Question: Regarding motor vehicle registration renewal, did that bill that forgives five years or so of lapsed registration pass?

Answer: No, House Bill 2023 died early in the 2024 legislative session, failing to get a hearing in either of the two committees to which it was initially referred, according to capitol.hawaii.gov.

The bill would have a forgiven a portion of taxes, fees and penalties due from some vehicle owners who failed to keep their annual vehicle registration current, reasoning that the incentive would reduce the number of unregistered and abandoned vehicles in Hawaii. Sometimes overdue back taxes exceed a vehicle’s value, making the vehicle difficult to sell and more likely to be abandoned, the bill said.

However, rather than forgiving the past five years of delinquent motor vehicle taxes, fees and penalties, as you had recalled, the measure would have capped overdue payments at five years. The bill said “the delinquent tax due shall not exceed the current tax due plus any unpaid taxes due and penalties incurred during the first five consecutive years of delinquency, regardless of the overall duration of delinquency.”

Honolulu’s Department of Customer Services estimated in May that nearly 30,000 Oahu vehicles haven’t been registered for at least five years. The department said in a news release then that there were 895,140 registered vehicles on Oahu, and 40,457 vehicles with expired registrations. Of that latter number, 29,618 had been expired since July 2019, it said.

CSD reminds potential car buyers to check a vehicle’s registration status before purchase, and to know that if the registration is past due, delinquent taxes, fees and penalties must be paid for the registration to be renewed. “You can check on the annual registration fee cost for a specific vehicle that is already registered in the City and County of Honolulu online at Honolulu Motor Vehicle Inquiry (mvinquiry.hnl.info). If the vehicle registration is delinquent, as the new owner, you will be assessed for all delinquent taxes for prior years that the vehicle has not been legally registered,” CSD’s website says.

Appeals of past taxes and fees are decided in First Circuit District Court of Oʻahu, it says.

Q: Auwe! Plain homeowner’s insurance doesn’t usually cover flood damage, that’s true, but flood insurance doesn’t cover all water damage either. Property owners need to be very careful about buying flood insurance so they know exactly what they are getting.

A: National Flood Insurance Program “policies cover water that accumulates on normally dry land, whether from rain, storm surge or the overflow of a body of water. Water that backs up through sewers or drains, discharges or overflows from a sump pump or seeps through the insured property is covered only when caused by a flood as defined by the NFIP,” according to the program’s website, floodsmart.gov.

In simple terms, the website says, “a flood is an excess of water on land that is normally dry, affecting two or more acres of land or two or more properties.” To be covered, damage must be a direct result of flooding, and the cause of the flooding matters. For example, “damage caused by a sewer backup is covered if the backup is a direct result of flooding. If the sewer backup is not caused directly by flooding, the damage is not covered,” it says.

The website also lists numerous costs excluded from a flood insurance policy’s building or contents coverage. For example, none of the following are covered, it says:

>> “Temporary housing and additional living expenses incurred while the building is being repaired or is unable to be occupied.”

>> “Damage caused by moisture, mildew or mold that could have been avoided by the property owner.”

>> “Property outside of an insured building. For example, landscaping, wells, septic systems, decks and patios, fences, seawalls, hot tubs, and swimming pools.”

>> “Financial losses caused by business interruption.”

>> “Currency, precious metals, stock certificates and other valuable papers.”

>> “Cars and most self-propelled vehicles, including their parts.”

>> “Personal property kept in basements.”

>> “Damage caused by water flow beneath the earth’s surface (review the exclusions section in your flood insurance policy for specific information on damage caused by seepage or drain or sewer backup).”

Customers are advised to carefully review their policies or prospective policies for specific exclusions and limitations.

Write to Kokua Line at Honolulu Star-Advertiser, 500 Ala Moana Blvd., Suite 7-500, Honolulu, HI 96813; call 808-529-4773; or email kokualine@staradvertiser.com.