A state agency that faltered two years ago paying maintenance fees on a Kakaako affordable-housing complex it partly owns has been barraged with complaints from residents over living conditions.

A mix of condominium owners and seniors who rent state-owned apartments in the 243-unit Honua­kaha midrise have been pushing the agency, the Hawaii Community Development Authority, in recent months to better address issues that include poor hot water distribution, mold-damaged walls, an unusable recreation courtyard and warnings to senior tenants about potential eviction over so much as a 50-cent debt.

The campaign has included a website titled “Fix Honuakaha,” social media posts, meetings with elected officials and demonstrations outside the building and at the state Capitol.

HCDA, which controls Honuakaha’s governance through owner association board seats, has become more involved with maintenance and operations recently, and insists that problems are being addressed.

But Bo-Bae Kim, a resident leading the crusade for improvements, contends that major issues remain and state officials are more dismissive than helpful.

“It’s a mess here,” she said. “We have all kind of dysfunction here.”

Some things tenants have complained about aren’t extraordinary for a nearly 30-year-old building, such as elevator breakdowns and plumbing leaks causing mold.

It’s also not uncommon for renters to be dissatisfied with landlords or condo owners to disagree with board association leadership.

Issues at Honuakaha, however, include a mix of both and have drawn the attention of elected government leaders.

Mel Kaopua, a 20-year Honua­kaha rental tenant, doesn’t expect things to be perfect. He accepts that one of three elevators in the building was out of service on a recent day not long after another breakdown was fixed. But Kaopua worries that persistent water leaks into the building’s garage from a closed second-floor recreational courtyard surrounded on four sides by units in the eight-story building could undermine Honuakaha’s structural integrity.

“It’s going to collapse,” he said.

Roland Manuel, a renter since 2020, is frustrated that his bathroom remains stripped down eight weeks after work began to fix leaks that produced mold. With the walls, ceiling, sink and shower removed and the toilet inoperable, Manuel, 71, uses the bathroom in a vacant unit down the hall.

“I have to go to Unit 406 to shower and use the toilet,” he said in June.

Manuel, who declined an offer to move into another apartment, said he can’t get an estimate on when repairs should be finished. His toilet, however, was returned to service recently.

Patricia Shields, another senior tenant, complained that earlier this year a notice taped to her door from Locations Property Management warned that her rental agreement would be terminated if she didn’t cure a $42 unpaid charge.

Shields said the stern payment demand letter wasn’t necessary.

“It was threatening,” she said. “It was almost an eviction notice.”

Shields said she didn’t then know what the charge was for. It represented an addition to her security deposit triggered by an increase in rent, and she paid the fee.

Another resident, Rosie Pristow, received a similar demand letter in April giving her 10 days to remit 50 cents owed since May 2022 or her rental agreement would be terminated and possibly lead to eviction.

Pristow’s 50-cent debt was disregarded after an outcry, according to Kim, who shared a copy of Pristow’s notice.

Tane Hamada, a renter at Honuakaha for about three years, said a multitude of problems have created a high level of frustration.

“It’s just been one thing after another,” she said, explaining that stoves in her unit have been replaced twice, and then about a month ago she moved into a vacant unit so a contractor could remediate mold in her bathroom caused by a plumbing leak.

Sticking up for the disgruntled seniors has been Kim, whose boyfriend, Jooney Hong, bought a Honuakaha condo in mid-2022.

“We call Bo the warrior princess,” Shields said.

Kim said her activism was triggered after management wasn’t helpful, in her view, addressing a complaint she made about noise from a neighbor.

After talking with other residents, Kim heard criticism of myriad things including repeated elevator breakdowns, faulty appliances and roach infestations in rental units, and a wastewater leak in the garage that management acknowledged wasn’t acceptably cleaned initially.

“It just really snowballed,” Kim said.

Around January, Kim began advocating for rental tenants, and later got two state lawmakers and a Honolulu City Council member representing Kakaako to meet with HCDA and discuss resident concerns.

