STAND. COM. REP. NO. 2310

Honolulu, Hawaii

RE: S.B. No. 2347

S.D. 1

Honorable Ronald D. Kouchi

President of the Senate

Thirty-Third State Legislature

Regular Session of 2026

State of Hawaii

Sir:

Your Committee on Commerce and Consumer Protection, to which was referred S.B. No. 2347 entitled:

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

begs leave to report as follows:

The purpose and intent of this measure is to require the Office of Consumer Protection to periodically publish an accessible, multilingual notice of tenant rights and require landlords to provide tenants with a copy of the notice of tenant rights at or before the time tenants sign written rental agreements.

Your Committee received testimony in support of this measure from the Disability and Communication Access Board, Hawaii Appleseed Center for Law and Economic Justice, Medical-Legal Partnership for Children in Hawaiʻi, Hawaiʻi YIMBY, and four individuals.

Your Committee received comments on this measure from the Office of Consumer Protection of the Department of Commerce and Consumer Affairs and Hawaiʻi Association of REALTORS.

Your Committee finds that Hawaii's Residential Landlord-Tenant Code is not well-understood by all participants in the State's rental market. This measure would provide accessible, multilingual information for renters and landlords to encourage better landlord-tenant relationships and reduce the risk of disputes and misunderstandings. Your Committee notes the testimony of the Office of Consumer Protection that the Office already publishes a Landlord-Tenant Handbook that is available in either digital or physical form. Therefore, certain amendments to this measure are needed to avoid duplicative efforts with regard to landlord obligations.

Accordingly, your Committee has amended this measure by:

(1) Deleting language that would have required a landlord to provide a tenant with a written copy of the notice;

(2) Amending section 1 to reflect its amended purpose;

(3) Inserting an effective date of July 1, 2050, to encourage further discussion; and

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

As affirmed by the record of votes of the members of your Committee on Commerce and Consumer Protection that is attached to this report, your Committee is in accord with the intent and purpose of S.B. No. 2347, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as S.B. No. 2347, S.D. 1, and be referred to your Committee on Judiciary.

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

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JARRETT KEOHOKALOLE, Chair