Governor Josh Green recently signed a series of bills aimed at benefiting condominium owners, associations, and residents throughout the state. This legislative package is designed to streamline processes, enhance management practices, and increase accessibility to clean energy programs for condominium communities.

Key elements of the legislation include:

SB2600 – Deliveries of Certain Documents by Email: This bill allows the use of emails for certain condominium-related documents, reducing the burdensome paperwork processes involved in purchasing condos.

SB2726 – Legislative Reference Bureau (LRB) Study and Reports: This legislation mandates the LRB to study how other states handle condominium-related issues, including the potential establishment of an ombudsman, licensing for management, alternative dispute resolution methods, governmental regulation, owner education, and access to documents. The findings will help Hawai‘i adopt the best practices from around the country.

HB2315 – Condos: Meeting and Voting: This bill simplifies and modernizes the procedures for condominium meetings and voting processes.

HB2685 – Solar Hui Program: This innovative bill establishes the Solar Hui Program, allowing multi-family residential property owners to invest in a fund providing loans to low- and moderate-income households for installing solar energy systems. This program expands access to clean energy for condominium owners who do not own their roofs, enabling them to benefit from sustainable energy solutions.

HB2801 – Commercial Property Assessed Financing (C-PACER): This bill transitions the administration of the C-PACER program from counties to the Hawaiʻi Green Infrastructure Authority (HGIA), allowing condominium associations to be eligible for commercial property assessed financing. This program will leverage private capital to achieve the state’s clean energy and water goals, harden commercial buildings for resilience, and facilitate affordable housing.