A number of bills became law recently. Some of the bills may be of special interest to condominium owners.

ACT 39

There's some good news for condo owners. The State of Hawaii recently enacted Act 39, which provides a measure of financial relief to condominium associations and to owners of condominiums.
Due to the State of Hawaii's rough economy in the last few years, condominiums have experienced higher incidents of foreclosure and non-payments. When a condominium unit is foreclosed upon, the association typically has low priority in receiving any proceeds from the foreclosure sale. It is fairly common for the association to not recover any unpaid maintenance fees from the foreclosure sale. The loss of revenue is often passed on to the remaining owners, usually in the form of higher maintenance fees.
Act 39 went into effect this year. Condominium associations, upon satisfying certain requirements, can now receive six (6) months of maintenance fees or $1,800, whichever is less. While this may not fully satisfy all unpaid maintenance fees, the foregoing does offer some relief for associations and condominium owners.

ACT 49

It is now a requirement that the association of apartment owners represent the apartment owners in all negotiations and proceedings for the lease rent renegotiations. This act further provides that if some of the apartment owners purchase the leased fee interest, the costs and expenses of the lease rent renegotiations shall be borne by the remaining lessees as a common expense.

ACT 22

This act requires that any board of directors who intends to use association funds to distribute proxies must first post notice of intent to distribute proxies in a prominent location within the project at least thirty days prior to the distribution. The bill authorizes use of copy, fax or other reliable reproduction of proxies.

ACT 213

This act requires the Real Estate Commission to review the present Hawaii's condominium property regimes law. The Hawaii condominium statutes has been amended in piecemeal fashion. A thorough review is long overdue. This Act requires the reviewer to provide findings and recommendations for changing the law. A full-time temporary condominium specialist position in the Department of Commerce and Consumer Affairs has been authorized to assist with the modification of the law.

If you are interested in accessing listing of the acts or bills, the legislature's web site is www.capitol.hawaii.gov. You can also ascertain whether measures were vetoed or enacted and you can read the full text of the acts or bills.

Copies of the foregoing acts may be obtained from any of the following sources: all public libraries; Senate Printshop, State Capitol Room 012A; House Clerk's Office, State Capitol Room 027; Lieutenant Governor's Office, State Capitol 5th floor; the Supreme Court Library, 417 S. King Street; and the William S. Richardson School of Law Library, 2525 Dole Street.

INFORMATION ABOUT SEX OFFENDERS

The State of Hawaii has now made it easy to learn whether registered sex offenders live or work in your neighborhood.
Hawaii requires sex offenders who live in Hawaii to be registered for life. They have to register every 90 days. There are approximately 1,400 registered sex offenders in the State of Hawaii. There are approximately 924 registered sex offenders on the island of Oahu.
You can now access mug shots and information about convicted sex offenders on line at two State of Hawaii Websites. You may access this information at www.state.hi.us and www.ehawaiigov.org. This information will also be available at our Web site at http://hawaiilaw.wld.com. If you hit the links and resources button on our web site, you will find these two sites.

HUMOR

Q. "You're a high-priced lawyer! If I give you $500, will you answer two questions for me?"

A. "Absolutely! What's the second question?"

A man walks up to the bar with an ostrich behind him, and as he sits, the bartender comes over, and asks for their order. The man says, "I'll have a beer" and turns to the ostrich. "What's yours?" I'll have a beer too" says the ostrich. The bartender pours the beer and says "That will be $3.40 please," and the man reaches into his pocket and pulls out exact change for payment. The next day, the man, the ostrich come again, and the man says "I'll have a beer," and the ostrich says "I'll have the same". Once again the man reaches into his pocket and pays with exact change. This becomes a routine until, late one evening, the two enter again. "The usual?" asks the bartender. "Well, it's close to last call, so I'll have a large scotch" says the man. "Same for me" says the ostrich. "That will be $7.20" says the bartender. Once again the man pulls exact change out of his pocket and places it on the bar. The bartender couldn't hold back his curiosity any longer. "Excuse me sir. How do you manage to always come up with the exact change out of your pocket every time?" "Well", says the man, "several years ago I was cleaning the attic and found an old lamp. When I rubbed it a Genie appeared and offered me two wishes. My first wish was that if I ever had to pay for anything, I just put my hand in my pocket, and the right amount of money will always be there." "That's brilliant!" says the bartender. "Most people would wish for a million dollars or something, but you'll always be as rich as you want for as long as you live!" "That's right! Whether it's a gallon of milk or a Rolls Royce, the exact money is always there," says the man. The bartender asks "One other thing, sir, what's with the ostrich? The man replies "My second wish was for a chick with long legs."

