Bill Text: HI SCR186 | 2018 | Regular Session | Amended
Bill Title: Urging The Office Of The Mayor, County Of Hawaii To Study The Feasibility Of Creating An Oversight Authority For Subdivisions In The County Of Hawaii.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 4-0)
Status: (Passed) 2018-04-24 - Received notice of reconsideration, Senate agreement, and Adoption (Sen. Com. No. 830). [SCR186 Detail]
Download: Hawaii-2018-SCR186-Amended.html
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THE SENATE |
S.C.R. NO. |
186 |
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TWENTY-NINTH LEGISLATURE, 2018 |
S.D. 1 |
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STATE OF HAWAII |
H.D. 1 |
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SENATE CONCURRENT
RESOLUTION
URGING THE OFFICE OF THE MAYOR, COUNTY OF HAWAII TO STUDY THE FEASIBILITY OF CREATING AN OVERSIGHT AUTHORITY FOR SUBDIVISIONS IN THE COUNTY OF HAWAII.
WHEREAS, some housing subdivisions in the State have been approved without a requirement that the respective lot owners fund the repair and maintenance of the private roads and other infrastructure within the subdivisions; and
WHEREAS, unlike condominium property regimes, many housing subdivisions are not subject to a statutory framework or a regulatory agency like the Department of Commerce and Consumer Affairs to oversee the creation, monitoring, training, validating, and auditing of the various volunteer associations responsible for the subdivisions' infrastructures, and to which aggrieved property owners may file complaints regarding assessments or misuse of collected association dues; and
WHEREAS, courts have created a patchwork of judgments and orders in various lawsuits that have created master receiverships to fill the vacuum caused by the lack of formal oversight; and
WHEREAS, in Paradise Hui
Hanalike v. Hawaiian Paradise Park Corp., 66 Haw. 362, 662 P.2d 211 (1983),
although the Hawaii Supreme Court found that there exists a legal duty for the
owners of property that abuts subdivision roads to contribute to the respective
corporation's necessary maintenance of those subdivision roads, the court also upheld
in relevant part the lower court's decision that, based on the facts of the
case, "the proposed means of carrying out the assessments by requiring
payments to that corporation were innately unfair"; and
WHEREAS, although the Intermediate Court of Appeals in Kaanapali Hillside Homeowners' Ass'n v. Doran, 112 Haw. 356, 145 P.3d 899 (App. 2006), determined that the homeowners were bound by an "implied obligation to pay their share of the costs incurred" by the respective association for "provided services that benefitted the subdivision", and affirmed in relevant part a lower court's decision that awarded monetary damages against the homeowners for accrued assessments, the costs of road maintenance were not at issue in that particular case; and
WHEREAS, courts have found that volunteer organizations and homeowner associations are deficient in facilitating road maintenance; and
WHEREAS, the state judicial system already bears a heavy caseload, and it is expensive for both residents and homeowner associations to resolve disputes regarding assessments, management, and repairs in the courts; and
WHEREAS, the inability to collect contributions from lot owners of some subdivisions with no court-approved corporation, association, or entity, has led to the neglect of roads and has caused roads to become substandard and deeply-rutted, which in turn has caused delays in emergency vehicle responses; and
WHEREAS, because the counties have the authority to approve housing subdivisions and collect real property taxes from the owners in those subdivisions, the counties should establish rules and procedures for, conduct audits of, and establish agencies that oversee the housing subdivisions or, in the alternative, the counties should maintain and repair the infrastructure of the housing subdivisions; and
WHEREAS, the problems in these infrastructure-deficient subdivisions are most pronounced in the County of Hawaii, particularly in the District of Puna; now, therefore,
BE IT RESOLVED by the Senate of the Twenty-ninth Legislature of the State of Hawaii, Regular Session of 2018, the House of Representatives concurring, that the Office of the Mayor, County of Hawaii, is urged to study the feasibility of creating an oversight authority for subdivisions in the County of Hawaii that would have the power to:
(1) Validate homeowner associations if none are stated in subdivision deeds for those subdivisions with private roads;
(2) Audit or validate disputed assessments imposed by such homeowner associations; and
(3) Resolve disputes on such matters between property owners and their respective homeowner associations; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Office of the Mayor, County of Hawaii, is requested to submit a report of its findings and recommendations to the Legislature no later than twenty days prior to the convening of the Regular Session of 2021; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that a certified copy of this Concurrent Resolution be transmitted to the Office of the Mayor, County of Hawaii.
Housing Subdivisions; Road Repair and Maintenance
