Maui residents say ‘loopholes’ in emergency proclamation is causing more homelessness

KAHULUI (HawaiiNewsNow) -Maui residents say the homeless crisis is getting worse.

Nearly eight months after the fires, the rental market is skyrocketing, thousands of survivors are still living in hotels, and many more have moved away.

“Please, please, please, Mr. Governor, please come to our aid, send us some kind of help,” said Christie Cummings.

Cummings, who was born and raised on Maui, has lived at Kahului Harbor since January, and now her daughter is too.

“My daughter was evicted from her house and she was about seven and a half months pregnant. Just March 27 she went into labor at Kahului Harbor and she has a three-year-old also,” Cummings said.

Cummings said her landlord kicked her out to move in family members. But she believes it was to get more money from the government to house fire survivors. So, she is calling on the governor and the mayor to help people like her.

“It’s not fair to us who are not victims of the fire. But because of what happened, we are now becoming the victim, and there’s no protection for us,” she said.

According to the governor, nearly 3,000 fire survivors are still living in hotels.

In addition, the Economic Research Organization at the University of Hawaii forecasts that the population on Maui has declined by 4,000 people since the fires and will fall even more in the years to come.

Plus, rent on the island is outrageous. A studio now costs more than $2,000.

People like Alan Lloyd with the Maui Tenants and Workers Association say the number of homeless people is also going up. So, he is asking the governor to close what he calls loopholes in his emergency proclamation, which is set to expire next month.

“He needs to hear us. He needs to listen to what the tenants have to say, and then he needs to tell us what his Attorney General said about closing those loopholes, and if they can’t, why they can’t,” said Lloyd.

The governor’s team released a statement saying, “Gov. Green, his Attorney General, and the Federal Emergency Management Agency have regularly reminded landlords that evicting residents to get more money from FEMA is not legal. FEMA has reiterated that it will not engage with unscrupulous property owners who treat local residents in this way. Anyone who has experienced wrongful treatment should file a complaint at hawaiiag@hawaii.gov.”

Lloyd and Cummings met with Mayor Bissen on Tuesday and asked him to help with rent control. He said the mayor and corporation counsel promised they are looking into it.