Home > Blogs > Jerry Bangerter > Jerry 's Blog

Cost of Electricity Disclosure, Real Estate Sales

By Jerry Bangerter

Services for Real Estate Pros with RE/MAX Kai Lani

June 19, 2009 03:06 PM

State of Hawaii House Bill 1464 "Prior to the sale of residential real property, the property owner shall make a good faith declaration of electricity cost based on the most recent three-month period in which the property was occupied prior to the date of the seller's disclosure, pursuant to chapter 508D. This declaration shall only apply where the owner directly pays the electrical utility bills, and shall not apply in the case of a foreclosure of residential real property or where there are no electric utility accounts associated with the property." This new electricity cost disclosure requirement applying to real estate sales disclosures goes into effect on July 1, 2009 in Hawaii. When something like this happens, it is good to keep our ear to the wall to see if it migrates into property management law. Heads up wherever you are. Jerry

Re-Blog

Comments(6)

Comment

Show All Comments

Sort:

Diane Rice

Rice Prprty Mgmnt & Rlty, LLC, South Holland, IL - Lansing, IL

SFR, SRES, CNC

Oh Dear! Here we go! Disclose, disclose, disclose! Disclose lead, disclose radon, disclose mold, disclose carbon monoxide, disclose patent/latent, disclose rehab, disclose storage tanks, disclose pre-foreclosure, etc.... Pretty soon, someone will invent a "DiscloseOMeter" to measure and disclose every little bitty itsy iota in every little nook and cranny! We are no longer selling homes, we are now disclosing homes..... (I feel a blog coming up!)

Thanks for allowing me to vent a bit! (smile)

Diane

Jun 20, 2009 02:11 AM

Jerry Bangerter

RE/MAX Kai Lani - Honolulu, HI

Hi Diane,

Sometimes I wonder who is running my business, me or the bureaucrats? Ah, hoot and what the heck, life is good and I am happy to be here! But I don't want to be trying to figure out the cost of electricity the last tenants used. Hawaiian Electric will love our calls. They will have to hire a few more employees to answer all the calls and then they can raise the price of electricity again. Don'tcha just love life? Jerry

Jun 20, 2009 12:33 PM

Julie A. Black

KAUAI DREAMS REALTY Kauai Real Property Specialist - Kapaa, HI

CLHMS, CRS, GRI, Realtor, Broker

I think it's ridiculous. You would think law makers would have more common sense.

Jun 20, 2009 04:39 PM

Julie, Don't you know that "law-makers" and "common-sense" are an oxymoron? Jerry

Jun 21, 2009 08:01 AM

Wallace S. Gibson, CPM

Gibson Management Group, Ltd. - Charlottesville, VA

LandlordWhisperer

When I am asked for utility costs, I suggest applicants/residents check with individual utility co. There are PRIVACY issues at play and many property owners have utility costs debited from their bank accounts so they never see an actual bill.

I always explain that the use of the property and # of residents determine the utility costs....although I can understand the value of having this information relative to the purchase of the property.

Since I own HEI stock, works for me!!! Good heads up, Jerry!!!

Jun 22, 2009 10:36 PM

Wallace, Thanks for the reminder of the Privacy Issues. Your suggestion about referring them to the electricity provider is right on. Hang on to your britches though, especially those of us in Hawaii. Our legislators are prone to overreaction especially if it burdens the real estate industry in its many permutations. Jerry

Jun 23, 2009 06:56 AM

Cost of Electricity Disclosure, Real Estate Sales

Comments(6)

Jerry Bangerter

Real Estate Resources

Recent Posts