This article was produced for ProPublica’s Local Reporting Network in partnership with Honolulu Civil Beat. Sign up for Dispatchs to get articles like this as soon as they’re published.
When the federal government intervened to rent housing for survivors of the devastating 2023 fires on Maui, government officials raised rents or raised rents to secure lucrative government contracts. He said he doesn’t want to give landlords an incentive to evict tenants.
On paper, this plan sounded good. It relied on finding empty vacation rentals and second homes, which was consistent with Federal Emergency Management Agency policy.
But a new report shows that FEMA did not take basic steps to ensure that: FEMA did not contract with private companies to identify housing that could be rented to survivors. When they were, they were not prohibited from signing on properties where they lived for a long time – regular residents.
Without such protections and with FEMA offering far higher rates than residents typically pay each month, some landlords are evicting tenants and housing wildfire survivors for more money. did. Local economists are warning that rents could rise across the small island and Maui’s housing crisis could intensify, both of which are coming true, according to Civil Beat. ProPublica reported.
FEMA’s own study on the impact of the emergency housing program on Maui’s economy found that median rents increased by 44% from the beginning of 2023 to June 2024. Although researchers conclude that this is primarily due to the loss of many homes in fires, they say anecdotal evidence and hundreds of complaints to state agencies suggest that FEMA’s “This suggests that the behavior of some landlords has changed,” which may have led to increases in rents and evictions.
Reports by Civil Beat and ProPublica support the researchers’ conclusions. Tenants, housing advocates, government officials and property owners say landlords are jacking up rents and residents are being evicted by wildfire survivors and others paying higher rates. are.
Justin Tyndall, an associate professor at the University of Hawaii who co-authored a report warning that FEMA’s housing programs could lead to evictions, said, It was clear that they were in place,” he said. “If you can find a way to evict a tenant, you would be eligible for a huge rent payment from FEMA, so it’s not surprising that people are finding creative ways to try to take advantage of that money. ”
When the agency launched the program, it did instruct potential contractors to lease units “not available to the general public.” David Greenberg, president of Parliament LLC, one of the companies hired by FEMA, said in an email that even if the company didn’t know, it will rent properties from landlords who have evicted tenants. That means Congress loses the contract. He said employees were instructed to look for properties advertised as vacation rentals and “specifically ask the owner or property manager if there are any existing tenants.”
FEMA officials told Civil Beat and ProPublica that the 1,362 properties in the agency’s housing program are primarily vacation rentals and second homes, but they did not have exact numbers. They also said FEMA policy allows for flexibility. Because housing on the island is limited and vacation rentals alone were not enough for their program to meet the needs of survivors, the agency is willing to provide assistance to any property owner, as long as the home is safe and ready for occupancy. But I was allowed to register.
A nonprofit organization that also rented out properties was more proactive in preventing profiteering by landlords. The Native Hawaiian Advancement Council, a prominent local nonprofit organization, implemented the only non-governmental leasing program after the fire. The program’s online application required property owners to prove they were not displacing anyone to accommodate survivors. They had to say what type of rental property they had and whether it was furnished or not. Also, if the landlord claimed the property was a short-term rental, staff tried to verify that through property tax records or Airbnb listings.
The online application for the Native Hawaiian Development Council’s housing program requires property owners to check a box that says they cannot and promises not to displace anyone to house wildfire survivors. It asks you to check the box. Credit: Retrieved from Honolulu Civil Beat and ProPublica. Highlighted by ProPublica.
Additionally, according to Skye Corealani, if a landlord states the property is a long-term rental (the type of property FEMA wants to avoid), CNHA will provide advance notice of the rental so that officials can be sure no one is being evicted. He said he asked for the contract and the names of previous tenants. Rayzon Olds, who oversees the nonprofit’s emergency housing and recovery efforts. When nonprofits leased long-term rentals, they offered lower rates than vacation rentals. In contrast, FEMA said it generally sets rates that are competitive with what travelers typically pay.
“We know the areas that are typically used for short-term rentals, and we have had deeper conversations with people and were willing to say no,” Raison-Olds said. “Most of the things we asked for were short-term rentals, so we knew we weren’t going to move anyone.”
Bob Fenton, the FEMA regional administrator responsible for post-fire disaster relief, acknowledged that FEMA is not asking contractors to avoid long-term rentals. “It’s not like we signed a deal, we have to be in the vacation rental market,” he said. He said he was not aware of FEMA contractors taking similar steps as CNHA, but added that the agency welcomes suggestions on how to improve the program. “These are all ideas, recommendations and lessons to consider as we continue to operate here,” he said.
In reality, it was largely up to FEMA contractors to ensure that efforts to secure housing did not result in the displacement of people by landlords. Council President Greenberg said his company refused to work with several landlords who were trying to evict current tenants. “If I sense even the slightest whiff of impropriety, I will move on to the next department.”
But the online application form the company created for property owners doesn’t ask anything about tenant or rental type, but includes additional information such as address, number of bedrooms and bathrooms, availability, and whether there are pets. only was asked. Is it permitted or accessible to people with disabilities?
In response to claims that companies like his valued speed over property vetting, Greenberg said: Our troops were received with dignity. ” did not answer questions about whether employees had inquired about previous tenants.
Fenton acknowledged that the agency typically cannot know if someone has been evicted before a contractor leases a unit. In “less than 10 cases,” landlords were found to have improperly terminated tenants’ leases in order to participate in FEMA’s program, Fenton said. We kicked those properties out.
Congress was one of three companies hired by FEMA to manage the property. Representatives for the other two companies, Lima Charlie Co. and Aesthetic Home Investments Co., did not respond to questions from Civil Beat and ProPublica.
Two landlords who rented to long-term tenants before the fire told Civil Beat and ProPublica that FEMA contractors spent little time vetting the properties. Hank Rapoza, a Maui-based real estate agent, said he approached the council in December or January about renting out a two-bedroom condo in Wailea. He said the representative asked if the unit was vacant, and when he said it was, he did not inquire further. The company offered him $7,500 a month, far more than the $3,500 he had previously been charged.
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“$7,500 was more than reasonable so I said I’d take it,” Rapoza said. “After I said that, within three hours they sent me a contract and I signed it. That’s how fast they were.”
Another homeowner, Stephen Clark, said signing up for the program was surprisingly easy. After the fire, he listed his newly renovated three-bedroom house in Makawao and asked for $4,000 a month. In November, while eating tacos at a food truck in Kahului, he got a call from a Lima Charlie representative offering him $8,000 a month. Clark said no one asked about previous tenants. The representative just wanted to know if the place was available. Mr. Clark said yes. “They took me at my word,” Clark said. They made a deal before he finished lunch.
Are you struggling to keep or find housing after the Maui wildfires? Tell us your story.
We need to hear from those affected by what many are describing as the post-fire secondary housing crisis. Have you faced an eviction or rent increase? Are you a landlord or property manager? Tell us how it affected you.
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