Report Title:

Condominium Law Recodification; Hearings; Appropriations

Description:

Repeals and recodifies condominium property regimes law. Establishes condominium disputes hearings pilot program. Appropriates funds for pilot program and post-bill enactment educational activities. (CD1)

THE SENATE

S.B. NO.

2210

TWENTY-SECOND LEGISLATURE, 2004

S.D. 2

STATE OF HAWAII

H.D. 1


C.D. 1

A BILL FOR AN ACT

 

RELATING TO CONDOMINIUMS.

 

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

PART I.

SECTION 1. In 1961, Hawaii became the first state to pass a law enabling the creation of condominiums.

The 1961 "Horizontal Property Regime" law consisted of thirty-three sections covering a little more than three pages in the Revised Laws of Hawaii. Since that time, the law has been amended constantly. Presently, Hawaii's "Condominium Property Regime" law, chapter 514A, Hawaii Revised Statutes, consists of over one hundred sections taking up over fifty pages. As noted by the legislature in Act 213, Session Laws of Hawaii 2000, "[t]he present law is the result of numerous amendments enacted over the years made in a piecemeal fashion and with little regard to the law as a whole."

In 2000, the legislature recognized that "[Hawaii's] condominium property regimes law is unorganized, inconsistent, and obsolete in some areas, and micromanages condominium associations. The law is also overly regulatory, hinders development, and ignores technological changes and the present day development process." (Act 213, Session Laws of Hawaii 2000)

Consequently, the legislature directed the real estate commission (commission) to conduct a review of Hawaii's condominium property regimes law, make findings and recommendations for recodification of the law, and develop draft legislation consistent with its review and recommendations for submission to the legislature. This Act is the result of the commission's three-year effort to recodify Hawaii's condominium law. The commission's "Final Report to the Legislature, Recodification of Chapter 514A, Hawaii Revised Statutes (Condominium Property Regimes), in response to Act 213, Section 4 (SLH 2000)", dated December 31, 2003, should be used as an aid in understanding and interpreting this Act. The report may be viewed electronically at http://www.hawaii.gov/dcca/reports or on the commission's website at http://www.hawaii.gov/hirec.

The purpose of this part is to "update, clarify, organize, deregulate, and provide for consistency and ease of use of the condominium property regimes law", as directed by Act 213, Session Laws of Hawaii 2000.

SECTION 2. The Hawaii Revised Statutes is amended by adding a new chapter to be appropriately designated and to read as follows:

"CHAPTER    

CONDOMINIUMS

PART I. GENERAL PROVISIONS

§   -1 Short title. This chapter may be cited as the Condominium Property Act.

§   -2 Applicability. Applicability of this chapter is governed by part II.

§   -3 Definitions. As used in this chapter and in the declaration and bylaws, unless specifically provided otherwise or required by the context:

"Affiliate of a developer" means a person that directly or indirectly controls, is controlled by, or is under common control with, the developer.

"Association" means the unit owners' association organized under section    -102.

"Board" or "board of directors" means the body, regardless of name, designated in the declaration or bylaws to act on behalf of the association.

"Commission" means the real estate commission of the State.

"Common elements" means:

(1) All portions of a condominium other than the units; and

(2) Any other interests in real estate for the benefit of unit owners that are subject to the declaration.

"Common expenses" means expenditures made by, or financial liabilities of, the association for operation of the property, and shall include any allocations to reserves.

"Common interest" means the percentage of undivided interest in the common elements appurtenant to each unit, as expressed in the declaration, and any specified percentage of the common interest means such percentage of the undivided interests in the aggregate.

"Common profits" means the balance of all income, rents, profits, and revenues from the common elements or other property owned by the association remaining after the deduction of the common expenses.

"Completion of construction" means the earliest of:

(1) The issuance of a certificate of occupancy for the unit;

(2) The date of completion for the project, or the phase of the project that includes the unit, as defined in section 507-43;

(3) The recordation of the "as built" amendment to the declaration that includes the unit;

(4) The issuance of the architect's certificate of substantial completion for the project, or the phase of the project that includes the unit; or

(5) The date the unit is completed so as to permit normal occupancy.

"Condominium" means real estate, portions of which are designated for separate ownership and the remainder of which is designated for common ownership solely by the owners of those portions. Real estate is not a condominium unless the undivided interests in the common elements are vested in the unit owners.

"Condominium map" means a map or plan of the building or buildings containing the information required by section    -33.

"Converted" or "conversion" means the submission of a structure to a condominium property regime more than twelve months after the completion of construction; provided that structures used as sales offices or models for a project and later submitted to a condominium property regime shall not be considered to be converted structures.

"Declaration" means any instrument, however denominated, that creates a condominium, including any amendments to the instrument.

"Developer" means a person who undertakes to develop a real estate condominium project, including a person who succeeds to the interest of the developer by acquiring a controlling interest in the developer or in the project.

"Development rights" means any right or combination of rights reserved by a developer in the declaration to:

(1) Add real estate to a condominium;

(2) Create units, common elements, or limited common elements within a condominium;

(3) Subdivide units, combine units, or convert units into common elements;

(4) Withdraw real estate from a condominium;

(5) Merge projects or increments of a project; or

(6) Otherwise alter the condominium.

"Limited common element" means a portion of the common elements designated by the declaration or by operation of section    -35 for the exclusive use of one or more but fewer than all of the units.

"Majority" or "majority of unit owners" means the owners of units to which are appurtenant more than fifty per cent of the common interests. Any specified percentage of the unit owners means the owners of units to which are appurtenant such percentage of the common interest.

"Managing agent" means any person retained, as an independent contractor, for the purpose of managing the operation of the property.

"Master deed" or "master lease" means any deed or lease showing the extent of the interest of the person submitting the property to the condominium property regime.

"Material change" means any change that directly, substantially, and adversely affects the use or value of:

(1) A purchaser's unit or appurtenant limited common elements; or

(2) Those amenities of the project available for the purchaser's use.

"Material fact" means any fact, defect, or condition, past or present, that, to a reasonable person, would be expected to measurably affect the value of the project, unit, or property being offered or proposed to be offered for sale.

"Operation of the property" means the administration, fiscal management, and physical operation of the property, and includes the maintenance, repair, and replacement of, and the making of any additions and improvements to, the common elements.

"Person" means an individual, firm, corporation, partnership, association, trust, or other legal entity, or any combination thereof.

"Pertinent change" means, as determined by the commission, a change not previously disclosed in the most recent public report that renders the information contained in the public report or in any disclosure statement inaccurate, including, but not limited to:

(1) The size, construction materials, location, or permitted use of a unit or its appurtenant limited common element;

(2) The size, use, location, or construction materials of the common elements of the project; or

(3) The common interest appurtenant to the unit.

A pertinent change does not necessarily constitute a material change.

"Project" means a real estate condominium project; a plan or project whereby a condominium of two or more units located within the condominium property regime are created.

"Property" means the land, whether or not contiguous and including more than one parcel of land, but located within the same vicinity, the building or buildings, all improvements and all structures thereon, and all easements, rights, and appurtenances intended for use in connection with the condominium, which have been or are intended to be submitted to the regime established by this chapter. "Property" includes parcels with or without upper or lower boundaries, and spaces that may be filled with air or water.

"Record", "recordation", "recorded", or "recording" means to record in the bureau of conveyances in accordance with chapter 502, or to register in the land court in accordance with chapter 501.

"Resident manager" means any person retained as an employee by the association to manage, on-site, the operation of the property.

"Time share unit" means the actual and promised accommodations, and related facilities, that are the subject of a time share plan as defined in chapter 514E.

"Unit" means a physical or spatial portion of the condominium designated for separate ownership or occupancy, the boundaries of which are described in the declaration or pursuant to section    -35, with an exit to a public road or to a common element leading to a public road.

"Unit owner" means the person owning, or the persons owning jointly or in common, a unit and its appurtenant common interest; provided that to such extent and for such purposes as provided by recorded lease, including the exercise of voting rights, a lessee of a unit shall be deemed to be the unit owner.

§   -4 Separate titles and taxation. (a) Each unit that has been created, together with its appurtenant interest in the common elements, constitutes, for all purposes, a separate parcel of real estate.

(b) If there is any unit owner other than a developer, each unit shall be separately taxed and assessed, and no separate tax or assessment may be rendered against any common elements. The laws relating to home exemptions from state property taxes are applicable to individual units, which shall have the benefit of home exemption in those cases where the owner of a single-family dwelling would qualify. Property taxes assessed by the State or any county shall be assessed and collected on the individual units and not on the property as a whole. Without limitation of the foregoing, each unit and its appurtenant common interest shall be deemed to be a "parcel" and shall be subject to separate assessment and taxation for all types of taxes authorized by law, including, but not limited to, special assessments.

(c) If there is no unit owner other than a developer, the real estate comprising the condominium may be taxed and assessed in any manner provided by law.

§   -5 Conformance with county land use laws. Any condominium property regime established under this chapter shall conform to the existing underlying county zoning for the property and all applicable county permitting requirements adopted by the county in which the property is located, including any supplemental rules adopted by the county, pursuant to section    -6, to ensure the conformance of condominium property regimes to the purposes and provisions of county zoning and development ordinances and chapter 205. In the case of a property which includes one or more existing structures being converted to condominium status, the condominium property regime shall comply with section    -32(a)(13) or    -84(a).

§   -6 Supplemental county rules governing a condominium property regime. Whenever any county deems it proper, the county may adopt supplemental rules governing condominium property regimes established under this chapter in order to implement this program; provided that any of the supplemental rules adopted shall not conflict with this chapter or with any of the rules adopted by the commission to implement this chapter.

§   -7 Construction against implicit repeal. This chapter being a general act intended as a unified coverage of its subject matter, no part of it shall be construed to be impliedly repealed by subsequent legislation if that construction can reasonably be avoided.

§   -8 Severability. If any provision of this chapter or the application thereof to any person or circumstances is held invalid, the invalidity does not affect other provisions or applications of this chapter which can be given effect without the invalid provisions or applications, and to this end the provisions of this chapter are severable.

§   -9 Obligation of good faith. Every contract or duty governed by this chapter imposes an obligation of good faith in its performance or enforcement.

§   -10 Remedies to be liberally administered. (a) The remedies provided by this chapter shall be liberally administered to the end that the aggrieved party is put in as good a position as if the other party had fully performed. Consequential, special, or punitive damages may not be awarded, however, except as specifically provided in this chapter or by other rule of law.

(b) Any deed, declaration, bylaw, or condominium map shall be liberally construed to facilitate the operation of the condominium property regime.

(c) Any right or obligation declared by this chapter is enforceable by judicial proceeding.

PART II. APPLICABILITY

§   -21 Applicability to new condominiums. This chapter applies to all condominiums created within this State after the effective date of this chapter. The provisions of chapter 514A do not apply to condominiums created after the effective date of this chapter. Amendments to this chapter apply to all condominiums created after the effective date of this chapter or subjected to this chapter, regardless of when the amendment is adopted.

§   -22 Applicability to preexisting condominiums. Sections    -4,    -5,    -46,    -72, and part VI, and section     -3 to the extent definitions are necessary in construing any of those provisions, apply to all condominiums created in this State before the effective date of this chapter; but those sections apply only with respect to events and circumstances occurring after the effective date of this chapter and do not invalidate existing provisions of the declaration, bylaws, condominium map, or other constituent documents of those condominiums.

For purposes of interpreting this chapter, the terms "condominium property regime" and "horizontal property regime" shall be deemed to correspond to the term "condominium"; the term "apartment" shall be deemed to correspond to the term "unit"; the term "apartment owner" shall be deemed to correspond to the term "unit owner"; and the term "association of apartment owners" shall be deemed to correspond to the term "association".

§   -23 Amendments to governing instruments. (a) The declaration, bylaws, condominium map, or other constituent documents of any condominium created before the effective date of this chapter may be amended to achieve any result permitted by this chapter, regardless of what applicable law provided before the effective date of this chapter.

(b) An amendment to the declaration, bylaws, condominium map or other constituent documents authorized by this section shall be adopted in conformity with any procedures and requirements for amending the instruments specified by those instruments or, if there are none, in conformity with the amendment procedures of this chapter. If an amendment grants to any person any rights, powers, or privileges permitted by this chapter, all correlative obligations, liabilities, and restrictions in this chapter also apply to that person.

PART III. CREATION, ALTERATION, AND TERMINATION

OF CONDOMINIUMS (RESERVED)

PART IV. REGISTRATION AND ADMINISTRATION OF CONDOMINIUMS (RESERVED)

PART V. PROTECTION OF CONDOMINIUM PURCHASERS (RESERVED)

PART VI. MANAGEMENT OF CONDOMINIUMS

A. POWERS, DUTIES, AND OTHER GENERAL PROVISIONS

§   -101 Applicability; exceptions. (a) This part applies to all condominiums subject to this chapter, except as provided in subsection (b).

(b) If so provided in the declaration or bylaws, this part shall not apply to:

(1) Condominiums in which all units are restricted to nonresidential uses; or

(2) Condominiums, not subject to any continuing development rights, containing no more than five units;

provided that section    -132 shall not be subject to these exceptions.

§   -102 Association; organization and membership. (a) The first meeting of the association shall be held not later than one hundred eighty days after recordation of the first unit conveyance; provided that forty per cent or more of the project has been sold and recorded. If forty per cent of the project is not sold and recorded at the end of one year after recordation of the first unit conveyance, an annual meeting shall be called if ten per cent of the unit owners so request.

(b) The membership of the association shall consist exclusively of all the unit owners. Following termination of the condominium, the membership of the association shall consist of all former unit owners entitled to distributions of proceeds under section    -47, or their heirs, successors, or assigns.

§   -103 Association; registration. (a) Each project or association having more than five units shall:

(1) Register with the commission through approval of a completed registration application, payment of fees, and submission of any other additional information set forth by the commission. The registration shall be for a biennial period with termination on June 30 of each odd-numbered year. The commission shall prescribe a deadline date prior to the termination date for the submission of a completed reregistration application, payment of fees, and any other additional information set forth by the commission. Any project or association that has not met the submission requirements by the deadline date shall be considered a new applicant for registration and be subject to initial registration requirements. Any new project or association shall register within thirty days of the association's first meeting. If the association has not held its first meeting and it is at least one year after the recordation of the purchase of the first unit in the project, the developer or developer's affiliate or the managing agent shall register on behalf of the association and shall comply with this section, except for the fidelity bond requirement for associations required by section    -143(a)(3). The public information required to be submitted on any completed application form shall include but not be limited to evidence of and information on fidelity bond coverage, names and positions of the officers of the association, the name of the association's managing agent, if any, the street and the postal address of the condominium, and the name and current mailing address of a designated officer of the association where the officer can be contacted directly;

(2) Pay a nonrefundable application fee and, upon approval, an initial registration fee, a reregistration fee upon reregistration and the condominium education trust fund fee, as provided in rules adopted by the director of commerce and consumer affairs pursuant to chapter 91;

(3) Register or reregister and pay the required fees by the due date. Failure to register or reregister or pay the required fees by the due date shall result in the assessment of a penalty equal to the amount of the registration or reregistration fee; and

(4) Report promptly in writing to the commission any changes to the information contained on the registration or reregistration application or any other documents required by the commission. Failure to do so may result in termination of registration and subject the project or the association to initial registration requirements.

(b) The commission may reject or terminate any registration submitted by a project or an association that fails to comply with this section. Any association that fails to register as required by this section or whose registration is rejected or terminated shall not have standing to maintain any action or proceeding in the courts of this State until it registers. The failure of an association to register, or rejection or termination of its registration, shall not impair the validity of any contract or act of the association nor prevent the association from defending any action or proceeding in any court in this State.

§   -104 Association; powers. (a) Except as provided in section    -105, and subject to the provisions of the declaration and bylaws, the association, even if unincorporated, may:

(1) Adopt and amend the declaration, bylaws, and rules and regulations;

(2) Adopt and amend budgets for revenues, expenditures, and reserves and collect assessments for common expenses from unit owners, subject to section    -148;

(3) Hire and discharge managing agents and other independent contractors, agents, and employees;

(4) Institute, defend, or intervene in litigation or administrative proceedings in its own name on behalf of itself or two or more unit owners on matters affecting the condominium. For the purposes of actions under chapter 480, associations shall be deemed to be "consumers";

(5) Make contracts and incur liabilities;

(6) Regulate the use, maintenance, repair, replacement, and modification of common elements;

(7) Cause additional improvements to be made as a part of the common elements;

(8) Acquire, hold, encumber, and convey in its own name any right, title, or interest to real or personal property; provided that designation of additional areas to be common elements or subject to common expenses after the initial filing of the declaration or bylaws shall require the approval of at least sixty-seven per cent of the unit owners; provided further that if the developer discloses to the initial buyer in writing that additional areas will be designated as common elements whether pursuant to an incremental or phased project or otherwise, this requirement shall not apply as to those additional areas; and provided further that this paragraph shall not apply to the purchase of a unit for a resident manager;

(9) Subject to section    -38, grant easements, leases, licenses, and concessions through or over the common elements and permit encroachments on the common elements;

(10) Impose and receive any payments, fees, or charges for the use, rental, or operation of the common elements, other than limited common elements described in section    -35(2) and (4), and for services provided to unit owners;

(11) Impose charges and penalties, including late fees and interest, for late payment of assessments and, after notice and an opportunity to be heard, levy reasonable fines for violations of the declaration, bylaws, rules, and regulations of the association, either in accordance with the bylaws or, for condominiums created after May 17, 1983, if the bylaws are silent, pursuant to a resolution adopted by the board and approved by sixty-seven per cent of all unit owners at an annual meeting of the association or by the written consent of sixty-seven per cent of all unit owners;

(12) Impose reasonable charges for the preparation and recordation of amendments to the declaration, documents requested for resale of units, or statements of unpaid assessments;

(13) Provide for cumulative voting;

(14) Provide for the indemnification of its officers, board, committee members, and agents, and maintain directors' and officers' liability insurance;

(15) Assign its right to future income, including the right to receive common expense assessments, but only to the extent section    -105(e) expressly so provides;

(16) Exercise any other powers conferred by the declaration or bylaws;

(17) Exercise all other powers that may be exercised in this State by legal entities of the same type as the association, except to the extent inconsistent with this chapter;

(18) Exercise any other powers necessary and proper for the governance and operation of the association; and

(19) By regulation, subject to sections    -146,    -161, and    -162, require that disputes between the board and unit owners or between two or more unit owners regarding the condominium be submitted to nonbinding alternative dispute resolution in the manner described in the regulation as a prerequisite to commencement of a judicial proceeding.

(b) If a tenant of a unit owner violates the declaration, bylaws, or rules and regulations of the association, in addition to exercising any of its powers against the unit owner, the association may:

(1) Exercise directly against the tenant the powers described in subsection (a)(11);

(2) After giving notice to the tenant and the unit owner and an opportunity to be heard, levy reasonable fines against the tenant for the violation, provided that a unit owner shall be responsible for the conduct of the owner's tenant and for any fines levied against the tenant or any legal fees incurred in enforcing the declaration, bylaws, or rules and regulations of the association against the tenant; and

(3) Enforce any other rights against the tenant for the violation which the unit owner as landlord could lawfully have exercised under the lease, including eviction, or which the association could lawfully have exercised directly against the unit owner, or both.

