Bill Text: HI HB2139 | 2022 | Regular Session | Introduced
Bill Title: Relating To The Residential Landlord-tenant Code.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2022-02-18 - Report adopted; referred to the committee(s) on FIN with Representative(s) Perruso voting aye with reservations; none voting no (0) and Representative(s) Eli, Kapela excused (2). [HB2139 Detail]
Download: Hawaii-2022-HB2139-Introduced.html
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HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES |
H.B. NO. |
2139 |
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THIRTY-FIRST LEGISLATURE, 2022 |
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STATE OF HAWAII |
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A BILL FOR AN ACT
RELATING TO THE RESIDENTIAL LANDLORD-TENANT CODE.
BE IT ENACTED
BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF HAWAII:
SECTION 1. The legislature finds that low-income individuals
experience difficulty in finding affordable rental housing in Hawaii. According to the National Low Income Housing Coalition,
an estimated twenty-two per cent of renter households in Hawaii are extremely low-income,
with incomes at or below the poverty guideline or thirty per cent of the area median
income. Hawaii continues to have the second
highest per capita rate of homelessness in the United States, with 45.6 out of every
10,000 people experiencing homelessness.
There
are numerous barriers to accessing affordable housing for low-income households
and people experiencing homelessness. One example of a barrier to accessing affordable
housing is application screening fees, which are intended to cover the cost of tenant
screening conducted when applying for a residential rental unit. This barrier is particularly difficult for low-income
or homeless households.
The
legislature further finds that the cost of application screening fees varies widely
and may exceed the actual cost of the screening. Many potential tenants are unable to afford the
cost of multiple application screening fees required to successfully secure a rental
unit. Hawaii's residential landlord-tenant
code does not currently regulate how these fees are determined or applied.
The
federal government recently allocated significant resources, including nearly 700
emergency housing vouchers, to assist Hawaii households to secure stable, long-term
housing following the COVID-19 pandemic.
The unregulated use of application
screening fees creates barriers to stable housing for low-income and homeless households
and jeopardizes the federal resources by reducing the number of households that
apply for housing with a subsidized housing voucher.
The
purposes of this Act are to regulate the charging of application screening fees
to process an application to rent residential property and to require landlords
to refund any unused amount of the application screening fee.
SECTION
2. Chapter 521, Hawaii Revised Statutes,
is amended by adding a new section to part I be appropriately designated and to
read as follows:
"§521-
Application
screening fee. (a) When a landlord or the landlord's agent receives
an application to rent residential property from an applicant, the landlord or the
landlord's agent may charge the applicant an application screening fee to cover
the costs of obtaining information about the applicant. The application screening fee may be used to obtain
personal reference checks, tenant reports, and credit reports produced by any consumer
credit reporting agency.
(b) The amount of the application screening fee shall
not exceed $25. A landlord or the landlord's
agent may charge only one application screening fee per application and shall not
charge an application screening fee for each member of a household.
(c) Upon written request by the applicant, the landlord
or the landlord's agent shall provide to the applicant a receipt for payment of
the application screening fee and a copy of any report obtained by the landlord
or the landlord's agent that was paid for with the application screening fee within
ten days of obtaining the report.
(d) The landlord or the landlord's agent shall return
to the applicant any amount of the application screening fee that is not used for
the purposes authorized by this section.
(e) For the purposes of this section:
"Consumer
credit reporting agency" has the same meaning as in section 489P-2.
"Credit
report" has the same meaning as in section 489P-2."
SECTION 3. This Act does not affect rights and duties that
matured, penalties that were incurred, and proceedings that were begun before its
effective date.
SECTION 4. New statutory material is underscored.
SECTION 5. This Act shall take effect upon its approval.
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INTRODUCED BY: |
_____________________________ |
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BY REQUEST |
Report Title:
Residential Landlord-Tenant Code; Application Screening Fee; Tenant Report; Credit Report
Description:
Allows a landlord, when processing an application to rent residential property, to charge an application screening fee up to a maximum of $25 for the cost of requesting a tenant report or credit report for a potential tenant. Requires landlords to refund any unused amount of the application screening fee and, upon request, provide a receipt of the fee and a copy of any report obtained via the screening process to the applicant.
The summary description
of legislation appearing on this page is for informational purposes only and is
not legislation or evidence of legislative intent.
