(a) With respect to a lease-purchase agreement, an assignee of the rights of the lessor is subject to all claims and defenses of the lessee against the lessor arising from the lease of property or services, notwithstanding that the assignee is the holder in due course of a negotiable instrument issued in violation of the provisions prohibiting certain negotiable instruments.
Terms Used In Hawaii Revised Statutes 481M-8
Lease: A contract transferring the use of property or occupancy of land, space, structures, or equipment in consideration of a payment (e.g., rent). Source: OCC
Lessee: means a natural person who rents personal property under a lease-purchase agreement. See Hawaii Revised Statutes 481M-1
Lessor: means a person who regularly provides the use of property through lease-purchase agreements and to whom lease payments are initially payable on the face of the lease-purchase agreement. See Hawaii Revised Statutes 481M-1
(b) A claim or defense of a lessee specified in subsection (a) may be asserted against the assignee under this section only to the extent of the amount owing and paid to the assignee and assignor.(c) An agreement may not limit or waive the claims or defenses of a lessee under this section.(d) The lessee is authorized to pay the original lessor until the lessee receives written notification that the rights to payment pursuant to a lease-purchase agreement have been assigned to an assignee and that payment is to be made to the assignee. A notification that does not reasonably identify the rights assigned shall be ineffective. If requested by the lessee, the assignee shall furnish reasonable proof that the assignment has been made, and unless the assignee does so, the lessee may pay the lessor.