(c) The rights granted under subsection (b)(3) may only be exercised if the tenant or unit owner fails to cure the violation within ten days after the association notifies the tenant and unit owner of that violation; provided that no notice shall be required when the breach by the tenant causes or threatens to cause damage to any person or constitutes a violation of section 521-51(1) or 521-51(6).

(d) Unless a lease otherwise provides, this section does not:

(1) Affect rights that the unit owner has to enforce the lease or that the association has under other law; or

(2) Permit the association to enforce a lease to which it is not a party in the absence of a violation of the declaration, bylaws, or rules and regulations.

§   -105 Association; limitations on powers. (a) The declaration and bylaws may not impose limitations on the power of the association to deal with the developer which are more restrictive than the limitations imposed on the power of the association to deal with other persons.

(b) Unless otherwise permitted by the declaration, bylaws, or this chapter, an association may adopt rules and regulations that affect the use of or behavior in units that may be used for residential purposes only to:

(1) Prevent any use of a unit which violates the declaration or bylaws;

(2) Regulate any behavior in or occupancy of a unit which violates the declaration or bylaws or unreasonably interferes with the use and enjoyment of other units or the common elements by other unit owners; or

(3) Restrict the leasing of residential units to the extent those rules are reasonably designed to meet underwriting requirements of institutional lenders who regularly lend money secured by first mortgages on units in condominiums or regularly purchase those mortgages.

Otherwise, the association may not regulate any use of or behavior in units by means of the rules and regulations.

(c) No association shall deduct and apply portions of common expense payments received from a unit owner to unpaid late fees, legal fees, fines, and interest (other than amounts remitted by a unit in payment of late fees, legal fees, fines, and interest) unless the board adopts and distributes to all owners a policy stating that:

(1) Failure to pay late fees, legal fees, fines, and interest may result in the deduction of such late fees, legal fees, fines, and interest from future common expense payments, so long as a delinquency continues to exist; and

(2) Late fees may be imposed against any future common expense payment that is less than the full amount owed due to the deduction of unpaid late fees, legal fees, fines, and interest from the payment.

(d) No unit owner who requests legal or other information from the association, the board, the managing agent, or their employees or agents, shall be charged for the reasonable cost of providing the information unless the association notifies the unit owner that it intends to charge the unit owner for the reasonable cost. The association shall notify the unit owner in writing at least ten days prior to incurring the reasonable cost of providing the information, except that no prior notice shall be required to assess the reasonable cost of providing information on delinquent assessments or in connection with proceedings to enforce the law or the association's governing documents.

After being notified of the reasonable cost of providing the information, the unit owner may withdraw the request, in writing. A unit owner who withdraws a request for information shall not be charged for the reasonable cost of providing the information.

(e) Subject to any approval requirements and spending limits contained in the declaration or bylaws, the association may authorize the board to borrow money for the repair, replacement, maintenance, operation, or administration of the common elements and personal property of the project, or the making of any additions, alterations, and improvements thereto; provided that written notice of the purpose and use of the funds is first sent to all unit owners and owners representing fifty per cent of the common interest vote or give written consent to the borrowing. In connection with the borrowing, the board may grant to the lender the right to assess and collect monthly or special assessments from the unit owners and to enforce the payment of the assessments or other sums by statutory lien and foreclosure proceedings. The cost of the borrowing, including, without limitation, all principal, interest, commitment fees, and other expenses payable with respect to the borrowing or the enforcement of the obligations under the borrowing, shall be a common expense of the project. For purposes of this section, no lease shall be deemed a loan if it provides that at the end of the lease the association may purchase the leased equipment for its fair market value.

§   -106 Board; powers and duties. (a) Except as provided in the declaration, the bylaws, subsection (b), or other provisions of this chapter, the board may act in all instances on behalf of the association. In the performance of their duties, officers and members of the board shall owe the association a fiduciary duty and exercise the degree of care and loyalty required of an officer or director of a corporation organized under chapter 414D.

(b) The board may not act on behalf of the association to amend the declaration or bylaws (sections    -32(a)(11) and    -108(b)(7)), to remove the condominium from the provisions of this chapter (section    -47), or to elect members of the board or determine the qualifications, powers and duties, or terms of office of board members (subsection (e)); provided that nothing in this subsection shall be construed to prohibit board members from voting proxies (section    -123) to elect members of the board; and provided further that the board may fill vacancies in its membership to serve until the next annual or special association meeting.

(c) Within thirty days after the adoption of any proposed budget for the condominium, the board shall make available a copy of the budget to all the unit owners and shall notify each unit owner that the unit owner may request a copy of the budget.

(d) The declaration may provide for a period of developer control of the association, during which a developer, or persons designated by the developer, may appoint and remove the officers and members of the board. Regardless of the period provided in the declaration, a period of developer control terminates no later than the earlier of:

(1) Sixty days after conveyance of seventy-five per cent of the common interest appurtenant to units that may be created to unit owners other than a developer or affiliate of the developer;

(2) Two years after the developer has ceased to offer units for sale in the ordinary course of business;

(3) Two years after any right to add new units was last exercised; or

(4) The day the developer, after giving written notice to unit owners, records an instrument voluntarily surrendering all rights to control activities of the association.

A developer may voluntarily surrender the right to appoint and remove officers and members of the board before termination of that period, but in that event the developer may require, for the duration of the period of developer control, that specified actions of the association or board, as described in a recorded instrument executed by the developer, be approved by the developer before they become effective.

(e) Not later than the termination of any period of developer control, the unit owners shall elect a board of at least three members; provided that condominiums created after May 17, 1984, with one hundred individual units, shall have an elected board of at least nine members unless at least sixty-seven per cent of all unit owners vote by mail ballot, or at a special or annual meeting, to reduce the number of directors; and provided further that condominiums with more than one hundred individual units where at least seventy-five per cent of the unit owners reside outside of the State may have an elected board of at least three members. The board shall elect the officers. Board members and officers shall take office upon election.

(f) At any regular or special meeting of the association, any member of the board may be removed and successors shall be elected for the remainder of the term to fill the vacancies thus created. The removal and replacement shall be in accordance with all applicable requirements and procedures in the bylaws for the removal and replacement of directors, including any provision relating to cumulative voting, and, if removal and replacement is to occur at a special meeting, section    -121(b).

§   -107 Board; limitations. (a) Members of the board shall be unit owners or co-owners, vendees under an agreement of sale, a trustee or beneficiary of a trust which owns a unit, an officer of any corporate owner--including a limited liability corporation--of a unit, or a representative of any other legal entity which owns a unit. The partners in a general partnership and the general partners of a limited partnership or limited liability partnership shall be deemed to be the owners of a unit for the purpose of serving on the board. There shall not be more than one representative on the board from any one unit.

(b) No resident manager or employee of a condominium shall serve on its board.

(c) An owner shall not act as a director of an association and an employee of the managing agent retained by the association.

(d) Directors shall not expend association funds for their travel, directors' fees, and per diem, unless owners are informed and a majority approve of these expenses; provided that, with the approval of the board, directors may be reimbursed for actual expenditures incurred on behalf of the association. The minutes shall reflect in detail the items and amounts of the reimbursements.

(e) Associations at their own expense shall provide all board members with a current copy of the association's declaration, bylaws, house rules, and, annually, a copy of this chapter with amendments.

(f) The directors may expend association funds, which shall not be deemed to be compensation to the directors, to educate and train themselves in subject areas directly related to their duties and responsibilities as directors; provided that the approved annual operating budget shall include these expenses as separate line items. These expenses may include registration fees, books, videos, tapes, other educational materials, and economy travel expenses. Except for economy travel expenses within the State, all other travel expenses incurred under this subsection shall be subject to the requirements of subsection (d).

§   -108 Bylaws. (a) A true copy of the bylaws shall be recorded in the same manner as the declaration. No amendment to the bylaws is valid unless the amendment is duly recorded.

(b) The bylaws shall provide for at least the following:

(1) The number of members of the board and the titles of the officers of the association;

(2) Election by the board of a president, treasurer, secretary, and any other officers of the association the bylaws specify;

(3) The qualifications, powers and duties, terms of office, and manner of electing and removing directors and officers and the filling of vacancies;

(4) Designation of the powers the board or officers may delegate to other persons or to a managing agent;

(5) Designation of the officers who may prepare, execute, certify, and record amendments to the declaration on behalf of the association;

(6) The compensation, if any, of the directors;

(7) Subject to subsection (d), a method for amending the bylaws; and

(8) The percentage, consistent with this chapter, that is required to adopt decisions binding on all unit owners; provided that votes allocated to lobby areas, swimming pools, recreation areas, saunas, storage areas, hallways, trash chutes, laundry chutes, and other similar common areas not located inside units shall not be cast at any association meeting, regardless of their designation in the declaration.

(c) The bylaws may provide for staggering the terms of directors by dividing the total number of directors into groups. The terms of office of the several groups need not be uniform.

(d) Subject to the provisions of the declaration, the bylaws may provide for any other matters the association deems necessary and appropriate.

(e) The bylaws may be amended at any time by the vote or written consent of at least sixty-seven per cent of all unit owners. Any proposed bylaws together with the detailed rationale for the proposal may be submitted by the board or by a volunteer unit owners group. If submitted by that group, the proposal shall be accompanied by a petition signed by not less than twenty-five per cent of the unit owners as shown in the association's record of ownership. The proposed bylaws, rationale, and ballots for voting on any proposed bylaw shall be mailed by the board to the owners at the expense of the association for vote or written consent without change within thirty days of the receipt of the petition by the board. The vote or written consent, to be valid, must be obtained within three hundred sixty-five days after mailing for a proposed bylaw submitted by either the board or a volunteer unit owners group. If the bylaw is duly adopted, the board shall cause the bylaw amendment to be recorded. The volunteer unit owners group shall be precluded from submitting a petition for a proposed bylaw that is substantially similar to that which has been previously mailed to the owners within three hundred sixty-five days after the original petition was submitted to the board.

This subsection shall not preclude any unit owner or volunteer unit owners group from proposing any bylaw amendment at any annual association meeting.

§   -109 Restatement of declaration and bylaws. (a) Notwithstanding any other provision of this chapter or of any other statute or instrument, an association at any time may restate the declaration or bylaws of the association to set forth all amendments thereto by a resolution adopted by the board.

(b) Subject to section    -23, an association at any time may restate the declaration or bylaws of the association to amend the declaration or bylaws as may be required in order to conform with the provisions of this chapter or of any other statute, ordinance, or rule enacted by any governmental authority, by a resolution adopted by the board. The restated declaration or bylaws shall be as fully effective for all purposes as if adopted by a vote or written consent of the unit owners.

Any declaration or bylaws restated pursuant to this subsection shall:

(1) Identify each portion so restated;

(2) Contain a statement that those portions have been restated solely for purposes of information and convenience;

(3) Identify the statute, ordinance, or rule implemented by the amendment; and

(4) Contain a statement that, in the event of any conflict, the restated declaration or bylaws shall be subordinate to the cited statute, ordinance, or rule.

(c) Upon the adoption of a resolution pursuant to subsection (a) or (b), the restated declaration or bylaws shall set forth all of the operative provisions of the declaration or bylaws, as amended, together with a statement that the restated declaration or bylaws correctly sets forth without change the corresponding provisions of the declaration or bylaws, as amended, and that the restated declaration or bylaws supersede the original declaration or bylaws and all prior amendments thereto.

(d) The restated declaration or bylaws must be recorded and, upon recordation, shall supersede the original declaration or bylaws and all prior amendments thereto. In the event of any conflict, the restated declaration or bylaws shall be subordinate to the original declaration or bylaws and all prior amendments thereto.

§   -110 Bylaws amendment permitted; mixed use property; representation on board. (a) The bylaws of an association may be amended to provide that the composition of the board reflect the proportionate number of units for a particular use, as set forth in the declaration. For example, an association may provide that for a nine-member board where two-thirds of the units are for residential use and one-third is for nonresidential use, sixty-six and two-thirds per cent of the nine-member board, or six members, shall be owners of residential use units and thirty-three and one-third per cent, or three members, shall be owners of nonresidential use units.

(b) Any proposed bylaw amendment to modify the composition of the board in accordance with subsection (a) may be initiated by:

(1) A majority vote of the board; or

(2) A submission of the proposed bylaw amendment to the board from a volunteer unit owners group accompanied by a petition from twenty-five per cent of the unit owners of record.

(c) Within thirty days of a decision by the board or receipt of a petition to initiate a bylaw amendment, the board shall mail a ballot with the proposed bylaw amendment to all of the unit owners of record. For purposes of this section only, the bylaws may initially be amended by a vote or written consent of the majority of the unit owners; and thereafter by at least sixty-seven per cent of all unit owners; provided that each of the requirements set forth in this section shall be embodied in the bylaws.

(d) The bylaws, as amended pursuant to this section, shall be recorded.

(e) Election of the new board in accordance with an amendment adopted pursuant to this section shall be held at the next regular meeting of the association or at a meeting called in accordance with section    -121(b) for this purpose.

(f) As permitted in the declaration or bylaws, the vote of a nonresidential unit owner shall be cast and counted only for the nonresidential seats available on the board and the vote of a residential unit owner shall be cast and counted only for the residential seats available on the board.

(g) No petition for a bylaw amendment pursuant to subsection (b)(2) to modify the composition of the board shall be distributed to the unit owners within one year of the distribution of a prior petition to modify the composition of the board pursuant to subsection (b)(2).

(h) This section shall not preclude the removal and replacement of any one or more members of the board pursuant to section    -106(f). Any removal and replacement shall not affect the proportionate composition of the board as prescribed in the bylaws as amended pursuant to this section.

§   -111 Judicial power to excuse compliance with requirements of declaration or bylaws. (a) The circuit court of the judicial circuit in which a condominium is located may excuse compliance with any of the following provisions in a declaration or bylaws if it finds that the provision unreasonably interferes with the association's ability to manage the common property, administer the condominium property regime, or carry out any other function set forth in the declaration or bylaws, and that compliance is not necessary to protect the legitimate interests of the members or lenders holding security interests:

(1) A provision limiting the amount of any assessment that can be levied against individually owned property;

(2) A provision requiring that an amendment to the declaration or bylaws be approved by lenders;

(3) A provision requiring approval of at least sixty-seven per cent of the common interest to adopt an amendment pursuant to section    -32(a)(11) or section    -108(e); provided that the amendment does not:

(A) Prohibit or materially restrict the use or occupancy of, or behavior within, individually owned units;

(B) Change the basis for allocating voting rights or assessments among unit owners; or

(C) Apply to less than all of the unit owners;

(4) A requirement that an amendment to the declaration be signed by unit owners; or

(5) A quorum requirement for meetings of unit owners.

(b) The board, on behalf of the association, shall by certified mail provide all unit owners with notice of the date, time, and place of any court hearing to be held pursuant to this section.

§   -112 Condominium community mutual obligations. (a) All unit owners, tenants of owners, employees of owners and tenants, or any other persons that may in any manner use property or any part thereof submitted to this chapter are subject to this chapter and to the declaration and bylaws of the association adopted pursuant to this chapter.

(b) All agreements, decisions, and determinations lawfully made by the association in accordance with the voting percentages established in this chapter, the declaration, or the bylaws are binding on all unit owners.

(c) Each unit owner, tenants and employees of an owner, and other persons using the property shall comply strictly with the covenants, conditions, and restrictions set forth in the declaration, the bylaws, and the house rules adopted pursuant thereto. Failure to comply with any of the same shall be grounds for an action to recover sums due, for damages or injunctive relief, or both, maintainable by the managing agent, resident manager, or board on behalf of the association or, in a proper case, by an aggrieved unit owner.

B. GOVERNANCE – ELECTIONS AND MEETINGS

§   -121 Association meetings. (a) A meeting of the association shall be held at least once each year.

(b) Special meetings of the association may be called by the president, a majority of the board, or by a petition to the secretary or managing agent signed by not less than twenty-five per cent of the unit owners as shown in the association's record of ownership; provided that if the secretary or managing agent fails to send out the notices for the special meeting within fourteen days of receipt of the petition, the petitioners shall have the authority to set the time, date, and place for the special meeting and to send out the notices and proxies for the special meeting in accordance with the requirements of the bylaws and of this part.

(c) Not less than fourteen days in advance of any meeting, the secretary or other officer specified in the bylaws shall cause notice to be:

(1) Hand-delivered;

(2) Sent prepaid by United States mail to the mailing address of each unit or to any other mailing address designated in writing by the unit owner; or

(3) At the option of the unit owner, expressed in writing, by electronic mail to the electronic mailing address designated in writing by the unit owner.

The notice of any meeting must state the date, time, and place of the meeting and the items on the agenda, including the general nature and rationale of any proposed amendment to the declaration or bylaws, and any proposal to remove a member of the board; provided that this subsection shall not preclude any unit owner from proposing an amendment to the declaration or bylaws or to remove a member of the board at any annual association meeting.

(d) All association meetings shall be conducted in accordance with the most recent edition of Robert's Rules of Order Newly Revised. If so provided in the declaration or bylaws, meetings may be conducted by any means that allow participation by all unit owners in any deliberation or discussion.

(e) All association meetings shall be held at the address of the condominium or elsewhere within the State as determined by the board; provided that in the event of a natural disaster, such as a hurricane, an association meeting may be held outside the State.

§   -122 Association meetings; minutes. (a) Minutes of meetings of the association shall be approved at the next succeeding regular meeting or by the board, within sixty days after the meeting, if authorized by the owners at an annual meeting. If approved by the board, owners shall be given a copy of the approved minutes or notified of the availability of the minutes within thirty days after approval.

(b) Minutes of all meetings of the association shall be available within seven calendar days after approval, and unapproved final drafts of the minutes of a meeting shall be available within sixty days after the meeting.

(c) An owner shall be allowed to offer corrections to the minutes at an association meeting.

§   -123 Association meetings; voting; proxies. (a) If only one of several owners of a unit is present at a meeting of the association, that owner is entitled to cast all the votes allocated to that unit. If more than one of the owners is present, the votes allocated to that unit may be cast only in accordance with the agreement of a majority in interest of the owners, unless the declaration expressly provides otherwise. There is majority agreement if any one of the owners casts the votes allocated to that unit without protest being made by any of the other owners of the unit to the person presiding over the meeting before the polls are closed.

(b) Votes allocated to a unit may be cast pursuant to a proxy duly executed by a unit owner. A unit owner may vote by mail or electronic transmission through a duly executed directed proxy. If a unit is owned by more than one person, each owner of the unit may vote or register protest to the casting of votes by the other owners of the unit through a duly executed proxy. A unit owner may revoke a proxy given pursuant to this section only by actual notice of revocation to the secretary of the association or the managing agent. A proxy is void if it purports to be revocable without notice.

(c) No votes allocated to a unit owned by the association may be cast for the election or reelection of directors.

(d) A proxy, to be valid, shall:

(1) Be delivered to the secretary of the association or the managing agent, if any, no later than 4:30 p.m. on the second business day prior to the date of the meeting to which it pertains;

(2) Contain at least the name of the association, the date of the meeting of the association, the printed names and signatures of the persons giving the proxy, the unit numbers for which the proxy is given, the names of persons to whom the proxy is given, and the date that the proxy is given; and

(3) If it is a standard proxy form authorized by the association, contain boxes wherein the owner has indicated that the proxy is given:

(A) For quorum purposes only;

(B) To the individual whose name is printed on a line next to this box;

(C) To the board as a whole and that the vote is to be made on the basis of the preference of the majority of the directors present at the meeting; or

(D) To those directors present at the meeting with the vote to be shared with each director receiving an equal percentage.

