HB532 • 2026

RELATING TO VEHICLE TITLES.

Active

The official status still shows this bill as active or still awaiting another formal step.

Sponsor: MIYAKE, KILA, LAMOSAO, MARTEN, TAKENOUCHI, TODD
Last action: 2025-12-08
Official status: Carried over to 2026 Regular Session.
Effective date: Not listed

Plain English Breakdown

The bill summary does not provide information on the Department of Finance in Hawaii being affected.

Vehicle Title Transfers; Liability

This bill changes the rules about transferring car titles, allowing sellers to use an attestation letter if buyers do not comply with transfer requirements and protecting sellers from liability after a sale.

What This Bill Does

Reduces the time a new owner has to send proof of a vehicle title transfer from thirty days to fourteen days.
Allows someone who sells a car (the transferor) to use an attestation letter instead of sending the original certificate of ownership if the buyer does not comply with the rules.
Protects the seller from being held responsible for any problems that happen after they have given up possession of the vehicle.

Who It Names or Affects

People who buy and sell cars or other motor vehicles

Terms To Know

Transferor: A person who sells a vehicle to another person (the transferee)
Transferee: A person who buys a vehicle from another person (the transferor)

Limits and Unknowns

The bill does not specify what happens if the new owner fails to send proof of the title transfer within fourteen days.
It is unclear how this change will affect existing laws and regulations about car ownership and liability.

Amendments

These notes stay tied to the official amendment files and metadata from the legislature.

HD1

Hawaii published version HD1

Plain English: The amendment changes the requirements for transferring vehicle titles in Hawaii, including penalties for providing false information and additional conditions for transferring abandoned vehicles.

Adds a penalty of $500 to $1,000 for anyone who provides false or fraudulent information on a vehicle title transfer certificate.
Requires transferees to notify the director of finance if they do not intend to drive the transferred vehicle and imposes conditions related to outstanding fines before transferring an abandoned vehicle.
Specifies that the director of finance may require payment of outstanding charges and fines for abandoned vehicles as a condition for transferring ownership, unless the vehicle was stolen.

The amendment text is complex and includes many specific legal details which are not fully explained here.

Bill History

2025-12-08 D
Carried over to 2026 Regular Session.
2025-02-05 H
Passed Second Reading as amended in HD 1 and referred to the committee(s) on JHA with none voting aye with reservations; none voting no (0) and Representative(s) Cochran, Ward excused (2).
2025-02-05 H
Reported from TRN (Stand. Com. Rep. No. 164) as amended in HD 1, recommending passage on Second Reading and referral to JHA.
2025-01-28 H
The committee on TRN recommend that the measure be PASSED, WITH AMENDMENTS. The votes were as follows: 8 Ayes: Representative(s) Kila, Grandinetti, Evslin, Kitagawa, La Chica, Miyake, Muraoka, Pierick; Ayes with reservations: none; 0 Noes: none; and 1 Excused: Representative(s) Cochran.
2025-01-24 H
Bill scheduled to be heard by TRN on Tuesday, 01-28-25 10:00AM in House conference room 430 VIA VIDEOCONFERENCE.
2025-01-21 H
Referred to TRN, JHA, referral sheet 2
2025-01-21 H
Introduced and Pass First Reading.
2025-01-17 H
Pending introduction.

Official Summary Text

RELATING TO VEHICLE TITLES.
Vehicle Title Transfers; Liability; Motor Vehicles
Clarifies that proof that a transferor has filed required notice forms serves as a complete defense to any action brought against the transferor for an act or omission, civil or criminal, arising out of the use, operation, or abandonment of the vehicle by another person. Requires, by July 1, 2026, the courts to create new forms permitting transferors to respond to actions arising out of the use, operation, or abandonment of transferred vehicles. Effective 7/1/3000. (HD1)

Current Bill Text

Read the full stored bill text

HB532

HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

H.B. NO.

532

THIRTY-THIRD LEGISLATURE, 2025

STATE OF HAWAII

A BILL FOR AN ACT

relating
to vehicle titles
.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF HAWAII:

����
SECTION
1
.
�
Section 286-52, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is
amended as follows:

����
1.
�
By amending subsection (b) to read:

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"
(b)
�
Within [
thirty
]
fourteen

calendar days thereafter, the transferee shall forward the certificate of
ownership so endorsed to the director of finance who shall file the same;
provided that if the recorded lien holder does not have an office in the State,
the applicable period shall be sixty days.
�

Whenever a transferee fails to comply with these provisions, the
director of finance shall charge a fee of $50, in addition to the fee provided
in section 286-51, for a new certificate of ownership.
�
If after fourteen calendar days, or sixty
days as appropriate, the transferee has not forwarded the endorsed certificate
of ownership, the transferor may submit an attestation about the transfer that
includes the names and addresses of the transferor and transferee, date of
transfer, vehicle description, and date that the notice required pursuant to
subsection (j) was submitted to the director of finance, who shall treat the
attestation in the same manner as an endorsed certificate.
"

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2.
�
By amending subsection (d) to read:

����
"
(d)
�
The director of finance, upon receipt of the
certificate of ownership properly endorsed,
or the transferor's attestation
pursuant to subsection (b),
shall register the vehicle, and shall issue to
the owner and legal owner entitled thereto by reason of the transfer a new
certificate of registration and the certificate of ownership, respectively, in
the manner and form hereinabove provided for original registration."

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3.
�
By amending subsection (k) to read:

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"
(k)
�
Whenever the registered owner of any motor
vehicle or any licensed dealer has given notice to the director of finance of a
transfer of the title or interest in the motor vehicle, as provided in
subsection (i) or (j), and has delivered the certificate of ownership bearing
the transferor's signature to the transferee as required by subsection (a)[
,
]

or the transferor's attestation pursuant to subsection (b),
the
transferor shall be relieved from any liability, civil or criminal, from the
date the transferor delivers the motor vehicle into the transferee's
possession, which the transferor might otherwise subsequently incur by reason
solely of being the registered owner of the vehicle."

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4.
�
By amending subsection (m) to read:

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"
(m)
�
Any person who falsely or fraudulently gives
notice to the director of finance of a transfer of title or interest in a motor
vehicle
or who falsely or fraudulently provides an attestation pursuant to
subsection (b)
shall be subject to the penalty provided in section 286-61."

����
SECTION
2.
�
Statutory material to be repealed is
bracketed and stricken.
�
New statutory
material is underscored.

����
SECTION 3.
�
This Act shall take effect upon its approval.

INTRODUCED BY:

_____________________________

Report Title:

Motor
Vehicle; Title Transfer; Ownership; Attestation

Description:

Reduces
the period in which a transferee is required to forward the certificate of
ownership to the director of finance when a title of vehicle is transferred
from thirty days to fourteen days.
�

Allows a letter of attestation to the Director of Finance to act as an
endorsed certificate for motor vehicle transfer.

The summary description
of legislation appearing on this page is for informational purposes only and is
not legislation or evidence of legislative intent.