Landlord tactics anger Kapolei tenants
By Vicki Viotti
Advertiser Staff Writer
Residents of a Kapolei rental project built for low-income Native Hawaiians have accused their landlord of harassment. They are especially angered by the use of surveillance cameras, overnight checks of license plate numbers and demands that their photos be kept on file.
Officials for Mark Development Inc., which developed and manages the Ho'olimalima project, defended the practices by saying the company is held accountable if they let tenants flout the rules. They also said the company must protect itself from stiff penalties that federal authorities could assess.
Native Hawaiian legal advocates are investigating, among other issues, whether the state Department of Hawaiian Home Lands can turn over control of housing projects to a private developer as it did in Kapolei.
The three-year-old subdivision of 70 single-family homes is part of the Kapolei Villages 6 development.
DHHL contracted with Mark Development to build Ho'olimalima on homestead land; the $11 million cost was offset through the Low Income Tax Credit Program of the Internal Revenue Service, allowing monthly rents on the three- and four-bedroom homes to be offered in the $750 to $950 range.
The Housing and Community Development Corporation of Hawai'i, a state agency, administers the tax-credit program for the IRS. Darren Ueki, finance manager for the agency, said the program has financed 40 low-income projects in Hawai'i since 1988; the state issues tax credits to the project owners, who in turn sell them to investors to raise money for their developments, Ueki said.
The homes were finished in late 2001. Darin Awong Sr., who moved into his home one year later, said the tension between tenants and Mark Development escalated until a tenants' association was formed. Awong is the president.
The association has compiled a long list of complaints, aired in recent community meetings. Among them are objections that the project was marketed as a "rent-to-own" development.
Craig Watase, one of the managing agents who has represented the company at meetings, acknowledged that the phrase has been used as an easily understood shorthand, but said the rental terms spelled out the reality: Rent payments aren't counted toward equity in the house. At the end of 15 years, Watase said, any qualified resident in the unit will be offered an option to buy at a below-market price, regardless of the length of their tenancy.
Closer to the top of the grievance list, however, is the sense among tenants that they're being watched around the clock. Some residents receive Section 8 federal housing subsidies and qualify for a three- or four-bedroom unit based on their household size. In the past, when the subsidy was reduced, tenants were ordered to lock bedrooms no longer covered by the subsidy.
Awong said the landlord has ordered identification photos of each resident for the files and that tenants have to turn in a list of the authorized residents' vehicles. Managing agents keep checking the vehicles, he said.
"It's harassment," Awong said. "They're walking around, 2 in the morning, writing down license numbers of vehicles parked outside."
An even more heated dispute erupted over the installation of surveillance cameras in vacant units. Awong said one is aimed at his residence, fueling the feeling that he is being "targeted" by the landlord.
However, Watase said that the vehicle checks as well as the cameras are to ensure the units house only those people on the authorized list. Additionally, he said, the cameras can help the manager guard against property crime.
"There's nothing we do that's illegal or wrong," Watase said. "We always follow the law.
"They (tenants) don't like to follow the rules, so they want to fight it."
Watase said Mark Development is motivated to dispatch prompt eviction warnings and take other enforcement steps because they could lose their investment through IRS penalties.
Ueki said owners are given a chance to correct most violations.
Tenants have called on Legal Aid of Hawai'i and the Native Hawaiian Legal Corporation (NHLC) for assistance. Legal Aid has taken some eviction cases but officials won't confirm how many.
Mahealani Kamau'u, NHLC executive director, said the agency is investigating a possible legal challenge on various fronts; for example, she said, tenants, who are Hawaiian homesteading beneficiaries, may be right to hold the Hawaiian homelands agency accountable.
"There's case law that says (the agency is) in a trust responsibility with these beneficiaries," she said. "They can't delegate their fiduciary responsibility."
Lloyd Yonenaka, spokesman for the Hawaiian Homes Department, said the agency has been in discussions with the developer but legally has little control.
"It's a difficult situation for us now to be the parent," he said.
Mark Development, however, is not shrinking from that role.
"Government agencies don't want to be the bad guy because they're all elected, but we're not politicians," Watase said. "You know what? You're not going to get away with it. If you break the rules we will evict you."
Reach Vicki Viotti at vviotti@honoluluadvertiser.com or 525-8053.