The proxy form shall also contain a box wherein the owner may indicate that the owner wishes to obtain a copy of the annual audit report required by section    -150.

(e) A proxy shall only be valid for the meeting to which the proxy pertains and its adjournments, may designate any person as proxy, and may be limited as the unit owner desires and indicates; provided that no proxy shall be irrevocable unless coupled with a financial interest in the unit.

(f) A copy, facsimile telecommunication, or other reliable reproduction of a proxy may be used in lieu of the original proxy for any and all purposes for which the original proxy could be used; provided that any copy, facsimile telecommunication, or other reproduction shall be a complete reproduction of the entire original proxy.

(g) Nothing in this section shall affect the holder of any proxy under a first mortgage of record encumbering a unit or under an agreement of sale affecting a unit.

(h) With respect to the use of association funds to distribute proxies:

(1) Any board that intends to use association funds to distribute proxies, including the standard proxy form referred to in subsection (d)(3), shall first post notice of its intent to distribute proxies in prominent locations within the project at least twenty-one days before its distribution of proxies. If the board receives within seven days of the posted notice a request by any owner for use of association funds to solicit proxies accompanied by a statement, the board shall mail to all owners either:

(A) A proxy form containing the names of all owners who have requested the use of association funds for soliciting proxies accompanied by their statements; or

(B) A proxy form containing no names, but accompanied by a list of names of all owners who have requested the use of association funds for soliciting proxies and their statements.

The statement, which shall be limited to black text on white paper, shall not exceed one single-sided 8-1/2" x 11" page, indicating the owner's qualifications to serve on the board or reasons for wanting to receive proxies; and

(2) A board or member of the board may use association funds to solicit proxies as part of the distribution of proxies. If a member of the board, as an individual, seeks to solicit proxies using association funds, the board member shall proceed as a unit owner under paragraph (1).

(i) No managing agent or resident manager, or their employees, shall solicit, for use by the managing agent or resident manager, any proxies from any unit owner of the association that retains the managing agent or employs the resident manager, nor shall the managing agent or resident manager cast any proxy vote at any association meeting except for the purpose of establishing a quorum.

(j) No board shall adopt any rule prohibiting the solicitation of proxies or distribution of materials relating to association matters on the common elements by unit owners; provided that a board may adopt rules regulating reasonable time, place, and manner of the solicitations or distributions, or both.

§   -124 Association meetings; purchaser's right to vote. The purchaser of a unit pursuant to a recorded agreement of sale shall have all the rights of a unit owner, including the right to vote; provided that the seller may retain the right to vote on matters substantially affecting the seller's security interest in the unit, including but not limited to, the right to vote on:

(1) Any partition of all or part of the project;

(2) The nature and amount of any insurance covering the project and the disposition of any proceeds thereof;

(3) The manner in which any condemnation of the project shall be defended or settled and the disposition of any award or settlement in connection therewith;

(4) The payment of any amount in excess of insurance or condemnation proceeds;

(5) The construction of any additions or improvements, and any substantial repair or rebuilding of any portion of the project;

(6) The special assessment of any expenses;

(7) The acquisition of any unit in the project;

(8) Any amendment to the declaration or bylaws;

(9) Any removal of the project from the provisions of this chapter; and

(10) Any other matter that would substantially affect the security interest of the seller.

§   -125 Board meetings. (a) All meetings of the board, other than executive sessions, shall be open to all members of the association, and association members who are not on the board may participate in any deliberation or discussion, other than executive sessions, unless a majority of a quorum of the board votes otherwise.

(b) The board, with the approval of a majority of a quorum of its members, may adjourn a meeting and reconvene in executive session to discuss and vote upon matters:

(1) Concerning personnel;

(2) Concerning litigation in which the association is or may become involved;

(3) Necessary to protect the attorney-client privilege of the association; or

(4) Necessary to protect the interests of the association while negotiating contracts, leases, and other commercial transactions.

The general nature of any business to be considered in executive session shall first be announced in open session.

(c) All board meetings shall be conducted in accordance with the most recent edition of Robert's Rules of Order Newly Revised. Unless otherwise provided in the declaration or bylaws, a board may permit any meeting to be conducted by any means of communication through which all directors participating may simultaneously hear each other during the meeting. A director participating in a meeting by this means is deemed to be present in person at the meeting. If permitted by the board, any unit owner may participate in a meeting conducted by a means of communication through which all participants may simultaneously hear each other during the meeting, provided that the board may require that the unit owner pay for the costs associated with the participation.

(d) The board shall meet at least once a year. Notice of all board meetings shall be posted by the managing agent, resident manager, or a member of the board, in prominent locations within the project seventy-two hours prior to the meeting or simultaneously with notice to the board.

(e) A director shall not vote by proxy at board meetings.

(f) A director shall not vote at any board meeting on any issue in which the director has a conflict of interest. A director who has a conflict of interest on any issue before the board shall disclose the nature of the conflict of interest prior to a vote on that issue at the board meeting, and the minutes of the meeting shall record the fact that a disclosure was made.

"Conflict of interest", as used in this subsection, means an issue in which a director has a direct personal or pecuniary interest not common to other members of the association.

§   -126 Board meetings; minutes. (a) Minutes of meetings of the board shall include the recorded vote of each board member on all motions except motions voted on in executive session.

(b) Minutes of meetings of the board shall be approved no later than the second succeeding regular meeting.

(c) Minutes of all meetings of the board shall be available within seven calendar days after approval, and unapproved final drafts of the minutes of a meeting shall be available within sixty days after the meeting; provided that the minutes of any executive session may be withheld if their publication would defeat the lawful purpose of the executive session.

C. OPERATIONS

§   -131 Operation of the property. The operation of the property shall be governed by this chapter and the declaration and bylaws.

§   -132 Managing agents. (a) Every managing agent shall:

(1) Be a:

(A) Licensed real estate broker in compliance with chapter 467 and the rules of the commission. With respect to any requirement for a corporate managing agent in any declaration or bylaws recorded before the effective date of this chapter, any managing agent organized as a limited liability company shall be deemed to be organized as a corporation for the purposes of this paragraph, unless the declaration or bylaws are expressly amended after the effective date of this chapter to require that the managing agent be organized as a corporation and not as a limited liability company; or

(B) Corporation authorized to do business under article 8 of chapter 412;

(2) Register with the commission prior to conducting managing agent activity through approval of a completed registration application, payment of fees, and submission of any other additional information set forth by the commission. The registration shall be for a biennial period with termination on December 31 of an even-numbered year. The commission shall prescribe a deadline date prior to the termination date for the submission of a completed reregistration application, payment of fees, and any other additional information set forth by the commission. Any managing agent who has not met the submission requirements by the deadline date shall be considered a new applicant for registration and subject to initial registration requirements. The information required to be submitted with any application shall include the name, business address, phone number, and names of associations managed;

(3) Obtain and keep current a fidelity bond in an amount equal to $500 multiplied by the aggregate number of units of the association managed by the managing agent; provided that the amount of the fidelity bond shall not be less than $20,000 nor greater than $500,000. Upon request by the commission, the managing agent shall provide evidence of a current fidelity bond or a certification statement from an insurance company authorized by the insurance division of the department of commerce and consumer affairs certifying that the fidelity bond is in effect and meets the requirements of this section and the rules adopted by the commission. The managing agent shall permit only employees covered by the fidelity bond to handle or have custody or control of any association funds, except any principals of the managing agent that cannot be covered by the fidelity bond. The fidelity bond shall protect the managing agent against the loss of any association's moneys, securities, or other properties caused by the fraudulent or dishonest acts of employees of the managing agent. Failure to obtain or maintain a fidelity bond in compliance with this chapter and the rules adopted pursuant thereto, including failure to provide evidence of the fidelity bond coverage in a timely manner to the commission, shall result in nonregistration or the automatic termination of the registration, unless an approved exemption or a bond alternative is presently maintained. A managing agent who is unable to obtain a fidelity bond may seek an exemption from the fidelity bond requirement from the commission;

(4) Act promptly and diligently to recover from the fidelity bond, if the fraud or dishonesty of the managing agent's employees causes a loss to an association, and apply the fidelity bond proceeds, if any, to reduce the association's loss. If more than one association suffers a loss, the managing agent shall divide the proceeds among the associations in proportion to each association's loss. An association may request a court order requiring the managing agent to act promptly and diligently to recover from the fidelity bond. If an association cannot recover its loss from the fidelity bond proceeds of the managing agent, the association may recover by court order from the real estate recovery fund established under section 467-16, provided that:

(A) The loss is caused by the fraud, misrepresentation, or deceit of the managing agent or its employees;

(B) The managing agent is a licensed real estate broker; and

(C) The association fulfills the requirements of sections 467-16 and 467-18 and any applicable rules of the commission;

(5) Pay a nonrefundable application fee and, upon approval, an initial registration fee, and subsequently pay a reregistration fee, as prescribed by rules adopted by the director of commerce and consumer affairs pursuant to chapter 91. A compliance resolution fee shall also be paid pursuant to section 26-9(o) and the rules adopted pursuant thereto; and

(6) Report immediately in writing to the commission any changes to the information contained on the registration application or any other documents provided for registration. Failure to do so may result in termination of registration and subject the managing agent to initial registration requirements.

(b) The commission may deny any registration or reregistration application or terminate a registration without hearing if the fidelity bond and supporting documents fail to meet the requirements of this chapter and the rules adopted pursuant thereto.

(c) Every managing agent shall be considered a fiduciary with respect to any property managed by that managing agent.

(d) The registration requirements of this section shall not apply to active real estate brokers in compliance with and licensed under chapter 467.

(e) If a managing agent receives a request from the commission to distribute any commission-generated information, printed material, or documents to the association, its board, or unit owners, the managing agent shall make the distribution within a reasonable period of time after receiving the request. The requirements of this subsection apply to all managing agents, including unregistered managing agents.

§   -133 Association employees; background check; prohibition. (a) The board, managing agent, or resident manager, upon the written authorization of an applicant for employment as a security guard or resident manager or for a position that would allow the employee access to the keys of or entry into the units in the condominium or access to association funds, may conduct a background check on the applicant or direct another responsible party to conduct the check. Before initiating or requesting a check, the board, managing agent, or resident manager shall first certify that the signature on the authorization is authentic and that the person is an applicant for such employment. The background check, at a minimum, shall require the applicant to disclose whether the applicant has been convicted in any jurisdiction of a crime which would tend to indicate that the applicant may be unsuited for employment as an association employee with access to association funds or the keys of or entry into the units in the condominium, and the judgment of conviction has not been vacated.

For purposes of this section, the criminal history disclosure made by the applicant may be verified by the board, managing agent, resident manager, or other responsible party, if so directed by the board, managing agent, or resident manager, by means of information obtained through the Hawaii criminal justice data center. The applicant shall provide the Hawaii criminal justice data center with personal identifying information, which shall include, but not be limited to, the applicant's name, social security number, date of birth, and gender. This information shall be used only for the purpose of conducting the criminal history record check authorized by this section. Failure of an association, managing agent, or resident manager to conduct or verify or cause to have conducted or verified a background check shall not alone give rise to any private cause of action against an association, managing agent, or resident manager for acts and omissions of the employee hired.

(b) An association's employees shall not engage in selling or renting units in the condominium in which they are employed, except association-owned units, unless such activity is approved by sixty-seven per cent of the unit owners.

§   -134 Management and contracts; developer, managing agent, and association. (a) Any developer or affiliate of the developer or a managing agent, who manages the operation of the property from the date of recordation of the first unit conveyance until the organization of the association, shall comply with the requirements of sections    -72,    -103, and     -149.

(b) The developer or affiliate of the developer, board, and managing agent shall ensure that there is a written contract for managing the operation of the property, expressing the agreements of all parties including, but not limited to, financial and accounting obligations, services provided, and any compensation arrangements, including any subsequent amendments. Copies of the executed contract and any amendments shall be provided to all parties to the contract. Prior to the organization of the association, any unit owner may request to inspect as well as receive a copy of the management contract from the entity that manages the operation of the property.

§   -135 Termination of contracts and leases of developer. (a) If entered into before the board elected by the unit owners pursuant to section    -106(e) takes office:

(1) Any management contract, employment contract, or lease of recreational or parking areas or facilities;

(2) Any other contract or lease between the association and a developer or an affiliate of a developer; or

(3) Any contract or lease that is not bona fide or was unconscionable to the unit owners at the time entered into under the circumstances then prevailing;

may be terminated without penalty by the association within a period of one hundred eighty days after the board elected by the unit owners pursuant to section    -106(e) takes office, upon not less than ninety days notice to the other party.

(b) This section does not apply to:

(1) Any lease or other agreement the termination of which would terminate the condominium or reduce its size, unless the real estate subject to that lease was included in the condominium for the purpose of avoiding the right of the association to terminate a lease under this section; or

(2) A proprietary lease.

§   -136 Transfer of developer rights. (a) A developer right created or reserved under this chapter may be transferred only by a recorded instrument evidencing the transfer. The instrument is not effective unless executed by the transferee.

(b) Upon transfer of any developer right, the liability of a transferor developer is as follows:

(1) A transferor is not relieved of any obligation or liability arising before the transfer, and remains liable for warranty obligations imposed upon the transferor by this chapter, if any. Lack of privity does not deprive any unit owner of standing to maintain an action to enforce any obligation of the transferor;

(2) If a successor to any developer right is an affiliate of a developer, the transferor is jointly and severally liable with the successor for any obligations or liabilities of the successor relating to the condominium;

(3) If a transferor retains any developer rights, but transfers other developer rights to a successor who is not an affiliate of the developer, the transferor is liable for any obligations or liabilities imposed on a developer by this chapter or by the declaration relating to the retained developer rights and arising after the transfer; and

(4) A transferor has no liability for any act or omission or any breach of a contractual or warranty obligation arising from the exercise of a developer right by a successor developer who is not an affiliate of the transferor.

(c) Unless otherwise provided in a mortgage instrument or other agreement creating a security interest, in case of foreclosure of a security interest, sale by a trustee under an agreement creating a security interest, tax sale, judicial sale, or sale under bankruptcy code or receivership proceedings, of any units owned by a developer or real estate in a condominium subject to development rights, a person acquiring title to all the property being foreclosed or sold, but only upon request, succeeds to all developer rights related to that property held by that developer. The judgment or instrument conveying title must provide for the transfer of only the developer rights requested.

(d) Upon foreclosure of a security interest, sale by a trustee under an agreement creating a security interest, tax sale, judicial sale, or sale under bankruptcy code or receivership proceedings, of all interests in a condominium owned by a developer:

(1) The developer ceases to have any developer rights; and

(2) The period of developer control under section    -106(d) terminates unless the judgment or instrument conveying title provides for transfer of all developer rights held by that developer to a successor developer.

(e) The liabilities and obligations of a person who succeeds to developer rights are as follows:

(1) A successor to any developer right who is an affiliate of a developer is subject to all obligations and liabilities imposed on the transferor by this chapter or by the declaration;

(2) A successor to any developer right, other than a successor described in paragraph (3) or (4) or a successor who is an affiliate of a developer, is subject to the obligations and liabilities imposed by this chapter or the declaration:

(A) On a developer which relate to the successor's exercise or nonexercise of developer rights; or

(B) On the transferor, other than:

(i) Misrepresentations by any previous developer;

(ii) Warranty obligations on improvements made by any previous developer, or made before the condominium was created;

(iii) Breach of any fiduciary obligation by any previous developer or the developer's appointees to the board; or

(iv) Any liability or obligation imposed on the transferor as a result of the transferor's acts or omissions after the transfer;

(3) A successor to only a right reserved in the declaration to maintain models, sales offices, and signs, and who may not exercise any other developer right, is not subject to any liability or obligation as a developer, except the obligation to provide a public report, any liability arising as a result thereof, and the obligations under part IV; and

(4) A successor to all developer rights held by a transferor who succeeded to those rights pursuant to a deed or other instrument of conveyance in lieu of foreclosure or a judgment or instrument conveying title under subsection (c), may declare in a recorded instrument the intention to hold those rights solely for transfer to another person. Thereafter, until transferring all developer rights to any person acquiring title to any unit or real estate subject to development rights owned by the successor, or until recording an instrument permitting exercise of all those rights, that successor may not exercise any of those rights other than any right held by the transferor to control the board in accordance with section    -106(d) for the duration of any period of developer control, and any attempted exercise of those rights is void. So long as a successor developer may not exercise developer rights under this subsection, the successor developer is not subject to any liability or obligation as a developer other than liability for the developer's acts and omissions under section    -106(d).

(f) Nothing in this section subjects any successor to a developer right to any claims against or other obligations of a transferor developer, other than claims and obligations arising under this chapter or the declaration.

§   -137 Upkeep of condominium. (a) Except to the extent provided by the declaration or bylaws, the association is responsible for the operation of the property, and each unit owner is responsible for maintenance, repair, and replacement of the owner's unit. Each unit owner shall afford to the association and the other unit owners, and to their agents or employees, during reasonable hours, access through the owner's unit reasonably necessary for those purposes. If damage is inflicted on the common elements or on any unit through which access is taken, the unit owner responsible for the damage, or the association, if it is responsible, is liable for the prompt repair thereof; provided that the association shall not be responsible to pay the costs of removing any finished surfaces or other barriers that impede its ability to maintain and repair the common elements.

(b) The association shall have the irrevocable right, to be exercised by the board, to have access to each unit at any time as may be necessary for making emergency repairs to prevent damage to the common elements or to another unit or units.

§   -138 Upkeep of condominium; high-risk components. (a) The board, after notice to all unit owners and an opportunity for owner comment, may determine that certain portions of the units, or certain objects or appliances within the units such as washing machine hoses and water heaters, pose a particular risk of damage to other units or the common elements if they are not properly inspected, maintained, repaired, or replaced by owners. Those items determined by the board to pose a particular risk are "high-risk components" for the purposes of this section.

(b) With regard to items designated as high-risk components, the board may require any or all of the following:

(1) Inspection:

(A) At specified intervals; or

(B) Upon replacement or repair by the association or by inspectors designated by the association;

(2) Replacement or repair at specified intervals whether or not the component is deteriorated or defective; and

(3) Replacement or repair:

(A) Meeting particular standards or specifications established by the board;

(B) Including additional components or installations specified by the board; or

(C) Using contractors with specific licensing, training, or certification approved by the board.

(c) The imposition of requirements by the board under subsection (b) shall not relieve unit owners of obligations regarding high-risk components as set forth in the declaration or bylaws including, without limitation, the obligation to maintain, repair, and replace the components.

(d) If a unit owner fails to follow requirements imposed by the board pursuant to this section, the association, after reasonable notice, shall enter the unit to perform the requirements with regard to such high-risk components at the sole cost and expense of the unit owner, which costs and expenses shall be a lien on the unit as provided in section    -146. Nothing in this section shall be deemed to limit the remedies of the association for damages, or injunctive relief, or both.

