Seniors living in Waima-nalo kupuna housing were upset, angered and confused after receiving notices that their rent is going up on
May 1 — some by as much as 62 percent.
One retired couple living on a fixed income got a letter from Locations, the property management company, saying that their rent will jump to $1,047 from $645.
The letters, received March 3, announced rent hikes ranging from $53 to $402 for a one-bedroom apartment at Kulanakauhale Maluhia O Na Kupuna.
“They said they did it according to your income,” said Vivian Pinto, a 74-year-old resident who attended an informational meeting March 10 held by the tenant association. Some residents thought, “Wow, that increase was kind of not legal,” but found out that it is, she said.
Her neighbor, whose rent also will exceed $1,000, plans to move.
The tidy complex of single-story apartment buildings at 41-209 Ilauhole St. is on the mauka side of Kalanianaole Highway across from Waimanalo Beach Park. All 85 of the 528-square-foot, one-bedroom apartments are nearly identical, with small gardens the residents enjoy tending.
The project, which opened in March 2002, has evolved slightly from what was initially strictly low-income housing to affordable housing. Three slots are designated for tenants making 100 percent or more of the median income — those residents are seeing the $402 increases.
The rental rates differ
because they are based on income levels from 100 percent or more of the median income down to those who qualify for Section 8 rent subsidized by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.
The state Department of Hawaiian Home Lands owns the land beneath the buildings. Residents must be Native Hawaiian, and the minimum age is 55 (lowered from 62).
Marvin Awaya, who developed the property and whose partnership holds the commercial lease, said, “We tried to keep rents low. We hadn’t raised rents when we should have or could have.”
The Department of Hawaiian Home Lands promised to pay subsidies to offset rent increases for the 30 tenants who have resided there at least since March 2008.
“We’re eating it,” said Awaya, who is also executive director of Pacific Housing Assistance Corp., which runs other senior housing projects. “We’re subsidizing this project, too.”
He said the per-unit maintenance cost is $511, but he only receives $540 rent for anyone making 30 percent of the median income. He said the project is losing money since maintenance, water and sewer fees, which are included in the rent, have gone up, but he keeps rents below the maximum he could charge by law.
But Pinto, 74, said: “The rent increases, never decreases, in spite of your income decreasing. Say if my husband dies, I’d still have to pay the same amount.”
Kehau Thornton, 68, who is recovering from double bypass surgery, said although her rent will be going up by $76, her income is going down.
“My job informed me they’re getting rid of my position,” she said.
“We do live in a state of uncertainty,” Pinto said. She said that it takes a toll on people’s health. “It increases their blood pressure, their stress level. … We hear stories they’re going to sell this place.”
The project must be kept affordable for 30 years, but the investors may leave the project after 15 years, which is in two years, Awaya said. Investors who bought into the project took advantage of tax credits.
Awaya said he has no intention to sell, and it would be difficult to find a buyer without being able to offer any tax credits.
Brad Isa of Locations said after the March 10 meeting that two residents said they planned to move because the rent increase is too much.
He said Locations tried to soften the blow by trying to spread the news by word of mouth before the letters went out.
When asked to explain the large jumps in rent, Awaya said he has not raised the rent since 2014, and did not do so sooner because of “pushback” from DHHL and the residents.
“It would take us too long to catch up, if we did it in
10 percent increments,” he said. “At this stage, we cannot continue on this way.”
He also said DHHL owes more than $50,000 in back rent subsidies, but DHHL spokeswoman Paula Aila said a payment to Locations was made in January.
Isa of Locations confirmed DHHL had been late in payments, but paid roughly $50,000 in January to cover the back rent subsidies from October 2014 to August 2015.
“We have an agreement they will pay us every half a year,” he said.
Tenant Amanda Hermanson, 76, said then-chairman of the Hawaiian Homes Commission, Micah Kane, had verbally committed to keeping their rents fixed in March 2008 since he agreed they had been “bamboozled” to move into the complex when they couldn’t fill the site. She said she owned a house in Maunawili, now valued at more than $1 million, but at the encouragement of DHHL gave the house to her children and moved into the complex 13 years ago.
She said she has no regrets, since it is a beautiful place to live, and after two brain surgeries, “this is a good place for me.”
Hermanson plans to ask DHHL for the subsidies to cover her rent increases.
Don Cagel, president of the tenant association,
Onipaa Na Kupuna, said the board is seeking subsidies from DHHL, the Office of
Hawaiian Affairs and other entities for the tenants.
Stanley Kamaka, 78, who has lived at the complex for five years, said, “We didn’t think they were going to raise the rent. When it came, I was shocked. But we can’t complain. This is the only place we got.”
DHHL’s Aila said, “The
intent was to take care of our kupuna. We will work with the parties to look at the situation to see where we’re at.”
