 8.  This Act shall take effect upon its approval by the governor of the State of Hawaii with the consent of the United States Congress.

 

INTRODUCED BY:	_____________________________

 

 

Report Title:

Department of Hawaiian Home Lands; Leases; Non-Residential Use; Fair Market Value; Subleases

 

Description:

Provides that licenses and leases for certain non-residential lots and tracts of land under issued pursuant to the Hawaiian Homes Commission Act, 1920, shall be issued based on fair market value, subject to certain exceptions.  Prohibits subletting of certain lots and tracts of land.  Clarifies that existing exceptions to conditions in the Hawaiian Homes Commission Act, 1920, that prohibit a beneficiary from subletting a tract do not apply if the tract if also used for non-residential purposes.  Clarifies that certain provisions relating to subleases shall not be construed to override other provisions against transfers of licenses or subletting.

 

 

 

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