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Committee keeps public registry but removes OCP enforcement role for absentee landlord bill
Summary
The committee passed SB 2396 with amendments: it will keep a public registry of agents who manage property for absentee owners but remove the DCCA Office of Consumer Protection as the enforcement agency and return enforcement to tenants, after DCCA testified that maintaining and enforcing a registry would impose administrative and legal burdens on OCP.
SB 2396 (SD1) would require DCCA to establish and maintain a publicly accessible registry of agents designated to manage properties for absentee owners or landlords and would require landlords to register any managing agent. Manuel Moriarty of DCCA's Office of Consumer Protection testified in opposition to assigning the office enforcement duties because the office lacks the personnel and administrative infrastructure to intake, maintain, and issue notices for a registry and because the notice and enforcement provisions could trigger contested‑case procedures and document‑production obligations.
The Hawaii Association of Realtors supported the bill's intent and urged continued discussion in a landlord‑tenant working group. Committee members probed whether existing DCCA registries (BRICS) could be adapted; DCCA replied the registry could impose liability and administrative burdens regardless of which division maintained it.
In decision making the committee removed OCP as the enforcer, kept the public registry with OCP maintenance, set notice periods at 30 days in both blanks the bill left open, and passed the measure with amendments. The committee directed further discussion with affected divisions about the registry's operational details and data‑maintenance responsibilities.
