HB 2188 Hawaii House · 2026 Regular Session

RELATING TO HOUSING.

Summary

Requires landlords or landlord's agents to accept comprehensive reusable tenant screening reports, if made available by an applicant, and prohibits application fees in such cases. Establishes remedies for refusing to accept those reports. Effective 7/1/3000. (HD1)

Issues: ✓ Housing

Bill status in committee 1 of 4 stages cleared

Introduction

Jan 2026

Committee Review

Floor Vote

Governor

Introduced Jan 26, 2026 Last action Feb 20, 2026

Maddy AI version diff · 1 comparison

What changed between versions

HB2188 → HB2188_HD1 · 5 edits

MODERATE

This bill revision strengthens consumer protections by adding specific legal remedies for landlords who refuse to accept reusable tenant screening reports. It clarifies that landlords can only charge fees for information not already included in those reports and updates the effective date to July 1, 3000.

Scope change

The bill's scope was expanded to explicitly include landlord agents in the requirement to accept screening reports and clarified the definition of a 'comprehensive reusable tenant screening report' to include compliance with the federal Fair Credit Reporting Act.

ENFORCEMENT

Added new Section 3 establishing specific financial penalties: a $250 fee plus attorney's fees for a first violation, up to $250 in fines for subsequent violations, and up to $500 in fines for repeat offenders within ten years.

REQUIREMENT

Modified the fee structure to explicitly allow landlords to charge for information not contained in the reusable report, while prohibiting fees for updating the report itself.

DEFINITION

Modified the definition of a 'comprehensive reusable tenant screening report' to explicitly require compliance with the federal Fair Credit Reporting Act.

TIMELINE

Changed the effective date of the Act from November 1, 2026, to July 1, 3000.

TECHNICAL

Adjusted section numbering throughout the bill and updated the bill title to reflect the new enforcement provisions.

Floor votes

How they voted

No floor votes recorded yet.

Full legislative history

Actions timeline

Total actions

Key actions

Committee

Feb 20, 2026

Committee

Reported from CPC (Stand. Com. Rep. No. 683-26) as amended in HD 1, recommending passage on Second Reading and referral to FIN.

lower

Feb 10, 2026

Lower · Passed

The committee on CPC recommend that the measure be PASSED, WITH AMENDMENTS. The votes were as follows: 11 Ayes: Representative(s) Matayoshi, Grandinetti, Chun, Ilagan, Ichiyama, Iwamoto, Kong, Lowen, Marten, Tam, Pierick; Ayes with reservations: none; 0 Noes: none; and 0 Excused: none.

lower

Jan 30, 2026

Committee

Referred to CPC, FIN, referral sheet 5

lower

Jan 28, 2026

Introduced

Introduced and Pass First Reading.

lower

Jan 26, 2026

Introduced

Pending introduction.

lower

15 primary · 1 co-sponsor