Opinion ID: 1217805
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: whether adequate relocation assistance was offered to appellants.

Text: Appellants contend that they are displaced persons as defined by HRS § 111-2 (1976), that they were denied their statutory rights to adequate relocation assistance, and that the trial court erred in ordering the eviction of appellants without determining the adequacy of relocation assistance. Chapter 111 of the Hawaii Revised Statutes (1976), entitled Assistance to Displaced Persons (hereinafter Act), provides that a state agency must offer relocation assistance to persons it displaces. See §§ 111-1, 111-3, 111-4, 111-6, and 111-7 (1976). The Act does not expressly state whether adequate relocation assistance must be offered prior to eviction. HRS § 111-1 (1976) states that the purpose of the Act is to establish a uniform policy for the fair and equitable treatment of owners, tenants, other persons, and business concerns displaced by the acquisition of real property for public or other purposes in the public interest, by building, zoning, and other similar code enforcement activities, or by a program of voluntary rehabilitation of buildings or other improvements conducted pursuant to governmental supervision. Committee reports on S.B.No. 1977-70 distinctly express the legislature's intent to establish a policy of equitable and humane treatment of persons displaced by governmental action. These reports state as follows: The purpose of this bill is to establish a uniform policy for the fair and equitable treatment of persons and organizations displaced by the acquisition of real property by governmental agencies... for public purposes. 1970 Senate Journal, 5th Legis., S.C.Rep. 517, Public Health, Welfare and Housing, at 1218. The purpose of this bill is to establish a uniform policy whereby government will afford equitable and humane treatment to persons displaced by governmental action. Progress is necessary and necessarily disruptive of the lives of those who lie in its path. However, our concept of the quality of life should include compassion for those whom government uproots in its attempts to improve the quality of life for the majority.