“We appreciate HCDA making the time to sit down with the owners and renters to address concerns regarding maintenance problems and a lack of communication,” House Speaker Scott Saiki (D, Ala Moana-Kakaako- Downtown) said in a statement April 12 after the meeting that day. “We are requesting an action plan to better maintain Honuakaha. Our kupuna deserve responsiveness and care.”

Sen. Sharon Moriwaki (D, Waikiki-Ala Moana-Kakaako) also participated, and said in the statement, “We look forward to HCDA and the property management company sitting down with owners and renters to identify problems and solutions of the residents, especially the kupuna.”

City Council member Tyler Dos Santos-Tam added, “Honuakaha residents deserve better. Together, our offices will be following up to make sure their concerns begin to be addressed.”

The meeting took place after Craig Nakamoto, HCDA executive director, reported to the agency’s board April 5 that staff had met with tenants who raised specific concerns and would ensure concerns get adequately addressed.

“There’s room for improvement,” he told the board at the meeting.

Nakamoto also noted that the complex, built in 1995, is naturally going to need repairs given its age.

On June 6, after a May 9 follow-up meeting with residents, the three elected officials reported action taken in response to resident concerns that they reviewed with HCDA and Locations.

Listed actions included repairs to shower grout that was causing leak and mildew issues, an elevator repair, a planned engineering assessment to resolve hot-water delays, ongoing mold remediation work and replacement or repair of a nonworking stove, toilet and shower vent.

A suggestion box also was installed in the building lobby, and the building’s resident manager position was filled May 1 after being vacant since November.

Nakamoto said in an email that resolving some issues can be lengthy, such as water damage remediation subject to contractor bids, contractor schedules, availability of materials and proper work.

In the case of hot-water delays, troubleshooting the system is continuing, he said.

Nakamoto said the demand letter for 50 cents was automatically generated but got distributed due to miscommunication.

“Tenants no longer receive delinquency letters for such small balances,” he said in his email.

In other cases, such as a delinquency due to a security deposit increase, Nakamoto said tenants receive 60-day notices about such increases and payment requirements.

Nakamoto also let Kim know in a recent letter that Honuakaha’s owner association board is working to retain an engineer to assess whether structural deficiencies exist, and that a contractor has been selected to work on courtyard waterproofing and drainage problems.

Kim said in a June 6 Reddit post that she feels as though the meetings put elected officials in a positive light but haven’t improved conditions for affected residents and have left her more angry for her senior neighbors.

“I really feel like it’s the State protecting the State and I’ve got my tinfoil hat on,” she wrote.

On June 9, Kim led a small rally with a few Honuakaha residents at the state Capitol, followed the next day by a demonstration with about 10 residents next to Honua­kaha where one sign referred to the project as substandard housing.

In an effort to influence management decisions, Kim’s boyfriend recently got elected to Honuakaha’s owner association board. The board, which can make maintenance spending decisions, has a majority of seats held by HCDA because a partnership led by the agency owns most of the building’s residential units.

Honuakaha, developed by HCDA through a limited partnership, has 150 apartments rented to seniors with low incomes and 93 units that were sold as moderately priced condos.

Monthly rent in 1995 was $375 for studios and $425 for one-bedroom units, and condos were initially sold in a lottery for $158,000 to $187,000.

Because the HCDA-led partnership hadn’t raised rent much since 1995, it fell behind on its maintenance fee obligations by close to $1 million in 2021. Rent at that time was $600 for studios and $700 for one-bedroom units.

The agency lent its partnership $1.5 million to cure the shortfall in 2022. Nakamoto said the temporary delinquency had no influence on maintenance spending.

To correct the financial imbalance, HCDA began charging new Honuakaha tenants higher monthly rent that ranges from $960 to $1,050 and still meets low-income affordability guidelines.

Nakamoto said rents could have been raised for existing tenants by 25% to 50% while still meeting the guidelines, but instead increases have been 5% per year.

Still, HCDA’s partnership continues to struggle with rental unit expenses exceeding income.

From October to March the partnership’s deficit totaled roughly $25,000, according to the agency’s most recent reports to its board.

The partnership also reported being owed $153,226 as of March, primarily from tenants who damaged units and three delinquent tenant accounts.

Kim, meanwhile, let HCDA know in a July 11 email that she will continue pressing for better operations.