The Hawaii Bureau of Conveyances is the state body that records all real estate transactions. Like many states, Hawaii is facing some budget challenges due to the current recession. Those budget issues are having an impact on staffing at the Bureau. As a result, the Bureau has some new rules that will go into effect as of July 1, 2009 that could potentially impact a real estate transaction. Here is a quick summary of the changes.
- No Specials: The Bureau of Conveyances will no longer allow specials regardless of the liability
(dollar) amount. Specials are where title and escrow are able to submit documents to the bureau on the same day of recording instead of a day or more in advance as is the norm. - No Pulls: The Bureau of Conveyances will no longer allow documents to be pulled once they have
been submitted for recording. - Projects or Bulk Recordings: No project/bulk recording will be allowed during the
last five business days of each month. - Recording Fee: The Regular System Recording fee will increase from $25/document to
$30/document. Land Court document Recording fees are not affected. - Good Funds: Documents will not be submitted unless escrow has good funds in hand
two business days prior to recordation.
The new Good Funds rule is going to have the biggest impact on buyers and sellers. As it stands now, loans are taking longer. Buyer’s and sellers are going to need to make sure they allow sufficient time to close to accommodate longer loan processing and more time at the bureau of conveyances. The no specials rule will also have an impact. Specials were helpful if there were any delays getting documentation from a lender and there was a threat that recording may have needed to be pushed back. While there were no guarantee on specials, that safety net is no longer available.