§   -139 Upkeep of condominium; disposition of unclaimed possessions. (a) When personalty in or on the common elements of a project has been abandoned, the board may sell the personalty in a commercially reasonable manner, store the personalty at the expense of its owner, donate the personalty to a charitable organization, or otherwise dispose of the personalty in its sole discretion; provided that no sale, storage, or donation shall occur until sixty days after the board complies with the following:

(1) The board notifies the owner in writing of:

(A) The identity and location of the personalty; and

(B) The board's intent to so sell, store, donate, or dispose of the personalty.

Notification shall be by certified mail, return receipt requested, to the owner's address as shown by the records of the association or to an address designated by the owner for the purpose of notification or, if neither of these is available, to the owner's last known address, if any; or

(2) If the identity or address of the owner is unknown, the board shall first advertise the sale, donation, or disposition at least once in a daily paper of general circulation within the circuit in which the personalty is located.

(b) The proceeds of any sale or disposition of personalty under subsection (a), after deduction of any accrued costs of mailing, advertising, storage, and sale, shall be held for the owner for thirty days. Any proceeds not claimed within this period shall become the property of the association.

§   -140 Additions to and alterations of condominium. (a) No unit owner shall do any work that may jeopardize the soundness or safety of the property, reduce the value thereof, or impair any easement, as reasonably determined by the board.

(b) Subject to the provisions of the declaration, no unit owner may make or allow any material addition or alteration, or excavate an additional basement or cellar, without first obtaining the written consent of sixty-seven per cent of the unit owners, the consent of all unit owners whose units or appurtenant limited common elements are directly affected, and the approval of the board, which shall not unreasonably withhold such approval. The declaration may limit the board's ability to approve or condition a proposed addition or alteration; provided that the board shall always have the right to disapprove a proposed addition or alteration that the board reasonably determines could jeopardize the soundness or safety of the property, impair any easement, or interfere with or deprive any nonconsenting owner of the use or enjoyment of any part of the property.

(c) Subject to the provisions of the declaration, nonmaterial additions to or alterations of the common elements or units, including, without limitation, the installation of solar energy devices, or additions to or alterations of a unit made within the unit or within a limited common element appurtenant to and for the exclusive use of the unit, shall require approval only by the board, which shall not unreasonably withhold such approval, and such percentage, number, or group of unit owners as may be required by the declaration or bylaws.

"Nonmaterial additions and alterations", as used in this subsection, means an addition to or alteration of the common elements or a unit that does not jeopardize the soundness or safety of the property, reduce the value thereof, impair any easement, detract from the appearance of the project, interfere with or deprive any nonconsenting owner of the use or enjoyment of any part of property, or directly affect any nonconsenting owner.

"Solar energy device", for purposes of this subsection, means any new identifiable facility, equipment, apparatus, or the like which makes use of solar energy for heating, cooling, or reducing the use of other types of energy dependent upon fossil fuel for its generation; provided that if the equipment sold cannot be used as a solar device without its incorporation with other equipment, it shall be installed in place and be ready to be made operational in order to qualify as a "solar energy device".

(d) Notwithstanding any other provisions to the contrary in this chapter or in any declaration or bylaws:

(1) Regarding the installment of telecommunications equipment:

(A) The board shall have the authority to install or cause the installation of antennas, conduits, chases, cables, wires, and other television signal distribution and telecommunications equipment upon the common elements of the project; provided that the same shall not be installed upon any limited common element without the consent of the owner or owners of the unit or units for the use of which the limited common element is reserved; and

(B) The installation of antennas, conduits, chases, cables, wires, and other television signal distribution and telecommunications equipment upon the common elements by the board shall not be deemed to alter, impair, or diminish the common interest, common elements, and easements appurtenant to each unit, or to be a structural alteration or addition to any building constituting a material change in the plans of the project filed in accordance with sections    -33 and    -34; provided that no such installation shall directly affect any nonconsenting unit owner; and

(2) Regarding the abandonment of telecommunications equipment:

(A) The board shall be authorized to abandon or change the use of any television signal distribution and telecommunications equipment due to technological or economic obsolescence or to provide an equivalent function by different means or methods; and

(B) The abandonment or change of use of any television signal distribution or telecommunications equipment by the board due to technological or economic obsolescence or to provide an equivalent function by different means or methods shall not be deemed to alter, impair, or diminish the common interest, common elements, and easements appurtenant to each unit or to be a structural alteration or addition to any building constituting a material change in the plans of the project filed in accordance with sections    -33 and    -34.

As used in this subsection:

"Directly affect" means the installation of television signal distribution and telecommunications equipment in a manner which would specially, personally, and adversely affect a unit owner in a manner not common to the unit owners as a whole.

"Television signal distribution" and "telecommunications equipment" shall be construed in their broadest possible senses in order to encompass all present and future forms of communications technology.

§   -141 Tort and contract liability; tolling of limitation period. (a) A unit owner is not liable, solely by reason of being a unit owner, for any injury or damage arising out of the condition or use of the common elements. Neither the association nor any unit owner except the developer is liable for that developer's torts in connection with any part of the condominium that that developer has the responsibility to maintain.

(b) An action alleging a wrong done by the association, including an action arising out of the condition or use of the common elements, may be maintained only against the association and not against any unit owner. If the wrong occurred during any period of developer control and the association gives the developer reasonable notice of and an opportunity to defend against the action, the developer who then controlled the association is liable to the association or to any unit owner for:

(1) All tort losses not covered by insurance suffered by the association or that unit owner; and

(2) All costs that the association would not have incurred but for a breach of contract or other wrongful act or omission, as the same may be established through adjudication.

Whenever the developer is liable to the association under this section, the developer is also liable for all expenses of litigation, including reasonable attorneys' fees, incurred by the association.

(c) Any statute of limitation affecting the association's right of action against a developer under this chapter is tolled until the period of developer control terminates. A unit owner is not precluded from maintaining an action contemplated by this section because the unit owner is a unit owner or a member or officer of the association. Liens resulting from judgments against the association are governed by section    -147.

§   -142 Aging in place; limitation on liability. (a) The association, its directors, unit owners, and their agents and tenants, acting through the board, shall not have any legal responsibility or legal liability, with respect to any actions and recommendations the board takes on any report, observation, or complaint made, or with respect to any recommendation or referral given, which relates to an elderly unit owner who, may require services and assistance to maintain independent living in the unit in which the elderly unit owner resides so that the elderly unit owner will not pose any harm to self or to others, and will not be disruptive to the condominium community because of the following problems of aging and aging in place:

(1) The inability to clean and maintain an independent unit;

(2) Mental confusion;

(3) Abusing others;

(4) Inability to care for oneself;

(5) Inability to arrange for home care;

(6) Loneliness and neglect; or

(7) Inappropriate requests of others for assistance.

For purposes of this section, "elderly" means age sixty-two and older.

(b) Upon a report, observation, or complaint relating to an elderly unit owner aging or aging in place which notes a problem similar in nature to the problems enumerated in subsection (a), the board, in good faith, and without legal responsibility or liability, may request a functional assessment regarding the condition of an elderly unit owner as well as recommendations for the services which the elderly unit owner may require to maintain a level of independence that enables the owner to avoid any harm to self or to others, and to avoid disruption to the condominium community. The board, upon request or unilaterally, and without legal responsibility or liability, may recommend available services to an elderly unit owner which might enable the elderly unit owner to maintain a level of independent living with assistance, enabling in turn, the elderly unit owner to avoid any harm to self or others, and to avoid disruption to the condominium community.

(c) There is no affirmative duty on the part of the association, its board, the unit owners, or their agents or tenants to request or require an assessment and recommendations with respect to an elderly unit owner when the elderly unit owner may be experiencing the problems related to aging and aging in place enumerated in subsection (a). The association, its board, unit owners, and their agents and tenants shall not be legally responsible or liable for not requesting or declining to request a functional assessment of, and recommendations for, an elderly unit owner regarding problems relating to aging and aging in place.

(d) If an elderly unit owner ignores or rejects a request for or the results from an assessment and recommendations, the association, with no liability for cross-claims or counterclaims, may file appropriate information, pleadings, notices, or the like, with appropriate agencies or courts to seek an appropriate resolution for the condominium community and for the elderly unit owner.

(e) Costs and fees for assessments, recommendations, and actions contemplated in this section shall be as set forth in the declaration or bylaws.

(f) This section shall not be applicable to any condominium that seeks to become licensed as an assisted living facility pursuant to chapter 90, title 11, Hawaii Administrative Rules, as amended.

§   -143 Insurance. (a) Unless otherwise provided in the declaration or bylaws, and to the extent reasonably available, the association shall purchase and at all times maintain the following:

(1) Property insurance:

(A) On the common elements;

(B) Providing coverage for special form causes of loss; and

(C) In a total amount of not less than the full insurable replacement cost of the insured property, less deductibles, but including coverage for the increased costs of construction due to building code requirements, at the time the insurance is purchased and at each renewal date;

(2) Commercial general liability insurance against claims and liabilities arising in connection with the ownership, existence, use, or management of the property in a minimum amount of $1,000,000, or a greater amount deemed sufficient in the judgment of the board, insuring the board, the association, the management agent, and their respective employees and agents and all persons acting as agents. The developer shall be included as an additional insured in its capacity as a unit owner, managing agent or resident manager, board member, or officer. The unit owners shall be included as additional insured parties but only for claims and liabilities arising in connection with the ownership, existence, use, or management of the common elements. The insurance shall cover claims of one or more insured parties against other insured parties.

(3) A fidelity bond, as follows:

(A) An association with more than five dwelling units shall obtain and maintain a fidelity bond covering persons, including the managing agent and its employees who control or disburse funds of the association, in an amount equal to $500 multiplied by the number of units; provided that the amount of the fidelity bond required by this paragraph shall not be less than $20,000 nor greater than $200,000;

(B) All management companies that are responsible for the funds held or administered by the association shall be covered by a fidelity bond as provided in section    -132(a)(3). The association shall have standing to make a loss claim against the bond of the managing agent as a party covered under the bond; and

(C) The board shall obtain directors and officers liability coverage at a level deemed reasonable by the board, if not otherwise established by the declaration or bylaws. Directors and officers liability coverage shall extend to all contracts and other actions taken by the board in their official capacity as directors and officers, but shall exclude actions for which the directors are not entitled to indemnification under chapter 414D or the declaration and bylaws.

(b) If a building contains attached units, the insurance maintained under subsection (a)(1), to the extent reasonably available, shall include the units, the limited common elements, except as otherwise determined by the board, and the common elements. The insurance need not cover improvements and betterments to the units installed by unit owners, but if improvements and betterments are covered, any increased cost may be assessed by the association against the units affected.

For the purposes of this section, "improvements and betterments" means all decorating, fixtures, and furnishings installed or added to and located within the boundaries of the unit, including electrical fixtures, appliances, air conditioning and heating equipment, water heaters, or built-in cabinets installed by unit owners.

(c) If a project contains detached units, then notwithstanding the requirement that associations obtain the requisite coverage, the insurance to be maintained under subsection (a)(1) may be obtained separately for each unit by the unit owners; provided that the requirements of subsection (a)(1) shall be met; and provided further that evidence of such insurance coverage shall be delivered annually to the association. In such event, the association shall be named as an additional insured.

(d) The board, in the case of a claim for damage to a unit or the common elements, may:

(1) Pay the deductible amount as a common expense;

(2) After notice and an opportunity for a hearing, assess the deductible amount against the owners who caused the damage or from whose units the damage or cause of loss originated; or

(3) Require the unit owners of the units affected to pay the deductible amount.

(e) The declaration or bylaws may require the association to carry any other insurance, including workers' compensation, employment practices, environmental hazards, and equipment breakdown, that the board considers appropriate to protect the association, the unit owners, or officers, directors, or agents of the association. Flood insurance shall also be maintained if the property is located in a special flood hazard area as delineated on flood maps issued by the Federal Emergency Management Agency. The flood insurance policy shall comply with the requirements of the National Flood Insurance Program and the Federal Insurance Administration.

(f) Insurance policies carried pursuant to subsections (a) and (b) shall include each of the following provisions:

(1) Each unit owner and secured party is an insured person under the policy with respect to liability arising out of the unit owner's interest in the common elements or membership in the association;

(2) The insurer waives its right to subrogation under the policy against any unit owner of the condominium or members of the unit owner's household and against the association and members of the board; and

(3) The unit owner waives the unit owner's right to subrogation under the association policy against the association and the board.

(g) If at the time of a loss under the policy there is other insurance in the name of a unit owner covering the same property covered by the policy, the association's policy shall be the primary insurance.

(h) Any loss covered by the property policy under subsection (a)(1) shall be adjusted by and with the association. The insurance proceeds for that loss shall be payable to the association, or to an insurance trustee designated by the association for that purpose. The insurance trustee or the association shall hold any insurance proceeds in trust for unit owners and secured parties as their interests may appear. The proceeds shall be disbursed first for the repair or restoration of the damaged common elements, the bare walls, ceilings, and floors of the units, and then to any improvements and betterments the association may insure. Unit owners shall not be entitled to receive any portion of the proceeds unless there is a surplus of proceeds after the common elements and units have been completely repaired or restored or the association has been terminated as trustee.

(i) The board, under the declaration or bylaws, may require unit owners to obtain reasonable levels of insurance covering their personal liability and compensatory but not consequential damages to another unit caused by the negligence of the owner or the owner's guests, tenants, or invitees, or regardless of any negligence originating from the unit. The personal liability of a unit owner shall include the deductible of the owner whose unit was damaged, any damage not covered by insurance required by this subsection, as well as the decorating, painting, wall and floor coverings, trim, appliances, equipment, and other furnishings.

If the unit owner does not purchase or produce evidence of insurance requested by the board, the directors may, in good faith, purchase the insurance coverage and charge the reasonable premium cost back to the unit owner. In no event is the board liable to any person either with regard to its decision not to purchase the insurance, or with regard to the timing of its purchase of the insurance or the amounts or types of coverages obtained.

(j) Contractors and vendors, except public utilities doing business with an association, shall provide certificates of insurance naming the association, its board, and its managing agent as additional insured parties.

(k) The provisions of this section may be varied or waived in the case of a condominium community in which all units are restricted to nonresidential use.

(l) Any insurer defending a liability claim against an association shall notify the association of the terms of the settlement no less than ten days before settling the claim. The association may not veto the settlement unless otherwise provided by contract or statute.

§   -144 Association fiscal matters; assessments for common expenses. (a) Except as provided in section    -41, until the association makes a common expense assessment, the developer shall pay all common expenses. After an assessment has been made by the association, assessments shall be made at least annually, based on a budget adopted and distributed or made available to unit owners at least annually by the board.

(b) Except for assessments under subsections (c), (d), and (e), all common expenses shall be assessed against all the units in accordance with the allocations under section    -41. Any past due common expense assessment or installment thereof shall bear interest at the rate established by the association, provided that the rate shall not exceed eighteen per cent per year.

(c) Assessments to pay a judgment against the association under section    -147(a) may be made only against the units in the condominium at the time the judgment was entered, in proportion to their common expense allocations under section    -41.

(d) If any common expense is caused by the misconduct of any unit owner, the association may assess that expense exclusively against such owner's unit.

(e) If common expense liabilities are reallocated, common expense assessments and any installment thereof not yet due shall be recalculated in accordance with the reallocated common expense liabilities.

(f) In the case of a voluntary conveyance, the grantee of a unit shall be jointly and severally liable with the grantor for all unpaid assessments against the latter for the grantor's share of the common expenses up to the time of the grant or conveyance, without prejudice to the grantee's right to recover from the grantor the amounts paid by the grantee therefor. Any such grantor or grantee is, however, entitled to a statement from the board, either directly or through its managing agent or resident manager, setting forth the amount of the unpaid assessments against the grantor, and except as to the amount of subsequently dishonored checks mentioned in such statement as having been received within the thirty-day period immediately preceding the date of such statement, the grantee is not liable for, nor is the unit conveyed subject to a lien for, any unpaid assessments against the grantor in excess of the amount therein set forth.

(g) No unit owner may exempt the unit owner from liability for the unit owner's contribution towards the common expenses by waiver of the use or enjoyment of any of the common elements or by abandonment of the unit owner's unit. Subject to such terms and conditions as may be specified in the bylaws, any unit owner, by conveying the unit owner's unit and common interest to the board on behalf of all other unit owners, may exempt the unit owner's self from common expenses thereafter accruing.

(h) The board, either directly or through its managing agent or resident manager, shall notify the unit owners in writing of maintenance fee increases at least thirty days prior to such an increase.

§   -145 Association fiscal matters; collection of unpaid assessments from tenants. (a) If the owner of a unit rents or leases the unit and is in default for thirty days or more in the payment of the unit's share of the common expenses, the board, for as long as the default continues, may demand in writing and receive each month from any tenant occupying the unit, an amount sufficient to pay all sums due from the unit owner to the association, including interest, if any, but the amount shall not exceed the tenant's rent due each month. The tenant's payment under this section shall discharge that amount of payment from the tenant's rent obligation, and any contractual provision to the contrary shall be void as a matter of law.

(b) Before taking any action under this section, the board shall give to the delinquent unit owner written notice of its intent to collect the rent owed. The notice shall:

(1) Be sent both by first-class and certified mail;

(2) Set forth the exact amount the association claims is due and owing by the unit owner; and

(3) Indicate the intent of the board to collect such amount from the rent, along with any other amounts that become due and remain unpaid.

(c) The unit owner shall not take any retaliatory action against the tenant for payments made under this section.

(d) The payment of any portion of the unit's share of common expenses by the tenant pursuant to a written demand by the board is a complete defense, to the extent of the amount demanded and paid by the tenant, in an action for nonpayment of rent brought by the unit owner against a tenant.

(e) The board may not demand payment from the tenant pursuant to this section if:

(1) A commissioner or receiver has been appointed to take charge of the premises pending a mortgage foreclosure;

(2) A mortgagee is in possession pending a mortgage foreclosure; or

(3) The tenant is served with a court order directing payment to a third party.

(f) In the event of any conflict between this section and any provision of chapter 521, the conflict shall be resolved in favor of this section; provided that if the tenant is entitled to an offset of rent under chapter 521, the tenant may deduct the offset from the amount due to the association, up to the limits stated in chapter 521. Nothing herein precludes the unit owner or tenant from seeking equitable relief from a court of competent jurisdiction or seeking a judicial determination of the amount owed.

(g) Before the board may take the actions permitted under subsection (a), the board shall adopt a written policy providing for the actions and have the policy approved by a majority vote of the unit owners at an annual or special meeting of the association or by the written consent of a majority of the unit owners.

§   -146 Association fiscal matters; lien for assessments. (a) All sums assessed by the association but unpaid for the share of the common expenses chargeable to any unit shall constitute a lien on the unit with priority over all other liens, except:

(1) Liens for taxes and assessments lawfully imposed by governmental authority against the unit; and

(2) All sums unpaid on any mortgage of record that was recorded prior to the recordation of a notice of a lien by the association, and costs and expenses including attorneys' fees provided in such mortgages.

The lien of the association may be foreclosed by action or by nonjudicial or power of sale foreclosure procedures set forth in chapter 667, by the managing agent or board, acting on behalf of the association, in like manner as a mortgage of real property. In any such foreclosure, the unit owner shall be required to pay a reasonable rental for the unit, if so provided in the bylaws, and the plaintiff in the foreclosure shall be entitled to the appointment of a receiver to collect the rental owed. The managing agent or board, acting on behalf of the association, unless prohibited by the declaration, may bid on the unit at foreclosure sale, and acquire and hold, lease, mortgage, and convey the unit. Action to recover a money judgment for unpaid common expenses shall be maintainable without foreclosing or waiving the lien securing the unpaid common expenses owed.

