Hearing on Sunrise Review of Condominium Association Manager Certification

There is a hearing on Thursday, April 28, 2005 at 9:30 a.m. in room 016 on some bills of interest to community associations before the Senate Commerce, Consumer Protection and Housing Committee before Chair Sen. Ron Menor. The hearing notice discusses the following bills of interest to community associations:

HCR 204 On March 21, 2005, I reported on HCR 204. The same bill is being heard by the Senate Commerce, Consumer Protection and Housing Committee. Under Hawaii law, before the state can implement a new scheme regulating a profession, it must first have the Legislative Auditor conduct a sunrise review. A sunrise review is a study evaluating the need for the regulation of the profession.

This resolution would direct the Legislative Auditor to conduct a sunrise review of condominium association managers based on a bill introduced in 2003. SB 1454 contemplated a scheme for certification of condominium association managers. Under the bill, the Real Estate Commission would be authorized to designate an entity to certify condominium association managers. Under the bill, certain condominium association managers would be grandfathered. I believe that the only certification program for community association managers is the Certified Manager of Community Associations® (CMCA®) which is offered by the National Board of Certification for Community Association Managers (NBC-CAM).

At this point, however, all that the resolution would do is direct the Legislative Auditor to conduct a sunrise review. After the review, the legislature would need to consider whether it would approve a bill mandating certification of condominium association managers.

Persons wishing to testify should submit 25 copies of their testimony to the committee clerk, Room 219, State Capitol, 24 hours prior to the hearing. Testimony may also be faxed if less than 5 pages in length, to the Senate Sergeant-At-Arms Office at 586-6659 or 1-800-586-6659 (toll free for neighbor islands), at least 24 hours prior to the hearing. When faxing, please indicate to whom the testimony is being submitted, the date and time of the hearing, and the required number of copies needed for submittal.