On Top of the Aloha Beat BLOG

As I've mentioned before, when Hawaii passed Act 137 last year with the intention of protecting consumers from Mortgage Fraud, they made one very drastic mistake in my opinion. THey disallowed realtor's from helping their clients and thus took away one of the consumers best resources. Well, our legislature got the word from the Hawaii Association of Realtors leadership and the results of those efforts have finally paid off.

Hawaii’s Governor Linda Lingle signed Senate Bill 34 into law.  This amendment to Hawaii’s Mortgage Rescue Fraud Prevention Act (Act 137), provides an exemption for licensed real estate brokers and salespersons from being defined as “distressed property consultants” under Act 137. Most buyers and sellers were comletely unaware of this law or its consequences unless they attempted to buy or sell a property that was defined as a “Distressed Property”.  A Distressed Property” is defined as any property where the owner/borrower was 2 months or more behind in payments to ANY lien holder.  Originally, Act 137 prohibited Realtors from communicating directly with lien holders on behalf of their clients OR from coaching their clients on how to communicate and deliver information to their lien holders about the sale of their property!

People who had legitimate hardships, who could no longer pay their mortgages, were left completely ‘unrepresentable’ by Realtors under Act 137.  For example (just one of MANY), we’ve represented clients who suffered debilitating illnesses which cost them their jobs and their ability to pay their mortgages… but once they were 2 months behind on their payments, we, their licensed agents and fiduciaries, were no longer allowed to speak with their creditors or even coach our clients on how to proceed with the sale of the property that they hired us to sell!

So, the end result was that people in Hawaii who needed the assistance of a Realtor the most were prevented from getting it.

This new law will be Act 66 of the 2009 Legislative Session, and is effective immediately. The bill also prohibits a licensed real estate broker or salesperson from acquiring an ownership interest in the distressed property, directly or indirectly, within 365 days after a listing agreement for the same distressed property has expired, or is terminated. You can read the letter from our Hawaii Association of Realtors to our Governor. Hawaii’s property owners who are faced with financial hardship, and perhaps foreclosure, will now be able to have the guidance and expertise of Realtors who in many cases understand the dynamics of short sales, foreclosures, and dealing with banks.

Did you have to deal with this type of legislation in your area?

Over fifteen hundred people, and that's a big crowd on Kauai, showed up this morning for this year's 31st Visitor Industry Charity Walk. The Charity Walk began at the Historic County Building, headed down Rice Street, turned left on Ho‘olako Street, went up Ka‘ana Street, turned left on Kapule Highway, left on Ahukini Road, turned  left on Umi Street, and ended at the Historic County Building.

Streets were closed to accomdoate the large groups beginning at about 6:45 this morning. The CHARITY WALK is a statewide event that occurs simultaneously on Oahu, Maui, the Big Island and Kauai on the 3rd Saturday in May. In 2008, more than 9,500 walkers raised over $1.12 million and helped over 190 of our local charities. In 1974, the Hawai'i Hotel Association sponsored a charitable "Superwalk" to benefit one major charitable organization. In 1978, the Hawai'i Hotel Association members voted to extend the reach of support offered by the Walk's fund-raising capability. The Visitor Industry CHARITY WALK is the result of this decision. Over the years, the HHLA's annual walk has grown to become one of the largest single-day fundraising events by a non-profit organization in the State of Hawaii. Since its inception in 1978, over $20 million has been raised, helping hundreds of local charities throughout the State.

As with so many fundraisers in these challenging times, all of the numbers statewide were down. Despite the large turnout on a beautiful sunny morning in Lihue, the mass of people did not meet the goal of $200,000 as it was  announced that total collections amounted to roughly $165,000.

Overall, the Walk, sponsored by the Hawai‘i Hotel & Lodging Association, raised a total of $925,000 statewide, states a release from McNeil Wilson. There were a total of 6,585 walkers taking part in the effort on O‘ahu, Maui, Kaua‘i and the Big Island to raise funds benefiting more than 100 Hawai‘i charities.The Walk is one of the largest single-day fundraisers in the state, providing an opportunity for the visitor industry to collectively give back to the local community.

One of my friends was telling me yesterday that our economy is like a two-legged stool. Those two legs he said are tourism and construction. Of course he's in construction so he may be a bit biased. Still, tourism is essential to our island economy and even with tourism down 25% for the year, it's great to the see the community come out and support this Charity Walk event

Safeway said today it has completed purchase of the land for its Hokulei Village shopping complex between Lihue and Puhi and is going forward with development of a new Safeway Lifestyle store and surrounding retailers. Sale of the property — a 22.8-acre commercial-zoned parcel at the corner of Kaumualii Highway and Nuhou Street owned by Grove Farm — was finalized last week.

Now Safeway needs to secure a couple of more tenants and according to the news release in today's Honolulu Advertiser, they are currently talking to fourteen potential tenants. If you look at the aerial overview below, you will see planned Hokulei Village on the left of the image. There are also a number of commercial lots for sale in what is known as Kukui Grove West. Despite the pricing correction that is happening in the residential market of Kauai, the commercial market is still strong because there is very little commercial space on this entire island.

It will be great to have another large supermarket in Lihue in addition to Star Market and Big Save. And then of course, there's Costco, whose prices are amazing but their selection is sometimes limited.

Read the article in today's Honolulu Advertiser, detailing Safeway's commitment to Hawaii and Kauai. Here's to the hopes that they are able to follow through in today's economic climate.