Landlords on Hawaii Island might be ditching their regular tenants in order to make bigger profits from residents seeking safe harbor from the path of the June 27 lava flow.
In a press release issued Tuesday morning, the Department of Commerce and Consumer Affairs said that it had received recent reports from Big Isle landlords and tenants concerning the practice of terminating month-to-month rentals and then upping unit rates, despite the governor declaring an emergency on Sept. 5 specifically banning such behavior.
The ban remains in effect until Gov. Neil Abercrombie leaves office Dec. 1, but his successor could choose to extend it if needed.
In a phone interview Tuesday morning, DCCA spokesman Brent Suyama said no official complaints had yet been filed, but added there could be a reason for that.
“People haven’t wanted to officially report it,” he said. “Partly, I think, it’s because they’re afraid of angering their landlords. … In small towns, they’re afraid if they get known as being a troublemaker and word gets out, they won’t be able to find a place to live.”
However, he said, the majority of landlords might just not be aware of the rule that’s in effect.
“We want to be proactive here, we don’t want this to grow into something large. We want to make sure everybody remembers what’s going on,” he said.
The DCCA’s Office of Consumer Protection reminded residential landlords on the island that they may not terminate an existing rental agreement as long as the emergency proclamation remains in effect.
“The ban applies unless the tenant commits a material breach of a rental agreement or lease, or if the unit is unfit for occupancy,” the press release reads.
Violations of the ban could result in penalties and fines of up to $10,000 per day per violation, according to Office of Consumer Protection Executive Director Bruce B. Kim.
The ban does not extend a fixed-term lease which expires during the ban if the dwelling unit is sold to a bona fide purchaser for value or the landlord or immediate family member will occupy the residential dwelling unit.
No rent increases on residential dwelling units are allowed during the emergency proclamation unless the increases were already included in writing signed by the tenant prior to Sept. 5. However, a landlord may pass on additional operating expenses incurred by the landlord because of the emergency or disaster, provided the landlord can document those expenses.
In a phone interview Tuesday, Coldwell Banker Day-Lum Properties Inc. owner Nancy Cabral said the residential rental market remains tight, while noting the sense or urgency seen among Puna residents seeking to leave the area has died down since last month.
“I’m amazed at how complacent people have become,” she said. “We had much more of a run the first couple of weeks last month.
“I probably have about five or six houses available right now, out of 630 (properties that Day-Lum manages). That’s outside of the area that could be affected by the lava flow.”
Cabral said most of her company’s availabilities are for furnished properties, which most folks fleeing the lava flow aren’t especially interested in.
“They want to bring in their dog, their cat, or their pot-bellied pig,” she said. “That’s really the problem. Folks looking for housing may need or want what they’re leaving and that isn’t available.”
Up until now, most rental housing has been snatched up by families that are in a financial situation where they’re able to take on payments for the mortgages for homes that could be trapped behind the lava flow while also paying rents for homes on the other side.
However, “the minute the first structure starts to go up in flames, then it’s going to just be insanity,” she said.
Email Colin M. Stewart at cstewart@hawaiitribune-herald.com.
