"What are we going to do when a police officer or sheriff comes to our door?" Patricia Nilssen, a mother of six children, said at the meeting. "It's going to put families on the streets."

Many of the tenants say they face dire prospects finding a replacement rental in one of the tightest rental markets in recent years, especially if they want to stay in East O'ahu, where some have children attending school.

"They're not asking for anything other than some breathing room," said Myles Breiner, an attorney who volunteered to advise the tenants. "The clock is ticking for all these folks."

Kawamoto tenant Brenda Gartner said she did some rental searching after receiving her eviction letter, and is dismayed. "There's not much out there," she said.

Slom said he would draft a letter appealing to Kawamoto, and would try to enlist support from Mayor-elect Mufi Hannemann, state Sen. Fred Hemmings, Gov. Linda Lingle and Attorney General Mark Bennett.

Breiner and Slom agreed that Kawamoto is within his legal right to move ahead with the evictions, but will ask for him to "do the right thing" by delaying evictions.

"Realistically that is the best that you can hope for right now," Slom told the group.

Kawamoto said this month he was evicting the tenants to sell the homes and take advantage of record home prices.

Some tenants are considering asking a judge for an injunction to halt their evictions on grounds that Kawamoto may have singled them out because they complained about maintenance problems. But some tenants said they received eviction notices even though they didn't complain, so that appeal may just be a way to buy some time.

Two years ago, Kawamoto granted 90-day extensions to renters of 570 homes in California after a public uproar that criticized the enigmatic real estate investor for giving tenants 30 days to move out as required under California law.

Kawamoto has said he plans to sell the 20 Hawai'i Kai properties, which are among about 100 single-family homes and condominiums he owns on O'ahu, so he can reinvest proceeds in Hawai'i.

He bought his Hawai'i homes mostly in a spree during the late 1980s when he spent at least $85 million in "pocket money" buying nearly 200 properties following a visit during which he observed many houses for sale and a shortage of rentals.

Two years ago Kawamoto announced he would sell all of his 161 homes, but revised his plan and sold about 60. Since then, the real estate magnate has bought a few million-dollar homes in Kahala and sold several more homes, including 15 in June.