(b) Except as provided in subsection (g), when the mortgagee of a mortgage of record or other purchaser of a unit obtains title to the unit as a result of foreclosure of the mortgage, the acquirer of title and the acquirer's successors and assigns shall not be liable for the share of the common expenses or assessments by the association chargeable to the unit which became due prior to the acquisition of title to the unit by the acquirer. The unpaid share of common expenses or assessments shall be deemed to be common expenses collectible from all of the unit owners, including the acquirer and the acquirer's successors and assigns. The mortgagee of record or other purchaser of the unit shall be deemed to acquire title and shall be required to pay the unit's share of common expenses and assessments beginning:

(1) Thirty-six days after the order confirming the sale to the purchaser has been filed with the court;

(2) Sixty days after the hearing at which the court grants the motion to confirm the sale to the purchaser;

(3) Thirty days after the public sale in a nonjudicial power of sale foreclosure pursuant to section 667-5; or

(4) Upon the recording of the instrument of conveyance;

whichever occurs first; provided that the mortgagee of record or other purchaser of the unit shall not be deemed to acquire title under paragraph (1), (2), or (3), if transfer of title is delayed past the thirty-six days specified in paragraph (1), the sixty days specified in paragraph (2), or the thirty days specified in paragraph (3), when a person who appears at the hearing on the motion or a party to the foreclosure action requests reconsideration of the motion or order to confirm sale, objects to the form of the proposed order to confirm sale, appeals the decision of the court to grant the motion to confirm sale, or the debtor or mortgagor declares bankruptcy or is involuntarily placed into bankruptcy. In any such case, the mortgagee of record or other purchaser of the unit shall be deemed to acquire title upon recordation of the instrument of conveyance.

(c) No unit owner shall withhold any assessment claimed by the association. A unit owner who disputes the amount of an assessment may request a written statement clearly indicating:

(1) The amount of common expenses included in the assessment, including the due date of each amount claimed;

(2) The amount of any penalty, late fee, lien filing fee, and any other charge included in the assessment;

(3) The amount of attorneys' fees and costs, if any, included in the assessment;

(4) That under Hawaii law, a unit owner has no right to withhold assessments for any reason;

(5) That a unit owner has a right to demand mediation or arbitration to resolve disputes about the amount or validity of an association's assessment, provided the unit owner immediately pays the assessment in full and keeps assessments current; and

(6) That payment in full of the assessment does not prevent the owner from contesting the assessment or receiving a refund of amounts not owed.

Nothing in this section shall limit the rights of an owner to the protection of all fair debt collection procedures mandated under federal and state law.

(d) A unit owner who pays an association the full amount claimed by the association may file in small claims court or require the association to mediate to resolve any disputes concerning the amount or validity of the association's claim. If the unit owner and the association are unable to resolve the dispute through mediation, either party may file for arbitration under section    -162; provided that a unit owner may only file for arbitration if all amounts claimed by the association are paid in full on or before the date of filing. If the unit owner fails to keep all association assessments current during the arbitration, the association may ask the arbitrator to temporarily suspend the arbitration proceedings. If the unit owner pays all association assessments within thirty days of the date of suspension, the unit owner may ask the arbitrator to recommence the arbitration proceedings. If the owner fails to pay all association assessments by the end of the thirty-day period, the association may ask the arbitrator to dismiss the arbitration proceedings. The unit owner shall be entitled to a refund of any amounts paid to the association which are not owed.

(e) In conjunction with or as an alternative to foreclosure proceedings under subsection (a), where a unit is owner-occupied, the association may authorize its managing agent or board to, after sixty days' written notice to the unit owner and to the unit's first mortgagee of the nonpayment of the unit's share of the common expenses, terminate the delinquent unit's access to the common elements and cease supplying a delinquent unit with any and all services normally supplied or paid for by the association. Any terminated services and privileges shall be restored upon payment of all delinquent assessments but need not be restored until payment in full is received.

(f) Before the board or managing agent may take the actions permitted under subsection (e), the board shall adopt a written policy providing for such actions and have the policy approved by a majority vote of the unit owners at an annual or special meeting of the association or by the written consent of a majority of the unit owners.

(g) Subject to this subsection, and subsections (h) and (i), the board may specially assess the amount of the unpaid regular monthly common assessments for common expenses against a person who, in a judicial or nonjudicial power of sale foreclosure, purchases a delinquent unit; provided that:

(1) A purchaser who holds a mortgage on a delinquent unit that was recorded prior to the filing of a notice of lien by the association and who acquires the delinquent unit through a judicial or nonjudicial foreclosure proceeding, including purchasing the delinquent unit at a foreclosure auction, shall not be obligated to make, nor be liable for, payment of the special assessment as provided for under this subsection; and

(2) A person who subsequently purchases the delinquent unit from the mortgagee referred to in paragraph (1) shall be obligated to make, and shall be liable for, payment of the special assessment provided for under this subsection; and provided further that the mortgagee or subsequent purchaser may require the association to provide at no charge a notice of the association's intent to claim lien against the delinquent unit for the amount of the special assessment, prior to the subsequent purchaser's acquisition of title to the delinquent unit. The notice shall state the amount of the special assessment, how that amount was calculated, and the legal description of the unit.

(h) The amount of the special assessment assessed under subsection (g) shall not exceed the total amount of unpaid regular monthly common assessments that were assessed during the six months immediately preceding the completion of the judicial or nonjudicial power of sale foreclosure. In no event shall the amount of the special assessment exceed the sum of $1,800.

(i) For purposes of subsections (g) and (h), the following definitions shall apply, unless the context requires otherwise:

"Completion" means:

(1) In a nonjudicial power of sale foreclosure, when the affidavit required under section 667-5 is filed; and

(2) In a judicial foreclosure, when a purchaser is deemed to acquire title pursuant to subsection (b).

"Regular monthly common assessments" does not include:

(1) Any other special assessment, except for a special assessment imposed on all units as part of a budget adopted pursuant to section    -148;

(2) Late charges, fines, or penalties;

(3) Interest assessed by the association;

(4) Any lien arising out of the assessment; or

(5) Any fees or costs related to the collection or enforcement of the assessment, including attorneys' fees and court costs.

(j) The cost of a release of any lien filed pursuant to this section shall be paid by the party requesting the release.

§   -147 Association fiscal matters; other liens affecting the condominium. (a) Except as provided in subsection (b), a judgment for money against the association, if recorded, is not a lien on the common elements, but is a lien in favor of the judgment lienholder against the common expense funds of the association. No other property of a unit owner is subject to the claims of creditors of the association.

(b) Whether perfected before or after the creation of the condominium, if a lien, other than a mortgage (including a judgment lien or lien attributable to work performed or materials supplied before creation of the condominium), becomes effective against two or more units, the unit owner of an affected unit may pay to the lienholder the amount of the lien attributable to the owner's unit, and the lienholder, upon receipt of payment, shall promptly deliver a release of the lien covering that unit. The amount of the payment shall be proportionate to the ratio which that unit owner's common expense liability bears to the common expense liabilities of all unit owners whose units are subject to the lien. After payment, the association may not assess or have a lien against that unit owner's unit for any portion of the common expenses incurred in connection with that lien.

(c) A judgment against the association shall be indexed in the name of the condominium and the association and, when so indexed, is notice of the lien against the units.

§   -148 Association fiscal matters; budgets and reserves. (a) The budget required under section    -144(a) shall include at least the following:

(1) The estimated revenues and operating expenses of the association;

(2) Information as to whether the budget has been prepared on a cash or accrual basis;

(3) The total replacement reserves of the association as of the date of the budget;

(4) The estimated replacement reserves the association will require to maintain the property based on a reserve study performed by the association;

(5) A general explanation of how the estimated replacement reserves are computed;

(6) The amount the association must collect for the fiscal year to fund the estimated replacement reserves; and

(7) Information as to whether the amount the association must collect for the fiscal year to fund the estimated replacement reserves was calculated using a per cent funded or cash flow plan. The method or plan shall not circumvent the estimated replacement reserves amount determined by the reserve study pursuant to paragraph (4).

(b) The association shall assess the unit owners to either fund a minimum of fifty per cent of the estimated replacement reserves or fund one hundred per cent of the estimated replacement reserves when using a cash flow plan; provided that a new association need not collect estimated replacement reserves until the fiscal year which begins after the association's first annual meeting. For each fiscal year, the association shall collect the amount assessed to fund the estimated replacement for that fiscal year reserves, as determined by the association's plan.

(c) The association shall compute the estimated replacement reserves by a formula that is based on the estimated life and the estimated capital expenditure or major maintenance required for each part of the property. The estimated replacement reserves shall include:

(1) Adjustments for revenues which will be received and expenditures which will be made before the beginning of the fiscal year to which the budget relates; and

(2) Separate, designated reserves for each part of the property for which capital expenditures or major maintenance will exceed $10,000. Parts of the property for which capital expenditures or major maintenance will not exceed $10,000 may be aggregated in a single designated reserve.

(d) No association or unit owner, director, officer, managing agent, or employee of an association who makes a good faith effort to calculate the estimated replacement reserves for an association shall be liable if the estimate subsequently proves incorrect.

(e) Except in emergency situations or with the approval of a majority of the unit owners, a board may not exceed its total adopted annual operating budget by more than twenty per cent during the fiscal year to which the budget relates. Before imposing or collecting an assessment under this subsection that has not been approved by a majority of the unit owners, the board shall adopt a resolution containing written findings as to the necessity of the extraordinary expense involved and why the expense was not or could not have been reasonably foreseen in the budgeting process, and the resolution shall be distributed to the members with the notice of assessment.

(f) The requirements of this section shall override any requirements in an association's declaration, bylaws, or any other association documents relating to preparation of budgets, calculation of reserve requirements, assessment and funding of reserves, and expenditures from reserves with the exception of:

(1) Any requirements in an association's declaration, bylaws, or any other association documents which require the association to collect more than fifty per cent of reserve requirements; or

(2) Any provisions relating to upgrading the common elements, such as additions, improvements, and alterations to the common elements.

(g) Subject to the procedures of section    -157 and any rules adopted by the commission, any unit owner whose association board fails to comply with this section may enforce compliance by the board. In any proceeding to enforce compliance, a board that has not prepared an annual operating budget and reserve study shall have the burden of proving it has complied with this section.

(h) As used in this section:

"Capital expenditure" means an expense that results from the purchase or replacement of an asset whose life is greater than one year, or the addition of an asset that extends the life of an existing asset for a period greater than one year.

"Cash flow plan" means a minimum twenty-year projection of an association's future income and expense requirements to fund fully its replacement reserves requirements each year during that twenty-year period, except in an emergency; provided that it does not include a projection of special assessments or loans during that twenty-year period, except in an emergency.

"Emergency situation" means any extraordinary expenses:

(1) Required by an order of a court;

(2) Necessary to repair or maintain any part of the property for which the association is responsible where a threat to personal safety on the property is discovered;

(3) Necessary to repair any part of the property for which the association is responsible that could not have been reasonably foreseen by the board in preparing and distributing the annual operating budget;

(4) Necessary to respond to any legal or administrative proceeding brought against the association that could not have been reasonably foreseen by the board in preparing and distributing the annual operating budget; or

(5) Necessary for the association to obtain adequate insurance for the property which the association must insure.

"Major maintenance" means an expenditure for maintenance or repair that will result in extending the life of an asset for a period greater than one year.

"Replacement reserves" means funds for the upkeep, repair, or replacement of those parts of the property, including but not limited to roofs, walls, decks, paving, and equipment, that the association is obligated to maintain.

§   -149 Association fiscal matters; handling and disbursement of funds. (a) The funds in the general operating account of the association shall not be commingled with funds of other activities such as lease rent collections and rental operations, nor shall a managing agent commingle any association funds with the managing agent's own funds.

(b) For purposes of subsection (a), lease rent collections and rental operations shall not include the rental or leasing of common elements that is conducted on behalf of the association or the collection of ground lease rents from individual unit owners of a project and the payment of such ground lease rents to the ground lessor if:

(1) The collection is allowed by the provisions of the declaration, bylaws, master deed, master lease, or individual unit leases of the project;

(2) A management contract requires the managing agent to collect ground lease rents from the individual unit owners and pay the ground lease rents to the ground lessor;

(3) The system of lease rent collection has been approved by a majority vote of all unit owners at a meeting of the association; and

(4) The managing agent or association does not pay ground lease rent to the ground lessor in excess of actual ground lease rent collected from individual unit owners.

(c) All funds collected by an association, or by a managing agent for any association, shall be:

(1) Deposited in a financial institution, including a federal or community credit union, located in the State, pursuant to a resolution adopted by the board, and whose deposits are insured by an agency of the United States government;

(2) Held by a corporation authorized to do business under article 8 of chapter 412;

(3) Held by the United States Treasury; or

(4) Purchased in the name of and held for the benefit of the association through a securities broker that is registered with the Securities and Exchange Commission, that has an office in the State, and the accounts of which are held by member firms of the New York Stock Exchange or National Association of Securities Dealers and insured by the Securities Insurance Protection Corporation; provided that deposits and certificates of deposit shall not be purchased through a securities broker.

(d) All funds collected by an association, or by a managing agent for any association, shall be invested only in:

(1) Deposits, investment certificates, savings accounts, and certificates of deposit, of an institution as defined in subsection (c)(1);

(2) Obligations of the United States government, the State of Hawaii, or their respective agencies; provided that those obligations shall have stated maturity dates no more than ten years after the purchase date unless approved otherwise by a majority vote of the unit owners at an annual or special meeting of the association or by written consent of a majority of the unit owners; or

(3) Mutual funds comprised solely of investments in the obligations of the United States government, the State of Hawaii, or their respective agencies; provided that those obligations shall have stated maturity dates no more than ten years after the purchase date unless approved otherwise by a majority vote of the unit owners at an annual or special meeting of the association or by written consent of a majority of the unit owners;

provided that before any investment longer than one year is made by an association, the board must approve the action; and provided further that the board must clearly disclose to owners all investments longer than one year at each year's association annual meeting.

Records of the deposits and disbursements shall be disclosed to the commission upon request. All funds collected by an association shall only be disbursed by employees of the association under the supervision of the association's board. All funds collected by a managing agent from an association shall be held in a client trust fund account and shall be disbursed only by the managing agent or the managing agent's employees under the supervision of the association's board.

(e) A managing agent or board shall not, by oral instructions over the telephone, transfer association funds between accounts, including but not limited to the general operating account and reserve fund account.

(f) A managing agent shall keep and disburse funds collected on behalf of the condominium owners in strict compliance with any agreement made with the condominium owners, chapter 467, the rules of the commission, and all other applicable laws.

(g) Any person who embezzles or knowingly misapplies association funds received by a managing agent or association shall be guilty of a class C felony.

§   -150 Association fiscal matters; audits, audited financial statement. (a) The association shall require an annual audit of the association financial accounts and no less than one annual unannounced verification of the association's cash balance by a public accountant; provided that if the association is comprised of less than twenty units, the annual audit and the annual unannounced cash balance verification may be waived by a majority vote of all unit owners taken at an association meeting.

(b) The board shall make available a copy of the annual audit to each unit owner at least thirty days prior to the annual meeting which follows the end of the fiscal year. The board shall not be required to submit a copy of the annual audit report to an owner if the proxy form issued pursuant to section     -123(d) is not marked to indicate that the owner wishes to obtain a copy of the report. If the annual audit has not been completed by that date, the board shall make available:

(1) An unaudited year end financial statement for the fiscal year to each unit owner at least thirty days prior to the annual meeting; and

(2) The annual audit to all owners at the annual meeting, or as soon as the audit is completed, but not later than six months after the annual meeting.

(c) If the association's fiscal year ends less than two months prior to the convening of the annual meeting, the year-to-date unaudited financial statement may cover the period from the beginning of the association's fiscal year to the end of the month preceding the date on which notice of the annual meeting is mailed.

§   -151 Association fiscal matters; lease rent renegotiation. (a) Notwithstanding any provision in the declaration or bylaws, any lease or sublease of the real estate or of a unit, or of an undivided interest in the real estate to a unit owner, whenever any lease or sublease of the real estate, a unit, or an undivided interest in the real estate to a unit owner provides for the periodic renegotiation of lease rent thereunder, the association shall represent the unit owners in all negotiations and proceedings, including but not limited to appraisal or arbitration, for the determination of lease rent; provided that the association's representation in the renegotiation of lease rent shall be on behalf of at least two lessees. All costs and expenses incurred in such representation shall be a common expense of the association.

(b) Notwithstanding subsection (a), if some, but not all of the unit owners have already purchased the leased fee interest appurtenant to their units at the time of renegotiation, all costs and expenses of the renegotiation shall be assessed to the remaining lessees in the same proportion that the common interest appurtenant to each lessee's unit bears to the common interest appurtenant to all lessees' units. The unpaid amount of this assessment shall constitute a lien upon the lessee's unit, which may be collected in accordance with section    -146 in the same manner as an unpaid common expense.

(c) In any project where the association is a lessor or sublessor, the association shall fulfill its obligations under this section by appointing independent counsel to represent the lessees in the negotiations and proceedings related to the rent renegotiation. The lessees' counsel shall act on behalf of the lessees in accordance with the vote or written consent of a majority of the lessees casting ballots or submitting written consents as determined by the ratio that the common interest appurtenant to each lessee's unit bears to the total common interest appurtenant to the units of participating lessees. Nothing in this subsection shall be interpreted to preclude the lessees from making a decision (by the vote or written consent of a majority of the lessees as described above) to retain other counsel or additional professional advisors as may be reasonably necessary or appropriate to complete the negotiations and proceedings. In the event of a deadlock among the lessees or other inability to proceed with the rent renegotiation on behalf of the lessees, the lessees' counsel may apply to the circuit court of the judicial circuit in which the condominium is located for instructions. The association shall not instruct or direct the lessees' counsel or other professional advisors. All costs and expenses incurred under this subsection shall be assessed by the association to the lessees as provided in subsection (a) or (b), as may be applicable.

§   -152 Association records; generally. The association shall keep financial and other records sufficiently detailed to enable the association to comply with requests for information and disclosures related to resale of units. Except as otherwise provided by law, all financial and other records shall be made reasonably available for examination by any unit owner and the owner's authorized agents. Association records shall be stored on the island on which the association's project is located; provided that if original records, including but not limited to invoices, are required to be sent off-island, copies of the records shall be maintained on the island on which the association's project is located.

§   -153 Association records; records to be maintained. (a) An accurate copy of the declaration, bylaws, house rules, if any, master lease, if any, a sample original conveyance document, all public reports and any amendments thereto, shall be kept at the managing agent's office.

(b) The managing agent or board shall keep detailed, accurate records in chronological order, of the receipts and expenditures affecting the common elements, specifying and itemizing the maintenance and repair expenses of the common elements and any other expenses incurred. The managing agent or board shall also keep monthly statements indicating the total current delinquent dollar amount of any unpaid assessments for common expenses.

(c) Subject to section    -152, all records and the vouchers authorizing the payments and statements shall be kept and maintained at the address of the project, or elsewhere within the State as determined by the board.

