STAND. COM. REP. NO. 108-26

Honolulu, Hawaii

, 2026

RE: H.B. No. 1776

H.D. 1

Honorable Nadine K. Nakamura

Speaker, House of Representatives

Thirty-Third State Legislature

Regular Session of 2026

State of Hawaii

Madame:

Your Committee on Consumer Protection & Commerce, to which was referred H.B. No. 1776 entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO THE RESIDENTIAL LANDLORD-TENANT CODE,"

begs leave to report as follows:

The purpose of this measure is to:

(1) Require the Office of Consumer Protection to periodically publish an accessible, multilingual notice of tenant rights; and

(2) Require landlords to provide tenants with the notice of tenant rights upon the signing of a lease.

Your Committee received testimony in support of this measure from the Disability and Communication Access Board; Hawaiʻi YIMBY; Waipahu Safe Haven Immigrant/Migrant Resource Center; Medical-Legal Partnership for Children in Hawaiʻi; Hawaii Appleseed Center for Law & Economic Justice; Maui Housing Hui; The Mediation Center of the Pacific; and six individuals. Your Committee received comments on this measure from the Office of Consumer Protection and Hawaiʻi Association of REALTORS.

Your Committee finds that the landlord-tenant relationship can be inherently imbalanced in favor of landlords who have ownership control over essential housing and greater financial resources. Your Committee further finds that the Residential Landlord-Tenant Code mitigates some of this imbalance by detailing the rights and obligations of each party to a rental agreement and the remedies available. However, tenants may only meaningfully invoke their rights if the tenants are informed and educated on the existence of those rights. This measure is intended to bring further balance to the landlord-tenant relationship by ensuring tenants are informed of their rights at the commencement of the landlord-tenant relationship.

Your Committee has amended this measure by:

(1) Requiring the Office of Consumer Protection to include the notice of tenant rights in their informational handbook on the Residential Landlord-Tenant Code;

(2) Requiring the landlord to provide the notice in the tenant's preferred language, if the notice is available in that preferred language from the Office of Consumer Protection;

(3) Inserting a savings clause;

(4) Changing the effective date to July 1, 3000, to encourage further discussion; and

(5) Making technical, nonsubstantive amendments for the purposes of clarity, consistency, and style.

Your Committee respectfully requests your Committee on Judiciary & Hawaiian Affairs, should it deliberate on this measure, to consider:

(1) Whether the appropriate remedy for a landlord's failure to provide the required notice of tenant rights is to deduct an amount from the security deposit and return that amount to the tenant, either in lieu or in addition to the fine provided in the measure; and

(2) Whether the contact information for the Office of Consumer Protection's Landlord-Tenant Information Center should be included on the notice of tenant rights.

As affirmed by the record of votes of the members of your Committee on Consumer Protection & Commerce that is attached to this report, your Committee is in accord with the intent and purpose of H.B. No. 1776, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as H.B. No. 1776, H.D. 1, and be referred to your Committee on Judiciary & Hawaiian Affairs.

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committee on Consumer Protection & Commerce,

____________________________

SCOT Z. MATAYOSHI, Chair