Posted on: Saturday, November 20, 2004
Hawaiian Homes renter stays put
By Vicki Viotti
Advertiser Staff Writer
A judicial drama yesterday that started with angry yelling ended with happy tears from a community leader in a Hawaiian Homes rental subdivision who prevailed over a suit to evict him from his Kapolei home.
However, the ruling is unlikely to end the tensions over the low-income project known as Ho'olimalima, where complaints about the rigorous lease restrictions have caught the attention of legal advocates for fair housing practices as well as Native Hawaiian rights lawyers.
The shouting match outside 'Ewa District Court involved not the tenant, Darin Awong Sr., but two women among the crowd of onlookers at the ordinarily sleepy courthouse in Pearl City. Police were called to calm the battle of words between an Awong supporter, Hawaiian activist A'o Rodenhurst, and a witness for the prosecution, Kapolei neighbor Victoria Carvalho-Yuen.
But neither got the opportunity to testify: The case fizzled before any witnesses were called. Judge Peter Stone ruled that Mark Development Inc., manager of the project known as Ho'olimalima, had terminated Awong's lease at the end of June without giving him time to respond to the alleged violation, as required by the state landlord-tenant code.
Some of the crowd was drawn by their friendship with Awong, a single father whose presidency of the project's community association galvanized the opposition to Mark Development's management policies. Some, like Rodenhurst and others, have been concerned about problems at Ho'olimalima because it is the first rental development on Department of Hawaiian Homes land.
The Ho'olimalima project was built 3› years ago with financing from a federal low-income tax-credit program, instituted to provide developers with an incentive to build low-income housing. However, the Native Hawaiian Legal Corp. has taken an interest in landlord-tenant disputes at Ho'olimalima because the tenants remain on the waiting list for Hawaiian homesteads and are still beneficiaries of the Hawaiian Homes trust.
Attorney Lehua Kinilau said the legal corporation plans to bring the issue before the Hawaiian Homes Commission in December.
The more immediate concern for Legal Aid attorneys Ravi Nagy and Maile Shimabukuro, however, was stopping the eviction of Awong and his five sons. Mark Development attorney George Yamamoto argued yesterday that Awong's girlfriend is an "unauthorized" member of the household, which the lease limits to the Awongs.
Project manager Paul Watase testified that surveillance cameras installed in April recorded images of her car parked at the Awong home.
Nagy said in his opening statement that the girlfriend has her own home in Wahiawa; while she visited the Awongs she was not part of the household, he added.
Stone did not even evaluate the question of the extra household member, though; he focused instead on whether the required minimum 10 days' notice was given before lease termination, a period during which tenants can correct violations.
Watase acknowledged that it hadn't been issued, adding that the violation merits immediate termination to avoid a potential penalty from federal authorities.
Federal auditors who monitor tax-credit projects like Ho'olimalima could view the violation as cause for canceling the financing for the home Awong occupies, he said.
Auditors have twice canceled tax credits for violations elsewhere at Ho'olimalima, Watase said after the hearing.
But Stone said the fear of a possible penalty did not justify the lack of proper notice.
"I can appreciate that the landlord has an economic interest here," he said. "I'm sensitive to that. But the landlord still can give a tenant 10 days' notice."
A tearful Awong emerged from the courtroom, hugged lawyers and supporters and vowed to stay put at Ho'olimalima.
Reach Vicki Viotti at vviotti@honoluluadvertiser.com or 525-8053.