(d) The developer or affiliate of the developer, board, and managing agent shall ensure that there is a written contract for managing the operation of the property, expressing the agreements of all parties including but not limited to financial and accounting obligations, services provided, and any compensation arrangements, including any subsequent amendments. Copies of the executed contract and any amendments shall be provided to all parties to the contract.

(e) The managing agent or resident manager or board shall keep an accurate and current list of members of the association and their current addresses, and the names and addresses of the vendees under an agreement of sale, if any. The list shall be maintained at a place designated by the board, and a copy shall be available, at cost, to any member of the association as provided in the declaration or bylaws or rules and regulations or, in any case, to any member who furnishes to the managing agent or resident manager or the board a duly executed and acknowledged affidavit stating that the list:

(1) Will be used by such owner personally and only for the purpose of soliciting votes or proxies, or for providing information to other owners with respect to association matters; and

(2) Shall not be used by the owner or furnished to anyone else for any other purpose.

A board may prohibit commercial solicitations.

§   -154 Association records; availability; disposal; prohibitions. (a) The association's most current financial statement and minutes of the board's meetings, once approved, shall be provided to any interested unit owner at no cost or on twenty-four hour loan, at a convenient location designated by the board.

(b) Minutes of meetings of the board and the association for the current and prior year shall be available for examination by unit owners at convenient hours at a place designated by the board. A copy of meeting minutes shall be provided to any owner upon the owner's request provided that the owner pays a reasonable fee for duplication and postage.

(c) Financial statements, general ledgers, the accounts receivable ledger, accounts payable ledgers, check ledgers, insurance policies, contracts, and invoices of the association for the current and prior year and delinquencies of ninety days or more shall be available for examination by unit owners at convenient hours at a place designated by the board; provided that:

(1) The board may require owners to furnish to the association a duly executed and acknowledged affidavit stating that the information is requested in good faith for the protection of the interests of the association or its members or both; and

(2) Owners shall pay for administrative costs in excess of eight hours per year.

Copies of these items shall be provided to any owner upon the owner's request, provided that the owner pays a reasonable fee for duplicating, postage, stationery, and other administrative costs associated with handling the request.

(d) After any association meeting, and not earlier, unit owners shall be permitted to examine proxies, tally sheets, ballots, owners' check-in lists, and the certificate of election; provided that:

(1) Owners shall make a request to examine the documents within thirty days after the association meeting;

(2) The board may require owners to furnish to the association a duly executed and acknowledged affidavit stating that the information is requested in good faith for the protection of the interest of the association or its members or both; and

(3) Owners shall pay for administrative costs in excess of eight hours per year.

If there are no requests to examine proxies and ballots, the documents may be destroyed thirty days after the association meeting. If there are requests to examine proxies and ballots, the documents shall be kept for an additional sixty days, after which they may be destroyed. Copies of tally sheets, owners' check-in lists, and the certificates of election from the most recent association meeting shall be provided to any owner upon the owner's request, provided that the owner pays a reasonable fee for duplicating, postage, stationery, and other administrative costs associated with handling the request.

(e) The managing agent shall provide copies of association records maintained pursuant to this section and sections    -152 and    -153 to owners, prospective purchasers and their prospective agents during normal business hours, upon payment to the managing agent of a reasonable charge to defray any administrative or duplicating costs. If the project is not managed by a managing agent, the foregoing requirements shall be undertaken by a person or entity, if any, employed by the association, to whom this function is delegated.

(f) Prior to the organization of the association, any unit owner shall be entitled to inspect as well as receive a copy of the management contract from the entity that manages the operation of the property.

(g) Owners may file a written request with the board to examine other documents. The board shall give written authorization or written refusal with an explanation of the refusal within thirty calendar days of receipt of the request.

(h) An association may comply with this part by making information available to unit owners, at the option of each unit owner, and at no cost, for downloading the information through an Internet site.

(i) A managing agent retained by one or more associations may dispose of the records of any association which are more than five years old, except for tax records, which shall be kept for seven years, without liability if the managing agent first provides the board of the association affected with written notice of the managing agent's intent to dispose of the records if not retrieved by the board within sixty days, which notice shall include an itemized list of the records proposed to be disposed.

(j) No person shall knowingly make any false certificate, entry, or memorandum upon any of the books or records of any managing agent or association. No person shall knowingly alter, destroy, mutilate, or conceal any books or records of a managing agent or association.

§   -155 Association as trustee. With respect to a third person dealing with the association in the association's capacity as a trustee, the existence of trust powers and their proper exercise by the association may be assumed without inquiry. A third person shall not be bound to inquire whether the association has power to act as trustee or is properly exercising trust powers. A third person, without actual knowledge that the association is exceeding or improperly exercising its powers, shall be fully protected in dealing with the association as if it possessed and properly exercised the powers it purports to exercise. A third person shall not be bound to assure the proper application of trust assets paid or delivered to the association in its capacity as trustee.

§   -156 Pets. (a) Any unit owner who keeps a pet in the owner's unit pursuant to a provision in the bylaws which allows owners to keep pets or in the absence of any provision in the bylaws to the contrary, upon the death of the animal, may replace the animal with another and continue to do so for as long as the owner continues to reside in the owner's unit or another unit subject to the same bylaws.

(b) Any unit owner who is keeping a pet pursuant to subsection (a), as of the effective date of an amendment to the bylaws which prohibits owners from keeping pets in their units, shall not be subject to the prohibition but shall be entitled to keep the pet and acquire new pets as provided in subsection (a).

(c) The bylaws may include reasonable restrictions or prohibitions against excessive noise or other problems caused by pets on the property and the running of pets at large in the common areas of the property. No animals described as pests under section 150A-2, or animals prohibited from importation under section 141-2, 150A-5, or 150A-6 shall be permitted.

(d) Whenever the bylaws do not prohibit unit owners from keeping animals as pets in their units, the bylaws shall not prohibit the tenants of the unit owners from keeping pets in the units rented or leased from the owners; provided that:

(1) A unit owner consents in writing to allow the unit owner's tenant to keep a pet in the unit;

(2) A tenant keeps only those types of pets that may be kept by unit owners.

The bylaws may allow each owner or tenant to keep only one pet in the unit.

(e) Any amendments to the bylaws that provide for exceptions to pet restrictions or prohibitions for preexisting circumstances shall apply equally to unit owners and tenants.

(f) Nothing in this section shall prevent an association from immediately acting to remove vicious animals to protect persons or property.

§   -157 Attorneys' fees, delinquent assessments, and expenses of enforcement. (a) All costs and expenses, including reasonable attorneys' fees, incurred by or on behalf of the association for:

(1) Collecting any delinquent assessments against any owner's unit;

(2) Foreclosing any lien thereon; or

(3) Enforcing any provision of the declaration, bylaws, house rules, and this chapter, or the rules of the real estate commission;

against an owner, occupant, tenant, employee of an owner, or any other person who may in any manner use the property, shall be promptly paid on demand to the association by such person or persons; provided that if the claims upon which the association takes any action are not substantiated, all costs and expenses, including reasonable attorneys' fees, incurred by any such person or persons as a result of the action of the association, shall be promptly paid on demand to such person or persons by the association.

(b) If any claim by an owner is substantiated in any action against an association, any of its officers or directors, or its board to enforce any provision of the declaration, bylaws, house rules, or this chapter, then all reasonable and necessary expenses, costs, and attorneys' fees incurred by an owner shall be awarded to such owner; provided that no such award shall be made in any derivative action unless:

(1) The owner first shall have demanded and allowed reasonable time for the board to pursue such enforcement; or

(2) The owner demonstrates to the satisfaction of the court that a demand for enforcement made to the board would have been fruitless.

If any claim by an owner is not substantiated in any court action against an association, any of its officers or directors, or its board to enforce any provision of the declaration, bylaws, house rules, or this chapter, then all reasonable and necessary expenses, costs, and attorneys' fees incurred by an association shall be awarded to the association, unless before filing the action in court the owner has first submitted the claim to mediation, or to arbitration under subpart D, and made a good faith effort to resolve the dispute under any of those procedures.

D. ALTERNATIVE DISPUTE RESOLUTION

§   -161 Mediation. (a) At the request of any party to a dispute concerning or involving one or more unit owners and an association, its board, managing agent, or one or more other unit owners relating to the interpretation, application, or enforcement of this chapter or the association's declaration, bylaws, or house rules, the parties to the dispute shall be required to participate in mediation. Each party shall be wholly responsible for its own costs of participating in mediation, unless both parties agree that one party shall pay all or a specified portion of the mediation costs. If a party refuses to participate in the mediation of a particular dispute, a court may take this refusal into consideration when awarding expenses, costs, and attorneys' fees.

(b) Nothing in subsection (a) shall be interpreted to mandate the mediation of any dispute involving:

(1) Actions seeking equitable relief involving threatened property damage or the health or safety of association members or any other person;

(2) Actions to collect assessments;

(3) Personal injury claims; or

(4) Actions against an association, a board, or one or more directors, officers, agents, employees, or other persons for amounts in excess of $2,500 if insurance coverage under a policy of insurance procured by the association or its board would be unavailable for defense or judgment because mediation was pursued.

(c) If any mediation under this section is not completed within two months from commencement, no further mediation shall be required unless agreed to by the parties.

§   -162 Arbitration. (a) At the request of any party, any dispute concerning or involving one or more unit owners and an association, its board, managing agent, or one or more other unit owners relating to the interpretation, application, or enforcement of this chapter or the association's declaration, bylaws, or house rules adopted in accordance with its bylaws shall be submitted to arbitration. The arbitration shall be conducted, unless otherwise agreed by the parties, in accordance with the rules adopted by the commission and of chapter 658A; provided that the rules of the arbitration service conducting the arbitration shall be used until the commission adopts its rules; provided further that where any arbitration rule conflicts with chapter 658A, chapter 658A shall prevail; and provided further that notwithstanding any rule to the contrary, the arbitrator shall conduct the proceedings in a manner which affords substantial justice to all parties. The arbitrator shall be bound by rules of substantive law and shall not be bound by rules of evidence, whether or not set out by statute, except for provisions relating to privileged communications. The arbitrator shall permit discovery as provided for in the Hawaii rules of civil procedure; provided that the arbitrator may restrict the scope of such discovery for good cause to avoid excessive delay and costs to the parties or the arbitrator may refer any matter involving discovery to the circuit court for disposition in accordance with the Hawaii rules of civil procedure then in effect.

(b) Nothing in subsection (a) shall be interpreted to mandate the arbitration of any dispute involving:

(1) The real estate commission;

(2) The mortgagee of a mortgage of record;

(3) The developer, general contractor, subcontractors, or design professionals for the project; provided that when any person exempted by this paragraph is also a unit owner, a director, or managing agent, such person in those capacities, shall be subject to the provisions of subsection (a);

(4) Actions seeking equitable relief involving threatened property damage or the health or safety of unit owners or any other person;

(5) Actions to collect assessments which are liens or subject to foreclosure; provided that a unit owner who pays the full amount of an assessment and fulfills the requirements of section    -146 shall have the right to demand arbitration of the owner's dispute, including a dispute about the amount and validity of the assessment;

(6) Personal injury claims;

(7) Actions for amounts in excess of $2,500 against an association, a board, or one or more directors, officers, agents, employees, or other persons, if insurance coverage under a policy or policies procured by the association or its board would be unavailable because action by arbitration was pursued; or

(8) Any other cases which are determined, as provided in subsection (c), to be unsuitable for disposition by arbitration.

(c) At any time within twenty days of being served with a written demand for arbitration, any party so served may apply to the circuit court in the judicial circuit in which the condominium is located for a determination that the subject matter of the dispute is unsuitable for disposition by arbitration.

In determining whether the subject matter of a dispute is unsuitable for disposition by arbitration, a court may consider:

(1) The magnitude of the potential award, or any issue of broad public concern raised by the subject matter underlying the dispute;

(2) Problems referred to the court where court regulated discovery is necessary;

(3) The fact that the matter in dispute is a reasonable or necessary issue to be resolved in pending litigation and involves other matters not covered by or related to this chapter;

(4) The fact that the matter to be arbitrated is only part of a dispute involving other parties or issues which are not subject to arbitration under this section; and

(5) Any matters of dispute where disposition by arbitration, in the absence of complete judicial review, would not afford substantial justice to one or more of the parties.

Any such application to the circuit court shall be made and heard in a summary manner and in accordance with procedures for the making and hearing of motions. The prevailing party shall be awarded its attorneys' fees and costs in an amount not to exceed $200.

(d) In the event of a dispute as to whether a claim shall be excluded from mandatory arbitration under subsection (b)(7), any party to an arbitration may file a complaint for declaratory relief against the involved insurer or insurers for a determination of whether insurance coverage is unavailable due to the pursuit of action by arbitration. The complaint shall be filed with the circuit court in the judicial circuit in which the condominium is located. The insurer or insurers shall file an answer to the complaint within twenty days of the date of service of the complaint and the issue shall be disposed of by the circuit court at a hearing to be held at the earliest available date; provided that the hearing shall not be held within twenty days from the date of service of the complaint upon the insurer or insurers.

(e) Notwithstanding any provision in this chapter to the contrary, the declaration, or the bylaws, the award of any costs, expenses, and legal fees by the arbitrator shall be in the sole discretion of the arbitrator and the determination of costs, expenses, and legal fees shall be binding upon all parties.

(f) The award of the arbitrator shall be in writing and acknowledged or proved in like manner as a deed for the conveyance of real estate, and shall be served by the arbitrator on each of the parties to the arbitration, personally or by registered or certified mail. At any time within one year after the award is made and served, any party to the arbitration may apply to the circuit court of the judicial circuit in which the condominium is located for an order confirming the award. The court shall grant the order confirming the award pursuant to section 658A-22, unless the award is vacated, modified, or corrected, as provided in sections 658A-20, 658A-23, and 658A-24, or a trial de novo is demanded under subsection (h), or the award is successfully appealed under subsection (h). The record shall be filed with the motion to confirm award, and notice of the motion shall be served upon each other party or their respective attorneys in the manner required for service of notice of a motion.

(g) Findings of fact and conclusions of law, as requested by any party prior to the arbitration hearing, shall be promptly provided to the requesting party upon payment of the reasonable cost thereof.

(h) Any party to an arbitration under this section may apply to vacate, modify, or correct the arbitration award for the grounds set out in chapter 658A. All reasonable costs, expenses, and attorneys' fees on appeal shall be charged to the nonprevailing party.

§   -163 Trial de novo and appeal. (a) The submission of any dispute to an arbitration under section -162 shall in no way limit or abridge the right of any party to a trial de novo.

(b) Written demand for a trial de novo by any party desiring a trial de novo shall be made upon the other parties within ten days after service of the arbitration award upon all parties and the trial de novo shall be filed in circuit court within thirty days of the written demand. Failure to meet these deadlines shall preclude a party from demanding a trial de novo.

(c) The award of arbitration shall not be made known to the trier of fact at a trial de novo.

(d) In any trial de novo demanded under this section, if the party demanding a trial de novo does not prevail at trial, the party demanding the trial de novo shall be charged with all reasonable costs, expenses, and attorneys' fees of the trial. When there is more than one party on one or both sides of an action, or more than one issue in dispute, the court shall allocate its award of costs, expenses, and attorneys' fees among the prevailing parties and tax such fees against those nonprevailing parties who demanded a trial de novo in accordance with the principles of equity."

SECTION 3. Section 521-3, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended to read as follows:

"[[]§521-3[]] Supplementary general principles of law, other laws, applicable. (a) Unless displaced by the particular provisions of this chapter, the principles of law and equity, including the law relative to capacity to contract, principal and agent, real property, public health, safety and fire prevention, estoppel, fraud, misrepresentation, duress, coercion, mistake, bankruptcy, or other validating or invalidating cause supplement its provisions.

(b) Every legal right, remedy, and obligation arising out of a rental agreement not provided for in this chapter shall be regulated and determined under chapter 666, and in the case of conflict between any provision of this chapter and a provision of chapter 666, this chapter shall control.

(c) Nothing in this chapter shall be applied to interfere with any right, obligation, duty, requirement, or remedy of a landlord or tenant which is established as a condition or requirement of any program receiving subsidy from the government of the United States. To the extent that any provision of this chapter is inconsistent with such a federal condition or requirement then as to such subsidized project the federal condition or requirement shall control.

(d) A unit owners' association under chapter       shall have standing to initiate and prosecute a summary proceeding for possession against a tenant residing in the condominium project who repeatedly violates the association's governing documents or the rights of other occupants to quiet enjoyment and whose landlord refuses to act; provided that in such cases, the landlord shall be named as an additional party defendant."

PART II

SECTION 4. Section 26-9, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended by amending subsection (c) to read as follows:

"(c) The board of acupuncture, board of public accountancy, board of barbering and cosmetology, boxing commission, board of chiropractic examiners, contractors license board, board of dental examiners, board of electricians and plumbers, elevator mechanics licensing board, board of professional engineers, architects, surveyors, and landscape architects, board of massage therapy, board of medical examiners, motor vehicle industry licensing board, motor vehicle repair industry board, board of examiners in naturopathy, board of nursing, board of examiners in optometry, pest control board, board of pharmacy, board of physical therapy, board of psychology, board of private detectives and guards, real estate commission, board of veterinary examiners, board of speech pathology and audiology, and any board, commission, program, or entity created pursuant to or specified by statute in furtherance of the purpose of this section including but not limited to section 26H-4, or chapters 484, [514A,]     , and 514E shall be placed within the department of commerce and consumer affairs for administrative purposes."

SECTION 5. Section 26-9, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended by amending subsection (o) to read as follows:

"(o) Every person licensed under any chapter within the jurisdiction of the department of commerce and consumer affairs and every person licensed subject to chapter 485 or registered under chapter 467B shall pay upon issuance of a license, permit, certificate, or registration a fee and a subsequent annual fee to be determined by the director and adjusted from time to time to ensure that the proceeds, together with all other fines, income, and penalties collected under this section, do not surpass the annual operating costs of conducting compliance resolution activities required under this section. The fees may be collected biennially or pursuant to rules adopted under chapter 91, and shall be deposited into the special fund established under this subsection. Every filing pursuant to chapter 514E or section 485-6(15) shall be assessed, upon initial filing and at each renewal period in which a renewal is required, a fee that shall be prescribed by rules adopted under chapter 91, and that shall be deposited into the special fund established under this subsection. Any unpaid fee shall be paid by the licensed person, upon application for renewal, restoration, reactivation, or reinstatement of a license, and by the person responsible for the renewal, restoration, reactivation, or reinstatement of a license, upon the application for renewal, restoration, reactivation, or reinstatement of the license. If the fees are not paid, the director may deny renewal, restoration, reactivation, or reinstatement of the license. The director may establish, increase, decrease, or repeal the fees when necessary pursuant to rules adopted under chapter 91.

