HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

H.R. NO.

229

TWENTY-FIFTH LEGISLATURE, 2009

 

STATE OF HAWAII

 

 

 

 

 

HOUSE RESOLUTION

 

 

Requesting that the board of land and natural resources make a determination on the application of act 166, session laws of hawaii 2000, on a request before it to consent to the assignment of a homestead lease.

 

 

 


     WHEREAS, prior to the effective date of Act 166, Session Laws of Hawaii 2000, section 171-99(e), Hawaii Revised Statutes, provided that in the case of any nine hundred and ninety-nine-year homestead lease, if two or more persons succeed together to the interest of a lessee, they shall hold that interest by joint tenancy; and

 

     WHEREAS, on June 6, 2000, the effective date of Act 166, section 171-99(e) was amended to give each person holding a vested interest in a homestead lease the ability to transfer that interest to any family member, as defined in Act 166, or to be passed on by intestate succession; and

 

     WHEREAS, at an April 25, 2008, meeting of the Board of Land and Natural Resources, the Department of Land and Natural Resources submitted item D-12, requesting that the Board approve the transfer of only a one-third interest in a homestead lease upon a request by a homestead lessee claiming a one hundred per cent interest in the homestead lease through the vesting of the lessee's joint tenancy right of survivorship prior to the effective date of Act 166 (hereafter the "requesting lessee"); and

 

     WHEREAS, upon the advice of the Attorney General, the Department stated to the Board in item D-12 that the requesting lessee only had a one-third interest in the homestead lease, based on Act 166, and recommended that the Board approve the transfer of only a one-third interest in the lease; and

 

     WHEREAS, other persons present at the April 25, 2008, Board meeting claimed an interest in the subject homestead lease through succession from siblings of the requesting lessee, the siblings having died subsequent to the effective date of Act 166; and

 

     WHEREAS, a representative of the Office of Hawaiian Affairs present at the Board meeting represented that the Office of Hawaiian Affairs was reviewing this issue as it was pervasive throughout all homestead leases, and hoped to establish a program to resolve the issue; and

 

     WHEREAS, based upon the disputed right of the requesting lessee and the representation of the Office of Hawaiian Affairs, the Board denied the recommendation of the Department to approve the assignment of the one-third interest to which the Department, based upon the advice of the Attorney General, had determined that the requesting lessee was entitled; and

 

     WHEREAS, this matter remains unresolved, without any determination by the Board as to the extent of the rights of the requesting lessee in the homestead lease; and

 

     WHEREAS, the requesting lessee needs to exhaust all administrative remedies prior to requesting any judicial adjudication of this matter; now, therefore,

 

     BE IT RESOLVED by the House of Representatives of the Twenty-fifth Legislature of the State of Hawaii, Regular Session of 2009, that the Board of Land and Natural Resources is requested to make a determination as to whether, in the case of two or more persons succeeding to the interest of a lessee in any homestead lease, the joint tenancy right of any surviving joint tenant in a homestead lease vested prior to the effective date of Act 166 or, instead, became a tenancy in common interest pursuant to Act 166; and

 

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that if any final determination by the Board requires that a contested case proceeding is needed to resolve this issue, then the Board is requested to hold the contested case hearing upon its own motion or waive the time for making an oral or written request for a contested case hearing by the requesting lessee, pursuant to section 13-1-29(a), Hawaii Administrative Rules (Department of Land and Natural Resources); and

 

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that certified copies of this Resolution be transmitted to the Chairperson of the Board of Land and Natural Resources and the Chairperson of the Board of Trustees of the Office of Hawaiian Affairs.

 

 

 

 

OFFERED BY:

_____________________________

 

 

Report Title: 

Homestead Lease; Assignment of Interest