REPORT TITLE:
Attachment; Exemption


DESCRIPTION:
Increases the attachment and execution exemption for a debtor's
motor vehicle from $1,000 to $2,575.

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
                                                        484
THE SENATE                              S.B. NO.           
TWENTIETH LEGISLATURE, 1999                                
STATE OF HAWAII                                            
                                                             
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                     A BILL FOR AN ACT

RELATING TO PERSONAL PROPERTY.



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

 1      SECTION 1.  Purpose.  The legislature finds that the
 
 2 exemption from attachment and execution allowed for a debtor's
 
 3 motor vehicle is set by statute at $1,000.  Typically, this means
 
 4 that a debtor facing attachment and execution because of
 
 5 bankruptcy may keep his or her motor vehicle if the vehicle is
 
 6 valued at $1,000 or less.  Since the average price of a vehicle
 
 7 is more than $1,000, a debtor's car is usually auctioned to pay-
 
 8 off creditors except for the exempted $1,000.  Ironically, the
 
 9 debtor is left without transportation at the very time when the
 
10 use of a vehicle for employment purposes is of critical
 
11 importance.  The purpose of this Act is to rectify this problem
 
12 by increasing the exemption from attachment and execution for
 
13 motor vehicles from $1,000 to $2,575.  The proposed amount would
 
14 also match the exemption provided by federal law.
 
15      SECTION 2.  Section 651-121, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is
 
16 amended to read as follows:
 
17      "§651-121  Certain personal property and insurance thereon,
 
18 exempt.  The following described personal property of an
 
19 individual up to the value set forth shall be exempt from
 

 
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                                     S.B. NO.           484
                                                        
                                                        

 
 1 attachment and execution as follows:
 
 2      (1)  All necessary household furnishings and appliances,
 
 3           books and wearing apparel, ordinarily and reasonably
 
 4           necessary to, and personally used by a debtor or the
 
 5           debtor's family residing with the debtor; and, in
 
 6           addition thereto, jewelry, watches, and items of
 
 7           personal adornment up to an aggregate cash value not
 
 8           exceeding $1,000.
 
 9      (2)  One motor vehicle up to a value of [$1,000] $2575 over
 
10           and above all liens and encumbrances on the motor
 
11           vehicle; provided that the value of the motor vehicle
 
12           shall be measured by established wholesale used car
 
13           prices customarily found in guides used by Hawaii motor
 
14           vehicle dealers; or, if not listed in such guides, fair
 
15           wholesale market value, with necessary adjustment for
 
16           condition.
 
17      (3)  Any combination of the following:  tools, implements,
 
18           instruments, uniforms, furnishings, books, equipment,
 
19           one commercial fishing boat and nets, one motor
 
20           vehicle, and other personal property ordinarily and
 
21           reasonably necessary to and personally owned and used
 
22           by the debtor in the exercise of the debtor's trade,
 
23           business, calling, or profession by which the debtor
 

 
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                                     S.B. NO.           484
                                                        
                                                        

 
 1           earns the debtor's livelihood.
 
 2      (4)  One parcel of land, not exceeding two hundred fifty
 
 3           square feet in size, niche or interment space owned,
 
 4           used, or occupied by any person, or by any person
 
 5           jointly with any other person or persons, in any
 
 6           graveyard, cemetery, or other place for the sole
 
 7           purpose of burying the dead, together with the railing
 
 8           or fencing enclosing the same, and all gravestones,
 
 9           tombstones, monuments, and other appropriate
 
10           improvements thereon erected.
 
11      (5)  The proceeds of insurance on, and the proceeds of the
 
12           sale of, the property in this section mentioned, for
 
13           the period of six months from the date the proceeds are
 
14           received.
 
15      (6)  The wages, salaries, commissions, and all other
 
16           compensation for personal services due to the debtor
 
17           for services rendered during the thirty-one days before
 
18           the date of the proceeding."
 
19      SECTION 3.  Statutory material to be repealed is bracketed.
 
20 New statutory material is underscored.
 
21      SECTION 4.  This Act shall take effect upon its approval.