Editorial: Evictions moratorium is over?

The evictions moratorium in place since the start of the pandemic is over — or is it?

Gov. David Ige on Thursday confirmed that the state’s moratorium on rental evictions would end as scheduled the following day, but the launch of a new eviction moratorium by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention had left things murky.

By Friday, Ige had received guidance indicating Hawaii tenants had to meet income limits to be covered by the federal moratorium, and show they had pursued government housing assistance. They can check their qualifications online (808ne.ws/eviction).

Still, the status of thousands of tenants and landlords affected remains unclear. These are renters in arrears because of job loss and owners who are owed a lot of money.

This confusion may somewhat delay the flood of evictions that Hawaii has dreaded, but swift action by tenants is crucial now to take advantage of new protections.

One is the federal assistance for rent and utility costs that counties have worked to get out the door. Honolulu Mayor Rick Blangiardi said on Thursday he’s happy with the progress made in distributing some $180 million for Oahu. The latest figure is $47.8 million approved for 5,947 Oahu households so far. The rest likely will be tapped for at least another year, a program spokesman said.

The other assist came from Act 57, which Ige signed this year to steer landlords and tenants toward mediation, said Tracey Wiltgen of The Mediation Center of the Pacific.

When Hawaii’s eviction moratorium officially ended Friday, some landlords surely were ready to fire off an eviction notice. But by law, tenants now must be offered the opportunity for mediation, the first session to be scheduled within 15 days of the notice (information: mediatehawaii.org/landlordtenant).

The clock will start ticking, but there still will be a month or more to work things out before any eviction is finalized. All the while, tenants can still pursue the federal aid that could smooth out an agreement.

Applications are set to reopen next week for Oahu’s rent and utility relief program (www.oneoahu.org/renthelp).

Everyone, Wiltgen included, fully expects the crush of evictions to be daunting, but there’s still room to hope that these programs will blunt the impact somewhat. It’s the landlords and tenants, however, who need to take the first step — right now.