The state Senate is holding up a bill that would allow the state Bureau of Conveyances to move forward with its modernization plans, state Department of Land and Natural Resources Chairwoman Laura Thielen said. The bureau — which keeps record
The state Senate is holding up a bill that would allow the state Bureau of Conveyances to move forward with its modernization plans, state Department of Land and Natural Resources Chairwoman Laura Thielen said.
The bureau — which keeps record of deeds, mortgages, liens and other legal documents — has been highly criticized over the past 14 years for being “slow, inefficient, ineffective and difficult to utilize,” she said in an interview Friday.
A contract is in place to bring the bureau online and digitally archive the records — a drastic improvement particularly beneficial to the Neighbor Islands — but the law needs changed before this automation can happen, Thielen said.
“We have a system where someone either has to mail a document in or walk it in with a hard copy,” said Thielen, who oversees the bureau. “We hand-cashier it. We hand-enter data. We scan it. We hand-enter more data. We do the recording, and then we microfilm it for archiving.”
Current law prohibits the bureau from accepting documents, sometimes hundreds of pages long, over the Internet.
“We could take a four-month process and drop it down to under a week,” she said. “For the first time, Neighbor Islands residents would have the ability to have same-day recordation of their documents.”
The House unanimously passed a bill to allow the bureau to go online as three other state government agencies have recently done. But the Senate “gutted” the legislation, Thielen said, and wants the DLNR to perform a feasibility study on the impact electronic recording may have on the bureau of conveyances and the public.
She said Sen. Russell Kokubun, D-2nd District, told her he wants the bureau’s policies and procedures redone.
Thielen said she would be happy to compromise by continuing to work with stakeholders to improve the bureau as it is brought online.
“It seems that we can do both,” she said. “Many goals of this planning process will be met if it goes online.”
Specifically, she said concerns over the bureau, which employs just under 60 people, racking up excessive overtime would be avoided with the time electronic filing would save. Also, complaints about the bureau not providing data in a timely manner would be alleviated by an online system’s ability to provide instantaneous data.
“We don’t need more studies,” she said. “We could save a lot of time and a lot of money and move with the contract we have now.”
The DLNR has signed a contract with eHawaii.gov, which does Internet portal services for all state agencies, to bring the bureau online, Thielen said.
“It’s time for change,” she said, adding that the bureau has been one of the most studied state departments.
Kokubun could not be reached for comment at press time.
“The bureau has some serious challenges, in terms of how it’s been conducting its business. It definitely needs to be modernized and upgraded,” state Sen. Gary Hooser, D-7th District said yesterday. “It’s not unusual or uncommon for Laura to oppose legislative issues that add additional work. Most departments, in their defense, do not want more work. They have enough on their plate already.
“Laura has made a commitment to improve the bureau,” he added. “The only way we’re going to know if it’s improved or changed is to have a report or study.”
The DLNR over the past six months has pulled together a working group from every profession using the bureau, Thielen said, noting the inclusion of Realtors, the title industry, escrow, law, banking, the head of the HGEA and bureau staff.
The group identified how to take the bureau online, she said, but the hold up was a need to change an outdated law.
“It’s important for the Senate to recognize that folks at the bureau have stepped up to the plate,” Thielen said. “We don’t want to lose that momentum.”
Bringing the bureau online will not cause lost jobs, she said. Instead, it will allow staff to divert its attention from clerical tasks to help with quality control and recording.
More than 300 bureaus of conveyances have adopted electronic filing systems, Thielen said.
The information goes into a secure database that is not public, she said. Documents can’t be altered — only accepted or rejected by the bureau.
Thielen is also proposing a change in the law requiring full social security numbers to only asking for the last four digits.
