There are more than 1,100 Maui fire survivor households in FEMA’s direct lease housing, a program in which FEMA pays property owners to house survivors.
Under federal law, FEMA must begin charging rent for direct housing 18 months after a disaster is declared. That means starting March 1, these households have to pay to stay in the homes where they were placed after theirs burned.
The payment amounts are based on fair market rent established by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. FEMA also said it is basing rent on the household’s ability to pay — which won’t total more than 30% of their monthly income.
But many fire survivors said they can’t pay what FEMA requires.
“The amount they were asking me, I just have a one-bedroom, was absurd,” said Lahaina resident Charles Nahale.
HPR first talked with him when he was shuffling between hotels and condos for months before FEMA placed him in an apartment last June.
FEMA said that if households can’t pay the rent, they can file an appeal — which Nahale did.
Fair market rent for a one-bedroom home on Maui is $1,762. Nahale said he was told that he has to pay more than that.
“The amount that they asked me to start to pay them was way more than I can afford,” he said. “So I sent an appeal letter.”
It’s been weeks. Rent is due soon and he still hasn’t heard back.
“I'm waiting for a decision. I've spoken with FEMA — gosh, since I sent my initial appeal letter, maybe close to 10 times… to get some insight of where they are on the decision,” he explained. “It's still pending, which gives me hope. But the other side of the coin is that I am sort of in limbo, waiting, hoping, for a good response.”
A FEMA spokesperson said just over 600 households have filed appeals. Of those, 34 appeals are still pending, including Nahale’s. FEMA said it's trying to get back to everyone by March 1.
Nahale called his FEMA caseworker earlier this week.
“I called this person again because I hadn't heard anything,” he explained. “Now, the person tells me she's not my caseworker anymore. There's somebody else on my case now who I don't know. I don't know this person, the new person's name or phone number. So this is the kind of bureaucracy that we are dealing with.”
FEMA said it sent out 90-, 60-, and 30-day notices informing direct lease households of the rent requirements and their right to appeal the amount.
“But that doesn't necessarily mean that the tenant got the letter, understands the letter. I mean, this is a complicated process,” said Alan Lloyd of the Maui Tenants and Workers Association. It has a hotline to help renters navigate documents they receive, which can be reached at (808) 444-1119. The association is also advocating with the county for a rental assistance fund to help those who can’t pay their FEMA rent.
The requirement for fire survivors to pay rent doesn’t change the amount landlords are paid. FEMA said those contracts are negotiated separately. Rent collected from fire survivors goes toward the federal Disaster Relief Fund.
Nahale said that if his appeal is denied, he’s not sure what he’s going to do.
“I'm hoping that I'll get a letter soon, and they saw my appeal letter, and we can work with that.”
FEMA advises households to contact their recertification advisor if they have any questions on the appeal process. Direct lease households with further questions can call FEMA’s Individual Assistance Housing Hotline at 808-784-1600.
Check HPR next week for more on the issue.