FROM THE DESK OF HAROLD CHU

We have provided a short summary of recent laws that primarily affect condominium owners. Those of you with young children may be interested in how to access information about sex offenders who might live or work in your neighborhood. The State of Hawaii is trying to increase its online availability and have some new sites.
We shall endeavor to include the more interesting sites in our Links and Resources section of our Web site. The intent is to make the Links and Resources section of our Web site, http://hawaiilaw.wld.com, a source for useful links and information. If you have a site that you feel that may be of general interest to others, please let us know.

CHU'S VIEWS

We are often called upon to help our clients in a variety of situations. We often note that if certain fundamentals had been followed, it would have saved our clients tremendous heartaches and expenses. We remind our clients to remember the following basic fundamentals:

Read before you sign. Before you sign any agreement, you should read it. Be aware of high pressured sales tactics. Don't let others pressure you to sign any document before reading it. If you sign it, the law presumes you read it and understood it. Ask if you can take the agreement home to read it before you sign, then actually read it! If it is not clear, ask questions and get it clarified.

Put it in writing. Any major agreement or understanding should be in writing. You want to document the parties' understanding and you want to get the other parties' signatures acknowledging their agreement.

Don't be penny wise and dollar foolish. It is almost always less expensive to consult an attorney before a matter commences rather than to retain an attorney to sort out problems later. This is like the automobile repair commercial. You can pay a little bit now or you can pay a lot later. Prevention is almost always cheaper.

Don't presume! Communication and understanding is very important, especially in agreements involving family members and friends. You should not presume that everyone understands and is in agreement just because you are close friends or are related.

Don't be greedy! Be careful if it sounds too good to be true. In our 25 years of experience, we have often found that if it sounds too good to be true, it usually is too good to be true.

The foregoing are not earthshaking revelations. We have mentioned them before. We remind our clients of the foregoing and hope that it will help them avoid problems in the future.

GOVERNMENT ONLINE

You can now access certain forms and permits online. One site is
eHawaiigov.com. You can download voter registration forms from this site. You can also get and pay for a fishing permit. This site also allows you to download tax forms and inquire about your tax refund. We must warn you, however, that this latter segment is not very user friendly.

An Amish man named Smith was injured when he and his horse was struck by a car at an
intersection. Smith sued the driver. In court, he was cross-examined by the driver's lawyer:
Lawyer: "Mr. Smith, you've told us all about your injuries. But according to the accident
report, you told the investigating officer at the scene that you were not injured at all?"
Smith: Well, let me explain. When the officer arrived at the scene, he first looked at my
horse. He said 'Looks like he has a broken leg,' and then he took out his gun and shot the horse. He then came up to me and asked me how I was doing. I of course immediately said "I'm fine!"

What is a vision? It is a compelling image of an achievable future.
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Deep summer is when laziness finds respectability.
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There's too much said for the sake of argument and too little said for the sake of agreement.
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Today is always here. Tomorrow, never.
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Souvenirs are perishable; fortunately, memories are not.
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Morality is truth in full bloom.

Copyright © 2009 by Harold Chu. All rights reserved.

The information you obtained at this site is not, nor is it intended to be, legal advice. You should consult an attorney for individual advice regarding your own situation.