HomeMy WebLinkAboutResolution No. 2020-12COUNTY COUNCIL
COUNTY OF KAUA’I
3&t~o1utton No.2020-12
RESOLUTION URGING THE HAWAI’I STATE LEGISLATURE
TO PROVIDE ADEQUATE FORECLOSURE PROTECTION FOR
NATIVE HAWAIIAN BENEFICIARIES OF THE
HAWAIIAN HOMES COMMISSION ACT OF 1920
WHEREAS,the Hawai’i Admission Act of 1959 included a condition of
statehood,that our new State of Hawai~i government would administer and be
faithful to the tenets of the Hawaiian Homes Commission Act (HHCA)of 1920
dedicated to native Hawaiians defined in the HHCA;and
WHEREAS,the State of Hawai’i created the Department of Hawaiian Home
Lands (DHHL)to be the lead state agency to fulfill the compact enumerated in the
Hawai’i Admission Act;and
WHEREAS,trust lands as defined under the HHCA are located within every
county in the State of Hawai’i;and
WHEREAS,DHHL is the State agency that operates a loan fund and loan
servicing program for home loans on these trust lands which are required to comply
with the HHCA to prohibit non-beneficiaries,such as banks,from taking ownership
of beneficiary homes in a foreclosure action and instead should allow for such
foreclosures to result in the asset being serviced and held by DHHL;and
WHEREAS,DHHL exempts itself from the spirit of Act 48,Session Laws of
Hawai’i 2011,enacted by the State Legislature and signed into law by Governor
Neil Abercrombie,to protect the citizens of Hawai’i by requiring foreclosures to be
achieved either through a judicial foreclosure or non-judicial foreclosure process,
leaving native Hawaiian citizens without either process available to them;and
WHEREAS,the only protection and review of a foreclosure action taken by
DHHL on behalf of its direct loan program or on behalf of banks,is through Hawai’i
Revised Statutes (HRS),Section 91,the administrative review process followed by
State commissions and agencies;and
WHEREAS,DHHL loan policies and procedures,that govern the actions of
its agency and the Hawaiian Homes Commission,do not provide adequate
protection for native Hawaiian families to access common loan loss mitigation
measures that have been historically available for all other citizens of Hawai’i,
including opportunities to apply for a permanent loan modification,a loan
assumption,or reasonable opportunities to sell a home prior to foreclosure;now,
therefore,
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BE IT RESOLVED BY THE COUNCIL OF THE COUNTY OF KAUA’I,
STATE OF HAWAI’I,that the Kaua’i County Council embraces its native Hawaiian
citizens as full and equal citizens deserving of parity with all other county citizens.
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Kaua’i County Council calls on the
State Legislature to adopt and implement technical amendments to the HHCA to
provide immediate and direct guidance to DHHL,to implement default options
historically available to all other citizens of the county,namely a written loan
servicing manual that includes,but is not limited to,ensuring federal protections of
native Hawaiian active military service members,opportunities to apply for loan
loss mitigation such as a permanent loan modification,a loan assumption,or other
industry standard loan default cures.
BE IT FINALLY RESOLVED that the County Clerk shall forward a copy of
this Resolution to the Honorable Governor David Y.Ige,Honorable Lieutenant
Governor Josh Green,Honorable Senate President Ronald D.Kouchi,Honorable
House Speaker Scott K.Saiki,Honorable Representative Nadine K.Nakamura,
Honorable Representative Daynette “Dee”Morikawa,Honorable Representative
James Kunane Tokioka,Honorable Members of the Senate Committee on Hawaiian
Affairs,Honorable Members of the Senate Committee on Housing,Honorable
Members of the House Committee on Housing,Honorable Members of the House
Committee on Water,Land &Hawaiian Affairs,and Honorable Members of the
Native Hawaiian Caucus.
Introduced by:
KIPUKAI KUALI’I
FELICIA COWDEN
V:\RESOLUTIONS\2018-2020 TERM\DHHL Foreclosure Parity -KK_CTJy.doc
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