HomeMy WebLinkAboutCOM 0018.000 2018-2020 DANNY A. MATEO JOSIAH K. NISHITA
County Clerk Deputy County Clerk
OFFICE OF THE COUNTY CLERK
COUNTY OF MAUI
200 SOUTH HIGH STREET
WAILUKU, MAUI, HAWAII 96793
www.mauicounty.gov/county/clerk
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November 9, 2018 n
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Honorable Valerie Poindexter, Chair
Hawaii County Council
25 Aupuni Street, Suite 1402
Hilo, HI 96720
Dear Ma'am:
Transmitted herewith is a certified copy of Resolution No. 18-178,
which was adopted by the Council of the County of Maui, State of Hawaii,
on November 2, 2018.
Respectfully,
CikmittO:
DANNY A. MATEO
County Clerk
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Enclosure
Comm. No.
Ref.To:
Ref. Dote NOV 1 4 2018
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Resolution
No. 18-178
SUPPORTING THE GOVERNOR'S EFFORTS TO
INTERVENE BETWEEN NA PO'E KOKUA, THE
HAWAII FAIR LENDING COALITION, AND THE
BANK OF AMERICA TO REACH A SETTLEMENT
AGREEMENT RELATING TO A $150 MILLION
LOAN COMMITMENT FOR NATIVE HAWAIIANS
ON HAWAIIAN HOME LANDS
WHEREAS, in 1993, Na Po'e Kokua (NPK), an organization
established to assist native Hawaiians with housing and related matters,
formed the Hawaii Fair Lending Coalition (HFLC) and began researching
how banks in Hawaii were treating native Hawaiians; and
WHEREAS, among its findings, HFLC discovered that Bank of
America (BofA) was conducting discriminatory lending practices in the
form of redlining, the practice of denying services to residents of certain
areas based on the racial or ethnic composition of those areas, by not
providing mortgages on Hawaiian Home Lands; and
WHEREAS, _in May 1994, as a result of HFLC's efforts and as a
condition of BofA's acquisition of Liberty Bank, the Federal Reserve System
ordered BofA to make $150 million in FHA-247 mortgages available on
Hawaiian Home Lands by 1998; and
WHEREAS, by the 1998 deadline, BofA provided only $3,109,502 of
the $150 million in FHA-247 mortgages ordered by the Federal Reserve
System; and
WHEREAS, in 1998, BofA recommitted to meet the $150 million loan
commitment to native Hawaiians and to pay a $4.5 million late fee based
on the opportunity cost of its failure to fulfill its required commitment; and
WHEREAS, the BofA executive responsible for this recommitment
was Catherine P. Bessant, then in charge of Community Development, who
traveled to Hawaii with other senior bank executives in August 1998 to
meet with Governor Cayetano, Hawaiian kupuna, and other community
leaders from NPK/HFLC at Iolani Palace; and
Resolution No. 18-178
WHEREAS, in 2012, the Hawaiian Homes Commission unanimously
confirmed that the BofA commitment remained unfulfilled, and expressed
support for HFLC's consistent and ongoing efforts to hold BofA
accountable; and
WHEREAS, on April 18, 2018, Governor Ige invited
Catherine P. Bessant to return to Hawaii for a meeting with NPK/HFLC "to
reach a fair and final settlement of BofA's outstanding $150 million
commitment to the Hawaiian people on their homelands"; and
WHEREAS, BofA originated $13,092,314 in loans on Hawaiian
Home Lands from 1994-2012, and has made no FHA-247 loans since,
according to account information provided by the United States
Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) on
August 20, 2018, in response to a Freedom of Information Act request;
and
WHEREAS, based upon HUD data, lost opportunities for building
equity and reaping the benefits of a booming housing market, and paying
affordable mortgages rather than skyrocketing rents over the last twenty
years for 890 native Hawaiian families who should have received BofA
mortgages by 1998, but did not, and the families who did receive loans up
to 13 years after the deadline, preliminary estimates for BofA's late fees
are approximately $360.6 million; now, therefore,
BE IT RESOLVED by the Council of the County of Maui:
1. That it does hereby support the Governor's efforts to intervene
between Na Po'e Kokua, the Hawaii Fair Lending Coalition,
and the Bank of America to reach a settlement agreement
relating to a $150 million loan commitment for native
Hawaiians on Hawaiian Home Lands, now twenty years
overdue; and
2. That it urges Catherine P. Bessant to return to Hawaii to meet
with NPK/HFLC to reach a fair and final settlement, as invited
by Governor Ige; and
Resolution No. 18-178
3. That in addition to providing the mortgages on Hawaiian
Home Lands as ordered by the Federal Reserve System, BofA
must address the estimated $360.6 million in lost opportunity
costs for native Hawaiians on Hawaiian Home Lands and a
$4.5 million late fee for failing to fulfill its required
commitment; and
4. That certified copies of this resolution be transmitted to
Brian T. Moynihan, Chief Executive Officer, Bank of America;
Y
Anne M. Finucane, Vice Chairman, Bank of America;
Catherine P. Bessant, Chief Operations and Technology
Officer, Bank of America; Jerome H. Powell, Chairman, Board
of Governors, Federal Reserve System; Lael Brainard, Chair of
the Committee on Consumer and Community Affairs, Board
of Governors, Federal Reserve System; the Honorable
David Ige, Governor, State of Hawaii; the Honorable
Brian Schatz, United States Senator; the Honorable
Mazie K. Hirono, -United States Senator; the Honorable
Alan Arakawa, Mayor, County of Maui; the Honorable
Mel Rapozo, Chair, Kauai County Council; the Honorable
Valerie T. Poindexter, Chair, Hawaii County Council; the
Honorable Ernest Y. Martin, Chair, Honolulu City Council;
and Kehaulani Filimoe'atu, Na Po'e Kokua/Hawaii Fair
Lending Coalition.
APPROVED AS TO FORM AND LEGALITY
2A1
EDWARD S. KUSHI, JR.
Department of the Corporation Counsel
County of Maui
2018-1501/2018-1576
paf:ldm:18-290c
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COUNCIL OF THE COUNTY OF MAUI
WAILUKU, HAWAII 96793
CERTIFICATION OF ADOPTION
It is HEREBY CERTIFIED that RESOLUTION NO. 18-178 was adopted by the
Council of the County of Maui, State of Hawaii, on the 2nd day of November, 2018,
by the following vote:
Michael B. Robert Alika Eleanora S.Stacy Donald S. G.Riki Kelly T. Yuki Lei K.
MEMBERS WHITE CARROLL ATAY COCHRAN CRIVELLO GUZMAN HOKAMA KING SUGIMURA
Chair Vice-Chair
ROLL CALL Aye Aye Aye Aye Aye Aye Excused Aye Aye
COU TY CLERK