There is created in the state treasury a special fund to be known as the compliance resolution fund to be expended by the director's designated representatives as provided by this subsection. Notwithstanding any law to the contrary, all revenues, fees, and fines collected by the department shall be deposited into the compliance resolution fund. Unencumbered balances existing on June 30, 1999, in the cable television fund under chapter 440G, the division of consumer advocacy fund under chapter 269, the financial institution examiners' revolving fund, section 412:2-109, the special handling fund, section 414-13, and unencumbered balances existing on June 30, 2002, in the insurance regulation fund, section 431:2-215, shall be deposited into the compliance resolution fund. This provision shall not apply to the drivers education fund underwriters fee, section 431:10C-115, insurance premium taxes and revenues, revenues of the workers' compensation special compensation fund, section 386-151, the captive insurance administrative fund, section 431:19-101.8, the insurance commissioner's education and training fund, section 431:2-214, the medical malpractice patients' compensation fund as administered under section 5 of Act 232, Session Laws of Hawaii 1984, and fees collected for deposit in the office of consumer protection restitution fund, section 487-14, the real estate appraisers fund, section 466K-1, the real estate recovery fund, section 467-16, the real estate education fund, section 467-19, the contractors recovery fund, section 444-26, the contractors education fund, section 444-29, and the condominium [management] education trust fund, section [514A-131.]    -71. Any law to the contrary notwithstanding, the director may use the moneys in the fund to employ, without regard to chapter 76, hearings officers, investigators, attorneys, accountants, and other necessary personnel to implement this subsection. Any law to the contrary notwithstanding, the moneys in the fund shall be used to fund the operations of the department. The moneys in the fund may be used to train personnel as the director deems necessary and for any other activity related to compliance resolution.

As used in this subsection, unless otherwise required by the context, "compliance resolution" means a determination of whether:

(1) Any licensee or applicant under any chapter subject to the jurisdiction of the department of commerce and consumer affairs has complied with that chapter;

(2) Any person subject to chapter 485 has complied with that chapter;

(3) Any person submitting any filing required by chapter 514E or section 485-6(15) has complied with chapter 514E or section 485-6(15);

(4) Any person has complied with the prohibitions against unfair and deceptive acts or practices in trade or commerce; or

(5) Any person subject to chapter 467B has complied with that chapter;

and includes work involved in or supporting the above functions, licensing, or registration of individuals or companies regulated by the department, consumer protection, and other activities of the department.

The director shall prepare and submit an annual report to the governor and the legislature on the use of the compliance resolution fund. The report shall describe expenditures made from the fund including non-payroll operating expenses."

SECTION 6. Section 237-16.5, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended by amending subsection (e) to read as follows:

"(e) As used in this section:

"Lease" means the rental of real property under an instrument in writing by which one conveys real property for a specified term and for a specified consideration, and includes the written extension or renegotiation of a lease, and any holdover tenancy.

"Lessee" means one who holds real property under lease, and includes a sublessee.

"Lessor" means one who conveys real property by lease, and includes a sublessor.

"Real property or space" means the area actually rented and used by the lessee, and includes common elements as defined in section [514A-3.]    -3.

"Sublease" includes the rental of real property which is held under a lease and is made in a written document by which one conveys real property for a specified term and for a specified consideration. Sublease includes the written extension or renegotiation of a sublease and any holdover tenancy under the written sublease.

"Sublessee" means one who holds real property under a sublease.

"Sublessor" means one who conveys real property by sublease."

SECTION 7. Section 237-24.3, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended to read as follows:

"§237-24.3 Additional amounts not taxable. In addition to the amounts not taxable under section 237-24, this chapter shall not apply to:

(1) Amounts received from the loading, transportation, and unloading of agricultural commodities shipped for a producer or produce dealer on one island of this State to a person, firm, or organization on another island of this State. The terms "agricultural commodity", "producer", and "produce dealer" shall be defined in the same manner as they are defined in section 147-1; provided that agricultural commodities need not have been produced in the State;

(2) Amounts received from sales of:

(A) Intoxicating liquor as the term "liquor" is defined in chapter 244D;

(B) Cigarettes and tobacco products as defined in chapter 245; and

(C) Agricultural, meat, or fish products;

to any person or common carrier in interstate or foreign commerce, or both, whether ocean-going or air, for consumption out-of-state on the shipper's vessels or airplanes;

(3) Amounts received by the manager or board of directors of:

(A) An association of apartment owners of a condominium property regime established in accordance with chapter [514A;]     ; or

(B) A nonprofit homeowners or community association incorporated in accordance with chapter 414D or any predecessor thereto and existing pursuant to covenants running with the land,

in reimbursement of sums paid for common expenses;

(4) Amounts received or accrued from:

(A) The loading or unloading of cargo from ships, barges, vessels, or aircraft, whether or not the ships, barges, vessels, or aircraft travel between the State and other states or countries or between the islands of the State;

(B) Tugboat services including pilotage fees performed within the State, and the towage of ships, barges, or vessels in and out of state harbors, or from one pier to another; and

(C) The transportation of pilots or governmental officials to ships, barges, or vessels offshore; rigging gear; checking freight and similar services; standby charges; and use of moorings and running mooring lines;

(5) Amounts received by an employee benefit plan by way of contributions, dividends, interest, and other income; and amounts received by a nonprofit organization or office, as payments for costs and expenses incurred for the administration of an employee benefit plan; provided that this exemption shall not apply to any gross rental income or gross rental proceeds received after June 30, 1994, as income from investments in real property in this State; and provided further that gross rental income or gross rental proceeds from investments in real property received by an employee benefit plan after June 30, 1994, under written contracts executed prior to July 1, 1994, shall not be taxed until the contracts are renegotiated, renewed, or extended, or until after December 31, 1998, whichever is earlier. For the purposes of this paragraph, "employee benefit plan" means any plan as defined in section 1002(3) of title 29 of the United States Code, as amended;

(6) Amounts received for purchases made with United States Department of Agriculture food coupons under the federal food stamp program, and amounts received for purchases made with United States Department of Agriculture food vouchers under the Special Supplemental Foods Program for Women, Infants and Children;

(7) Amounts received by a hospital, infirmary, medical clinic, health care facility, pharmacy, or a practitioner licensed to administer the drug to an individual for selling prescription drugs or prosthetic devices to an individual; provided that this paragraph shall not apply to any amounts received for services provided in selling prescription drugs or prosthetic devices. As used in this paragraph:

(A) "Prescription drugs" are those drugs defined under section 328-1 and dispensed by filling or refilling a written or oral prescription by a practitioner licensed under law to administer the drug and sold by a licensed pharmacist under section 328-16 or practitioners licensed to administer drugs; and

(B) "Prosthetic device" means any artificial device or appliance, instrument, apparatus, or contrivance, including their components, parts, accessories, and replacements thereof, used to replace a missing or surgically removed part of the human body, which is prescribed by a licensed practitioner of medicine, osteopathy, or podiatry and which is sold by the practitioner or which is dispensed and sold by a dealer of prosthetic devices; provided that "prosthetic device" shall not mean any auditory, ophthalmic, dental, or ocular device or appliance, instrument, apparatus, or contrivance;

(8) Taxes on transient accommodations imposed by chapter 237D and passed on and collected by operators holding certificates of registration under that chapter;

(9) Amounts received as dues by an unincorporated merchants association from its membership for advertising media, promotional, and advertising costs for the promotion of the association for the benefit of its members as a whole and not for the benefit of an individual member or group of members less than the entire membership;

(10) Amounts received by a labor organization for real property leased to:

(A) A labor organization; or

(B) A trust fund established by a labor organization for the benefit of its members, families, and dependents for medical or hospital care, pensions on retirement or death of employees, apprenticeship and training, and other membership service programs.

As used in this paragraph, "labor organization" means a labor organization exempt from federal income tax under section 501(c)(5) of the Internal Revenue Code, as amended;

(11) Amounts received from foreign diplomats and consular officials who are holding cards issued or authorized by the United States Department of State granting them an exemption from state taxes; and

(12) Amounts received as rent for the rental or leasing of aircraft or aircraft engines used by the lessees or renters for interstate air transportation of passengers and goods. For purposes of this paragraph, payments made pursuant to a lease shall be considered rent regardless of whether the lease is an operating lease or a financing lease. The definition of "interstate air transportation" is the same as in 49 U.S.C. 40102."

SECTION 8. Section 237D-1, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended by amending the definitions of "lease", "let", or "rental" and "transient accommodations" to read as follows:

""Lease", "let", or "rental" means the leasing or renting of living quarters or sleeping or housekeeping accommodations in hotels, apartment hotels, motels, condominium property regimes or apartments defined in chapter [514A,]     , cooperative apartments, rooming houses, or other places in which lodgings are regularly furnished to transients for a consideration, without transfer of the title of such property.

"Transient accommodations" mean the furnishing of a room, apartment, suite, or the like which is customarily occupied by a transient for less than one hundred eighty consecutive days for each letting by a hotel, apartment hotel, motel, condominium property regime or apartment as defined in chapter [514A,]     , cooperative apartment, or rooming house that provides living quarters, sleeping, or housekeeping accommodations, or other place in which lodgings are regularly furnished to transients for consideration."

SECTION 9. Section 302A-1312, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended by amending subsection (a) to read as follows:

"(a) The department of accounting and general services, in consultation with the department of education, shall prepare a six-year program and financial plan for school repair and maintenance which shall be:

(1) Based on:

(A) Estimated preventive and scheduled maintenance costs;

(B) Budgeted recurring maintenance;

(C) Health and safety requirements; and

(D) Legal mandates;

(2) Insofar as is practical, prepared in accordance with the principles and procedures contained in section [514A-83.6;]    -148; and

(3) Submitted initially to the legislature not less than thirty days prior to the convening of the 2002 regular session, with annual funding requirements for the physical plant operations and maintenance account submitted not less than thirty days prior to the convening of the 2002 regular session and each regular session thereafter;

provided that the governor may incorporate the six-year program and financial plan required by this subsection into the six-year program and financial plan required by section 37-69, if the plan required by this subsection is incorporated without reductions or restrictions."

SECTION 10. Section 378-2.5, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended by amending subsection (d) to read as follows:

"(d) Notwithstanding subsections (b) and (c), the requirement that inquiry into and consideration of a prospective employee's conviction record may take place only after the individual has received a conditional job offer, and the limitation to the most recent ten-year period, excluding the period of incarceration, shall not apply to employers who are expressly permitted to inquire into an individual's criminal history for employment purposes pursuant to any federal or state law other than subsection (a), including:

(1) The State or any of its branches, political subdivisions, or agencies pursuant to section 831-3.1 and section 78-2.7;

(2) The department of education pursuant to section 302A-601.5;

(3) The department of health with respect to employees, providers, or subcontractors in positions that place them in direct contact with clients when providing non-witnessed direct mental health services on behalf of the child and adolescent mental health division pursuant to section 321-171.5;

(4) The judiciary pursuant to section 571-34;

(5) The counties pursuant to section 846-2.7;

(6) Armed security services pursuant to section 261-17(b);

(7) Providers of a developmental disabilities domiciliary home pursuant to section 333F-22;

(8) Private schools pursuant to section 378-3(8) and section 302C-1;

(9) Financial institutions in which deposits are insured by a federal agency having jurisdiction over the financial institution pursuant to section 378-3(9);

(10) Detective agencies and security guard agencies pursuant to sections 463-6(b) and 463-8(b);

(11) Employers in the business of insurance pursuant to section 431:2-201.3;

(12) Employers of individuals or supervisors of individuals responsible for screening passengers or property under 49 U.S.C. §44901 or individuals with unescorted access to an aircraft of an air carrier or foreign carrier or in a secured area of an airport in the United States pursuant to 49 U.S.C. §44936(a);

(13) The department of human services pursuant to section 352-5.5;

(14) The public library system pursuant to section 302A-601.5;

(15) The department of public safety pursuant to section 353C-5;

(16) The board of directors of a cooperative housing corporation or the manager of a cooperative housing project pursuant to section 421I-12; and

(17) The board of directors of an association of apartment owners, or the manager of a condominium project pursuant to section [514A-82.1.]    -133."

SECTION 11. Section 414D-311, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended to read as follows:

"[[]§414D-311[]] Superseding chapters. In the event of any conflict between the provisions of this chapter and the provisions of chapter 421J, [514A,]     , or 514E, the provisions of chapter 421J, [514A,]     , or 514E shall supersede and control the provisions of this chapter."

SECTION 12. Section 421I-9, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended to read as follows:

"[[]§421I-9[]] Mediation and arbitration of disputes. At the request of any party, any dispute concerning or involving one or more shareholders and a corporation, its board of directors, managing agent, resident manager, or one or more other shareholders relating to the interpretation, application, or enforcement of this chapter or the corporation's articles of incorporation, bylaws, or rules adopted in accordance with its bylaws shall be submitted first to mediation. When all reasonable efforts for mediation have been made and the dispute is not settled either in conference between the parties or through mediation, the dispute shall be submitted to arbitration in the same manner and subject to the same requirements, to the extent practicable, which now apply to condominium property regimes under [part VII of chapter 514A.] section   -162."

SECTION 13. Section 467-1, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended by amending the definition of "hotel" to read as follows:

""Hotel" includes a structure or structures used primarily for the business of providing transient lodging for periods of less than thirty days and which furnishes customary hotel services including, but not limited to, front desk, restaurant, daily maid and linen service, bell service, or telephone switchboard; provided that for the purposes of this chapter, apartments in a project as defined by section [514A-3]    -3 that provide customary hotel services shall be excluded from the definition of hotel. The definition of hotel as set forth in this section shall be in addition to and supplement the definition of "hotel" as set forth in the various county ordinances."

SECTION 14. Section 467-14, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended to read as follows:

"§467-14 Revocation, suspension, and fine. In addition to any other actions authorized by law, the commission may revoke any license issued under this chapter, suspend the right of the licensee to use the license, fine any person holding a license, registration, or certificate issued under this chapter, or terminate any registration or certificate issued under this chapter, for any cause authorized by law, including but not limited to the following:

(1) Making any misrepresentation concerning any real estate transaction;

(2) Making any false promises concerning any real estate transaction of a character likely to mislead another;

(3) Pursuing a continued and flagrant course of misrepresentation, or making of false promises through advertising or otherwise;

(4) Without first having obtained the written consent to do so of both parties involved in any real estate transaction, acting for both the parties in connection with the transaction, or collecting or attempting to collect commissions or other compensation for the licensee's services from both of the parties;

(5) When the licensee, being a real estate salesperson, accepts any commission or other compensation for the performance of any of the acts enumerated in the definition set forth in section 467-1 of real estate salesperson from any person other than the real estate salesperson's employer or the real estate broker with whom the real estate salesperson associates or, being a real estate broker or salesperson, compensates one not licensed under this chapter to perform any such act;

(6) When the licensee, being a real estate salesperson, acts or attempts to act as a real estate broker or represents, or attempts to represent, any real estate broker other than the real estate salesperson's employer or the real estate broker with whom the real estate salesperson is associated;

(7) Failing, within a reasonable time, to account for any moneys belonging to others which may be in the possession or under the control of the licensee;

(8) Any other conduct constituting fraudulent or dishonest dealings;

(9) When the licensee, being a partnership, permits any member of the partnership who does not hold a real estate broker's license to actively participate in the real estate brokerage business thereof or permits any employee thereof who does not hold a real estate salesperson's license to act as a real estate salesperson therefor;

(10) When the licensee, being a corporation, permits any officer or employee of the corporation who does not hold a real estate broker's license to have the direct management of the real estate brokerage business thereof or permits any officer or employee thereof who does not hold a real estate salesperson's license to act as a real estate salesperson therefor;

(11) When the licensee, being a real estate salesperson, fails to file with the commission a written statement setting forth the name of the real estate broker by whom the licensee is employed or with whom the licensee is associated;

(12) When the licensee fails to obtain on the contract between the parties to the real estate transaction confirmation of who the real estate broker represents;

(13) Violating this chapter; chapter 484, [514A,]     , 514E, or 515; section 516-71; or the rules adopted pursuant thereto;

(14) Splitting fees with or otherwise compensating others not licensed hereunder for referring business; provided that notwithstanding paragraph (5), a real estate broker may pay a commission to:

(A) A licensed real estate broker of another state, territory, or possession of the United States if that real estate broker does not conduct in this State any of the negotiations for which a commission is paid;

(B) A real estate broker lawfully engaged in real estate brokerage activity under the laws of a foreign country if that real estate broker does not conduct in this State any of the negotiations for which a commission is paid; or

(C) A travel agency that in the course of business as a travel agency or sales representative, arranges for compensation the rental of transient vacation rental; provided that for purposes of this paragraph "travel agency" means any person, which for compensation or other consideration, acts or attempts to act as an intermediary between a person seeking to purchase travel services and any person seeking to sell travel services, including an air or ocean carrier;

(15) Commingling the money or other property of the licensee's principal with the licensee's own;

(16) Converting other people's moneys to the licensee's own use;

(17) The licensee is adjudicated insane or incompetent;

(18) Failing to ascertain and disclose all material facts concerning every property for which the licensee accepts the agency, so that the licensee may fulfill the licensee's obligation to avoid error, misrepresentation, or concealment of material facts; provided that for the purposes of this paragraph, the fact that an occupant has AIDS or AIDS Related Complex (ARC) or has been tested for HIV (human immunodeficiency virus) infection shall not be considered a material fact;

(19) When the licensee obtains or causes to be obtained, directly or indirectly, any licensing examination or licensing examination question for the purpose of disseminating the information to future takers of the examination for the benefit or gain of the licensee; or

(20) Failure to maintain a reputation for or record of competency, honesty, truthfulness, financial integrity, and fair dealing.

Disciplinary action may be taken by the commission whether the licensee is acting as a real estate broker, or real estate salesperson, or on the licensee's own behalf."

SECTION 15. Section 467-30, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended by amending subsection (a) to read as follows:

"(a) As used in this section, "condominium hotel" includes those apartments in a project as defined in section [514A-3]    -3 and subject to chapter [514A,]     , which are used to provide transient lodging for periods of less than thirty days."

SECTION 16. Section 484-3, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended by amending subsection (a) to read as follows:

"(a) Unless the method of disposition is adopted for the purpose of evasion of this chapter, or unless the subdivider files in writing with the director that this chapter shall apply to the subdivider's subdivision, this chapter shall not apply to offers or dispositions of an interest in land:

(1) By a purchaser of subdivided lands for the purchaser's own account in a single or isolated transaction;

(2) If fewer than twenty separate lots, parcels, units, or interests in subdivided lands are offered by a person in a period of twelve months;

(3) On which there is a residential, commercial, or industrial building, or as to which there is a legal obligation on the part of the seller to construct a building on the land within two years from the date of disposition; provided that the obligation to construct shall not be, directly or indirectly, transferred to or otherwise imposed upon the purchaser;

(4) To persons who are engaged in, and are duly licensed to engage in, the business of construction of buildings for resale, or to persons who acquire an interest in subdivided lands for the purpose of engaging, and do engage in, and are duly licensed to engage in, the business of construction of buildings for resale;

(5) Pursuant to court order;

(6) By any government or government agency;

(7) As cemetery lots or interests; or

(8) Registered as a condominium property regime pursuant to chapter [514A.]     ."

