A group of Maui renters held signs Monday afternoon at Queen Kaahumanu Center saying “Need over greed” and “Residents first” to call attention to the growing plight of tenants in the wake of the Aug. 8 wildfires.

The Maui Tenants Association organized the rally calling for Gov. Josh Green to extend the current eviction moratorium and rent freeze required in his current emergency proclamation. Their motto is, “Until supply meets demand, the moratorium should stand.”

At least 20 showed up along West Kaahumanu Avenue in Kahului, chanting “Maui housing is a right!” and “Housing is a human right!” as supporters honked car horns.

Just barely three months after the Maui wildfire disaster Aug. 8, renters are struggling with less inventory and skyrocketing rates, said Maui Tenants Association spokesperson Nara Boone.

“The problem is the housing crisis was already long underway, before the fires,” said Boone. “So these fires have just brought all the issues to light in a glaring, unavoidable way.”

There was already a 41% increase in rents on Maui over a year ago, according to Boone, with the county known to have the highest rates statewide.

The fires have not only displaced thousands, but put current tenants in a difficult position as landlords adjust to increased demand for long-term rentals and new market forces.

One of the impacts of the emergency, she said, is landlords moving to evict current tenants so they can take advantage of federal funds for fire survivors.

“It’s creating another problem,” she said. “People who have been housed are used to rents for all these years, and now they’re being shoved into the housing market at exorbitant rates.”

Maui renter Iman Sohrabi, who attended the rally, said his landlord gave him 45 days’ notice his lease would not be renewed. Despite a verbal promise he would not do so, the landlord in mid-September went ahead and sent Sohrabi notice of the lease’s end.

Sohrabi said he does not qualify for federal aid or funding because he did not lose a house, but that he did lose work as a self-employed scuba tour guide and other part-time jobs he held along Front Street in Lahaina.

“I basically am getting displaced with no one helping me,” he said. “It’s not that I don’t want to pay rent. I just want to renew my lease.”

The Maui Tenants Association, a community outreach project of the Hawaii Workers Center, said it received support from allies including Unite Here Local 5 and AARP Hawaii, among others.

Seventh emergency proclamation

The state attorney general, meanwhile, issued a news release Monday asking tenants to report any illegal increases in rent or threats of eviction that violate the current emergency proclamation.

Under the seventh emergency proclamation relating to wildfires signed by Gov. Josh Green on Sept. 8, charging more rent than the rate charged on Aug. 9 as well as threats of eviction for failure to pay rent, taxes or fees are prohibited.

This applies to landlords re-renting a property to new tenants as well as new agreements with the same tenant, according to the Department of the Attorney General, as long as the proclamation remains in effect. The exception is if an increase in rent was already agreed upon in writing and signed by the tenant before Aug. 9.

The proclamation remains effective through Nov. 6 unless terminated or superseded by a different one.

Landlords violating the proclamation could be subject to civil penalties of up to $10,000 per day.

“We are aware of reports of Maui landlords raising rent beyond what was being assessed for the same unit as of August 9, 2023,” said Attorney General Anne Lopez in the release. “The purpose of the rent and eviction restrictions in the Emergency Proclamation is to address the unprecedented humanitarian crisis caused by the August wildfires. If you believe that a landlord on Maui is acting illegally under the Emergency Proclamation, report what you know to the Department of the Attorney General.”

The proclamation also prohibits landlords from initiating, continuing or prosecuting an eviction action against a tenant for failure to pay all or any portion of the rent, maintenance fees, utility charges, taxes or other fees for the residential unit.

Merely threatening eviction under such circumstances could constitute an unlawful act, the department said.

While the support of the Attorney General’s Office is appreciated, Boone said, some tenants are hesitant to report landlords due to fears of retaliation.

Both evictions and rent increases are still happening although they are not supposed to, she said. Tenants like Sohrabi are being notified their leases will not be renewed, giving landlords the opportunity to re- advertise a newly vacated space and raise the rent.

“So far, there have not been any checks and balances when it comes to this situation,” she said. “I would like to see enforcement.”

The seventh proclamation also places a prize freeze on specific goods on Maui, including food, water, ice, dairy and nondairy milk, hygiene products such as toilet paper, over-the-counter medicines and pet food, among other items, as well as other rentals, such as self-service storage and car rentals.

PROTECTION FOR TENANTS

>> To report a Maui landlord potentially violating the seventh emergency proclamation, email complaints to hawaiiag@hawaii.gov.

———

Star-Advertiser staff writer Andrew Gomes on Maui contributed to this story.