State Bar Foundation awards $100K to Legal Aid Society to help renters

The Hawaii State Bar Foundation has awarded a $100,000 grant to the Legal Aid Society of Hawaii to assist those facing eviction with legal services, including providing education and information as well as providing access to justice by way of legal defense. This grant is the largest grant ever made by HSBF since its inception in 2012 and comes with the Hawaii eviction moratorium ending Friday.

On Tuesday the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention issued a new eviction moratorium that would last until Oct. 3 which would temporarily halt evictions in counties with “substantial and high levels” of virus transmissions and would cover areas where 90% of the U.S. population lives. There was no immediate announcement by Gov. David Ige’s administration about how this will affect Hawaii.

When the Hawaii eviction moratorium is lifted, a flood of summary possession cases are expected to inundate the state court system. HSBF is actively engaged in discussions to partner with other organizations and entities focused on the eviction crisis in addition to LASH.

HSBF hopes to raise another $100,000 to support LASH and other eviction-related efforts over the course of the next 18 months.

Efforts are underway, and donations to the effort can be accepted through HSBF’s website at hsbfhi.org/donate.

“We are grateful to HSBF for this significant investment to continue our work in providing critical legal assistance to families facing eviction,” LASH Executive Director Nalani Fujimori Kaina said in a statement. “HSBF’s gift will allow Legal Aid to prepare for the end of the moratorium on the Leeward Coast and in West Hawai‘i where we have seen some of the most egregious abuses of tenants, including a landlord re-rent a property that was already rented causing the original tenant to be locked out and become homeless; and a condominium association which owned a rental property claim that their family member was moving in, so that they could break the lease and re-list the property on VRBO.”