SECTION 17. Section 485-6, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended to read as follows:

"§485-6 Exempt transactions. The following transactions shall be exempt from sections 485-4.5, 485-8, and 485-25(a)(7):

(1) Any isolated nonissuer transaction, whether effected through a dealer or not;

(2) Any nonissuer transaction in an outstanding security if the manual of Hawaiian securities or any other recognized securities manual contains the names of the issuer's officers and directors, a balance sheet of the issuer as of a date within eighteen months, and a profit and loss statement for either the fiscal year preceding that date or the most recent year of operations, or the security has a fixed maturity or a fixed interest or dividend provision and there has been no default during the current fiscal year or within the three preceding fiscal years (or during the existence of the issuer and any predecessors if less than three years) in the payment of principal, interest, or dividends on the security;

(3) Any nonissuer transaction effected by or through a registered dealer pursuant to an unsolicited order or offer to buy;

(4) Any transaction between the issuer or other person on whose behalf the offering is made and an underwriter, or among underwriters;

(5) Any transaction in a bond or other evidence of indebtedness secured by a real or chattel mortgage or deed of trust, or by an agreement for the sale of real estate or chattels, if the entire mortgage, deed of trust, or agreement, together with all the bonds or other evidences of indebtedness secured thereby, is offered and sold as a unit;

(6) Any transaction by a personal representative, sheriff, marshal, receiver, trustee in bankruptcy, guardian, or conservator;

(7) Any transaction executed by a bona fide pledgee without any purpose of evading this chapter;

(8) Any offer or sale to a bank, savings institution, trust company, insurance company, investment company as defined in the Investment Company Act of 1940, pension or profit-sharing trust, or other financial institution or institutional buyer, or to a dealer, whether the purchaser is acting for itself or in some fiduciary capacity;

(9) Any transaction pursuant to an offer to sell securities of an issuer, if the transaction is part of an issue which:

(A) There are no more than twenty-five offerees, wherever located (other than those designated in paragraph (8)) during any twelve consecutive months;

(B) The issuer reasonably believes that all purchasers, wherever located, (other than those designated in paragraph (8)), are purchasing for investment;

(C) No commission, discount, or other remuneration is paid or given, directly or indirectly, to a person, other than a dealer or agent registered under this chapter, for soliciting a prospective purchaser in this State; and

(D) The securities of the issuer are not offered or sold by general solicitation or any general advertisement or other advertising medium;

(10) Any offer or sale of a preorganization certificate or subscription for any security to be issued by any person if no commission or other remuneration is paid or given directly or indirectly for soliciting any prospective subscriber, and the number of subscribers does not exceed twenty-five;

(11) Any transaction pursuant to an offer to existing security holders of the issuer, including persons who at the time of the transaction are holders of convertible securities, nontransferable warrants, or transferable warrants exercisable within ninety days of their issuance, if no commission or other remuneration (other than a standby commission) is paid or given directly or indirectly for soliciting any security holder in the State;

(12) Any offer (but not a sale) of a security for which registration statements have been filed under both this chapter and the Securities Act of 1933, if no stop order or refusal order is in effect and no public proceeding or examination looking toward the order is pending under either this chapter or the Act;

(13) Any offer or sale by or through a real estate broker or real estate salesperson licensed under the laws of the State, of a security issued on or after July 1, 1961, by a corporation organized under the laws of the State, the holder of which is entitled solely by reason of the holder's ownership thereof, to occupy for dwelling purposes, or to a lease which entitles the holder to occupy for dwelling purposes a house, or an apartment in a building, owned or leased by the corporation, subject, however, to section 485-7;

(14) Any offer or sale by or through a real estate broker or real estate salesperson licensed under the laws of the State of an apartment in a condominium project, and a rental management contract relating to the apartment, including an interest in a general or limited partnership formed for the purpose of managing the rental of apartments if the rental management contract or the interest in the general or limited partnership is offered at the same time as the apartment is offered. The words ["apartment",] "unit", "condominium", and "project" are defined as they are defined in section [514A-3;]     -3;

(15) Any transactions not involving a public offering within the meaning of section 4(2) of the Securities Act of 1933;

(16) (A) Any transactions involving the offer or sale of a security by an issuer to an accredited investor that meet the following requirements:

(i) The issuer reasonably believes that the sale is to persons who are accredited investors;

(ii) The issuer is not in the development stage, without specific business plan or purpose;

(iii) The issuer has not indicated that the issuer's business plan is to engage in a merger or acquisition with an unidentified company or companies, or other entity or person; and

(iv) The issuer reasonably believes that all purchasers are purchasing for investment purposes and not with the view to, or for sales in connection with, a distribution of the security. Any resale of a security sold in reliance on this exemption within twelve months of sale shall be presumed to be made with a view to distribute and not to invest, except a resale pursuant to a registration statement effective under section 485-8, or to an accredited investor pursuant to an exemption available under chapter 485;

(B) The exemption under this paragraph shall not apply to an issuer if the issuer; any affiliated issuer; any beneficial owner of ten per cent or more of any class of the issuer's equity securities; any issuer's predecessor, director, officer, general partner, or promoter presently connected in any capacity with the issuer; and any underwriter or partner, director, or officer of the underwriter of the securities to be offered:

(i) Within the last five years has filed a registration statement that is the subject of a currently effective registration stop order entered by any state securities administrator or the United States Securities and Exchange Commission;

(ii) Within the last five years has been convicted of any criminal offense in connection with the offer, purchase, or sale of any security, or involving fraud or deceit;

(iii) Is currently subject to any state or federal administrative enforcement order or judgment entered within the last five years, finding fraud or deceit in connection with the purchase or sale of any security; or

(iv) Is currently subject to any order, judgment, or decree of any court of competent jurisdiction, entered within the last five years, temporarily, preliminarily, or permanently restraining or enjoining such party from engaging in or continuing to engage in any conduct or practice involving fraud or deceit in connection with the purchase or sale of any security;

(C) Subparagraph (B) shall not apply if:

(i) The party subject to the disqualification is licensed or registered to conduct securities-related business in the state in which the order, judgment, or decree creating the disqualification was entered against such party;

(ii) Before the first offer under this exemption, the commissioner, or the court or regulatory authority that entered the order, judgment, or decree waives the disqualifications; or

(iii) The issuer establishes that the issuer did not know and in the exercise of reasonable care, based on a factual inquiry, could not have known that a disqualification existed under this paragraph;

(D) An issuer claiming the exemption under this section, within fifteen days after the first sale in this State, shall file with the commissioner a notice of transaction, a consent to service of process, a copy of the general announcement as required by section 485-24.6, and a $200 filing fee; and

(E) For the purposes of this paragraph, "accredited investor" shall have the same meaning as provided in 17 Code of Federal Regulations section 230.501(a);

(17) Any offer or sale of a security effected by a resident of Canada who is excluded from the definition of "dealer" under section 485-1(3)(E);

(18) Any transaction that is exempt or would be exempt under rule 701, 17 Code of Federal Regulations section 230.701, promulgated under section 3(b) of the Securities Act of 1933;

(19) Any offer or sale of securities made in compliance with rules 501, 502, 503, 505, and 506 of Regulation D, 17 Code of Federal Regulations sections 230.501, 230.502, 230.503, 230.505, 230.506, 230.507, and 230.508 under the Securities Act of 1933; and

(20) Any transaction that the commissioner may exempt, conditionally or unconditionally, by rules adopted in accordance with chapter 91 that:

(A) Furthers the objectives of compatibility with exemptions from securities registration authorized by the Securities Act of 1933 and uniformity among the states; or

(B) The commissioner finds that registration is not necessary or appropriate in the public interest for the protection of investors."

SECTION 18. Section 501-106, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended by amending subsection (a) to read as follows:

"(a) No new certificate of title shall be entered, and no memorandum shall be made upon any certificate of title by the registrar or assistant registrar, except:

(1) In pursuance of any deed or other voluntary instrument;

(2) Upon the recording of a certificate of merger that merges two or more condominium projects as provided by section [514A-19;]    -46;

(3) Upon the recording of an amendment to a declaration of condominium property regime which alters the percentage interest of the respective apartment owners in the common element;

(4) In cases expressly provided for in this chapter; or

(5) Upon the order of the court, for cause shown."

SECTION 19. Section 502C-1, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended by amending the definitions of "common elements" or "common area", "declaration", and "townhouse" to read as follows:

""Common elements" or "common area" means:

(1) The same as "common elements" as defined in section [514A-3;]     -3; and

(2) Real property within a planned community that is owned or leased by the association or is otherwise available for the use of its members or designated as common area in or pursuant to the declaration.

"Declaration" means:

(1) The instrument by which property is submitted to chapter [514A,]     , as provided in that chapter, and such declaration as from time to time amended; and

(2) Any recorded instrument, however denominated, that imposes on an association maintenance or operational responsibilities for the common area and creates the authority in the association to impose on units, or on the owners or occupants of the units, any mandatory payment of money as a regular annual assessment or otherwise in connection with the provisions, maintenance, or services for the benefit of some or all of the units, the owners, or occupants of the units or the common areas, including any amendment or supplement to the instrument.

"Townhouse" means a series of individual apartments or units having architectural unity and common elements, with each apartment or unit extending from ground to roof or from the first or second floor to roof, and where apartments or units may share a common wall or be freestanding structures, including townhouse projects that are created pursuant to chapters [514A]      and 421J, as well as projects that are not created pursuant to those chapters but are governed by an association; provided that "townhouse" shall not include any apartments or units located in a building of more than three stories."

SECTION 20. Section 514C-22, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended by amending subsection (f) to read as follows:

"(f) For purposes of this section:

"Remaining lessees" means the lessees of condominium units in a condominium project who have not purchased the leased fee interest in their condominium units as of the effective date of the amendment referred to in subsection (d)(1).

"Condominium unit" has the same meaning as the term ["apartment"] "unit" as defined in section [514A-3.]    -3."

SECTION 21. Section 514E-1, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended by amending the definition of "blanket lien" to read as follows:

""Blanket lien" means any mortgage, deed of trust, option to purchase, vendor's lien or interest under a contract or agreement of sale, or any other lien or encumbrance which (i) affects more than one time share interest either directly or by reason of affecting an entire time share unit or the property upon which the time share unit to be used by the purchasers is located, and (ii) secures or evidences the obligation to pay money or to sell or convey the property and which authorizes, permits, or requires the foreclosure and sale or other defeasance of the property affected; provided, however, that for the purpose of this chapter, the following shall not be considered blanket liens:

(1) The lien of current real property taxes;

(2) Taxes and assessments levied by public authority;

(3) A lien for common expenses under chapter [514A]      or a lien for similar expenses in favor of a homeowners or community association;

(4) An apartment lease or condominium conveyance document conveying a single condominium apartment or a lease of a single cooperative apartment; and

(5) Any lien for costs or trustee's fees charged by a trustee holding title to time share units pursuant to a trust created under section 514E-19."

SECTION 22. Section 514E-29, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended by amending subsection (d) to read as follows:

"(d) Notice of any delinquent lien created pursuant to subsection (c) shall be recorded in the bureau of conveyances and upon recordation shall be prior to all other liens, except:

(1) Liens for taxes and assessments lawfully imposed by governmental authority against the time share interest;

(2) All sums unpaid on any mortgage of record encumbering the time share interest which was recorded prior to the recordation of a notice of a lien by the association; and

(3) For a time share interest subject to a condominium property regime, the lien of the association of apartment owners created pursuant to section [514A-90.]    -146."

SECTION 23. Section 516D-1, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended to read as follows:

"[[]§516D-1[]] Applicability. This chapter applies to all lands on which are situated either residential condominium property regimes created under chapter [514A,]     , or cooperative housing corporations, which are owned or held privately or by the State or by the counties, except Hawaiian home lands subject to Article XII of the State Constitution and lands owned or held by the federal government."

SECTION 24. Section 521-38, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended to read as follows:

"§521-38 Tenants subject to rental agreement; notice of conversions. When a period of tenancy is pursuant to any rental agreement and where a landlord contemplates conversion to condominium property regime under chapter [514A,]     , the landlord[:

(1) Shall] shall provide notice to the tenant at least one hundred twenty days in advance of the termination of the rental agreement[, and

(2) Shall comply with the provisions relating to such conversions provided in section 514A-105]."

SECTION 25. Section 521-71, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended by amending subsection (c) to read as follows:

"(c) Before a landlord terminates a month-to-month tenancy where the landlord contemplates voluntary demolition of the dwelling units, conversion to a condominium property regime under chapter [514A,]     , or changing the use of the building to transient vacation rentals, the landlord shall provide notice to the tenant at least one hundred twenty days in advance of the anticipated demolition or anticipated termination[, and shall comply with the provisions relating to conversions provided in section 514A-105, if applicable]. If notice is revoked or amended and reissued, the notice period shall begin from the date it was reissued or amended. Any notice provided, revoked, or amended and reissued shall be in writing. When the landlord provides notification of termination pursuant to this subsection, the tenant may vacate at any time within the one-hundred-twenty-day period between the notification and the termination date, but the tenant shall notify the landlord of the date the tenant will vacate the dwelling unit and shall pay a prorated rent for that period of occupation."

SECTION 26. Parts I, V, and VII of chapter 514A, Hawaii Revised Statutes, are repealed.

PART III.

SECTION 27. The legislature finds that the existing procedures to resolve condominium association management disputes need improvement. The existing procedures to resolve disputes include the self-governance procedures within each association of apartment owners, mediation, arbitration, minimal government intervention, and actions through the courts. The legislature therefore finds that there is a need for an expeditious, less costly, uniform, and uncomplicated procedure to handle certain simple statutory issues. The purpose of this part is to initiate a two-year pilot program by the office of administrative hearings, department of commerce and consumer affairs, with partial funding by the condominium management education fund.

SECTION 28. Section 514A-121.5, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended to read as follows:

"§514A-121.5 Mediation[.]; condominium management dispute resolution; request for hearing; hearing. (a) If an apartment owner or the board of directors requests mediation of a dispute involving the interpretation or enforcement of the association of apartment owners' declaration, bylaws, or house rules, or involving section 514A-82(b)(1) to (13), 514A-82.1, 514A-82.15, 514A-82.3, 514A-82.5, 514A-82.6, 514A-83, 514A-83.1, 514A-83.2, 514A-83.3, 514A-83.4, 514A-83.5, 514A-84, [or] 514A-84.5, or 514A-92.5, the other party in the dispute shall be required to participate in mediation. Each party shall be wholly responsible for its own costs of participating in mediation; unless at the end of the mediation process, both parties agree that one party shall pay all or a specified portion of the mediation costs. If an apartment owner or the board of directors refuses to participate in the mediation of a particular dispute, a court may take this refusal into consideration when awarding expenses, costs, and attorney's fees in accordance with section 514A-94.

(b) If a dispute is not resolved by mediation as provided in subsection (a), in addition to any other legal remedies that may be available, any party that participated in the mediation may file a request for a hearing with the office of administrative hearings, department of commerce and consumer affairs as follows:

(1) The party requesting the hearing must be a board of directors of a duly registered association of apartment owners, or an apartment owner that is a member of a duly registered association pursuant to section 514A-95.1;

(2) The request for hearing must be filed within thirty days from the final day of mediation;

(3) The request for hearing must name one or more parties that participated in the mediation as an adverse party and identify the statutory provisions in dispute; and

(4) No dispute arising out of section 514A-82(b)(1) to (13), section 514A-82.3, section 514A-82.5, section 514A-82.6, section 514A-83.1(b), section 514A-83.4(c), or relating to the interpretation or application of any association of owners' declaration, bylaws, or house rules may be the subject of any request for hearing under this section.

(c) For purposes of the pilot program, the office of administrative hearing for the department of commerce and consumer affairs shall accept no more than thirty requests for hearing per fiscal year under this section.

(d) The party requesting the hearing shall pay a filing fee of $25 to the department of commerce and consumer affairs, and the failure to do so shall result in the request for hearing being rejected for filing. All other parties shall file a response, accompanied by a filing fee of $25 to the department of commerce and consumer affairs, within twenty days of being served with the request for hearing.

(e) The hearings officers appointed by the director of commerce and consumer affairs pursuant to section 26-9(f) shall have jurisdiction to review any request for hearing filed under subsection (b). The hearings officers shall have the power to issue subpoenas, administer oaths, hear testimony, find facts, make conclusions of law, and issue written decisions that shall be final and conclusive, unless a party adversely affected by the decision files an appeal in the circuit court under section 91-14.

(f) Chapter 16-201, Hawaii Administrative Rules, shall govern all proceedings brought under this section. The burden of proof, including the burden of producing the evidence and the burden of persuasion, shall be upon the party initiating the proceeding. Proof of a matter shall be by a preponderance of the evidence.

(g) Hearings to review and make determinations upon any requests for hearings filed under subsection (b) shall commence within sixty days following the receipt of the request for hearing. The hearing officer shall issue written findings of fact, conclusions of law, and an order as expeditiously as practicable after the hearing has been concluded.

(h) Each party to the hearing shall bear the party's own costs, including attorney's fees, unless otherwise ordered by the hearing officer.

(i) Any party to a proceedings under this section who is aggrieved by a final decision of a hearings officer may apply for judicial review of that decision pursuant to section 91-14; provided that any party seeking judicial review pursuant to section 91-14 shall be responsible for the costs of preparing the record on appeal, including the cost of preparing the transcript of the hearing.

(j) The department of commerce and consumer affairs may adopt rules and forms, pursuant to chapter 91, to effectuate the purpose of this section and to implement its provisions."

SECTION 29. The director of commerce and consumer affairs shall prepare and submit to the legislature, twenty days prior to the convening of the 2005 and 2006 regular sessions, a report containing the director's evaluation of the operation and effect of the pilot program established by this part. The report shall include a summary of the requests for hearing brought under the pilot program, the disposition of such requests for hearing, an appraisal of the effectiveness of the pilot program, and recommendations for changes, modifications or repeal of the pilot program or parts thereof with accompanying reasons and data.

SECTION 30. There is appropriated out of the condominium management education fund the sum of $25,000, or so much thereof as may be necessary for fiscal year 2004-2005, to defray the operational expenses of this pilot program.

SECTION 31. The sum appropriated shall be expended by the department of commerce and consumer affairs for the purposes of this Act.

PART IV.

SECTION 32. There is appropriated out of the condominium management education fund the sum of $150,000, or so much thereof as may be necessary for fiscal year 2004-2005, to conduct post-bill passage educational activities, including the continuation of one full-time temporary condominium specialist position in the department of commerce and consumer affairs (with the option of hiring a person as either an employee of the department or a consultant to the department), and other current expenses.

SECTION 33. The sum appropriated shall be expended by the department of commerce and consumer affairs for the purposes of this Act.

PART V.

SECTION 34. Statutory material to be repealed is bracketed and stricken. New statutory material is underscored.

SECTION 35. This Act shall take effect on July 1, 2005; provided that:

(1) Section    -146 in part I of this Act shall be repealed on December 31, 2007, and reenacted in the form in which it read, as section 514A-90, Hawaii Revised Statutes, on the day before the approval of Act 39, Session Laws of Hawaii 2000, but with the amendments to section 514A-90, Hawaii Revised Statutes, made by Act 53, Session Laws of Hawaii 2003;

(2) Section    -161 in part I of this Act, relating to mediation shall take effect on July 1, 2006;

(3) Section 28 of this Act shall take effect on July 1, 2004, and shall be repealed on June 30, 2006;

(4) Sections 30 to 33 of this Act shall take effect on July 1, 2004; and

(5) If provisions regarding the creation, alteration, termination, registration, and administration of condominiums, and the protection of condominium purchasers, are not adopted effective July 1, 2005, parts I and II of this Act shall be repealed on June 30, 2005.