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Committee amends landlord-tenant bill to create judiciary‑led working group, decouples injunctions from summary possession
Summary
SB 822, which would authorize landlords to seek injunctions to compel tenants’ compliance with a statutory provision, passed the committee Feb. 4 after the judiciary’s recommendation to separate injunctions from summary‑possession actions and add a working group to review and update the landlord‑tenant code.
The Senate Committee on Commerce and Consumer Protection voted Feb. 4 to pass SB 822 with amendments that implement suggestions from the Judiciary and add a judiciary‑facilitated working group to comprehensively review the Residential Landlord‑Tenant Code.
The original bill authorized a landlord to petition a district court for temporary restraining orders, permanent injunctions, or other relief to compel compliance with the landlord‑tenant statute (cited in testimony as “section 521‑51, Hawaii Revised Statutes”). The Judiciary recommended decoupling injunction remedies from summary‑possession actions and creating a working group to conduct a comprehensive review and update of the landlord‑tenant code.
Major Stayson Tanaka of the Honolulu Police Department testified in opposition and stood on written testimony. The committee accepted the Judiciary’s recommendation to remove the direct coupling of injunctions and summary‑possession actions and to add a proposed Part 2 establishing a working group facilitated by the Judiciary, with a report and recommendations due 20 days before the 2027 legislative session begins. The committee set a defective effective date of July 1, 2050 and made technical, non‑substantive edits.
During decision making the committee accepted the working‑group facilitation by the Judiciary and discussed membership selection, including allowing the Senate president and House speaker to name members and leaving at‑large seats. The chair and vice chair recorded aye votes and one senator recorded a no vote; the committee adopted the measure with amendments and the working‑group directive.
The working group’s charge is to undertake a comprehensive review and update of the Residential Landlord‑Tenant Code and deliver recommendations to the Legislature prior to the 2027 session, with facilitation by the Judiciary and membership to be named by legislative leaders and others as appropriate.
