Posted on: Tuesday, May 10, 2005
Tenant fighting eviction says state gouges on rent
By Mike Gordon
Advertiser Staff Writer
A woman is fighting an eviction from her public housing unit in Kalihi Valley, saying that the state overcharged her $15,644.
Richard Ambo • The Honolulu Advertiser The Housing and Community Development Corp. of Hawai'i has been trying to evict Epeluk since last September, but she has contested the decision in court.
Epeluk's supporters say the state miscalculated her rent several times between 1994 and 2004, said Julia Estrella, a volunteer with Micronesians United. Epeluk is Micronesian.
Epeluk's first problem surfaced after she took computer and management courses in 1994 from Hawai'i Pacific University, which landed her a job at Texaco, Estrella said. Her public housing rent of $252 a month should not have increased to $649 a month based on her new job, Estrella said. Federal regulations allow that salary to not be counted for 18 months, Estrella said.
Epeluk says she was overcharged $7,146.
Those federal regulations changed slightly but should still have benefited Epeluk when she got off welfare in 2001. Epeluk says she was overcharged $3,444 in 2002 and $3,178 in 2003, she said.
In November 2003, her rent rose to $801, and Epeluk says she was overcharged $1,876.
The state says Epeluk owes 16 months in rent because she stopped paying rent or made partial payments from May to September 2003, in October 2003 and from November 2003 to August 2004.
"They couldn't explain to her why she was getting overcharged, so she stopped paying," Estrella said. "She just gave up."
Last summer, Epeluk's rent was reduced to $332 a month — an amount she said is correct.
"At that point, she started to pay rent faithfully and on time," Estrella said.
A hearing yesterday before Judge Sabrina McKenna was supposed to address the calculations used to determine how much was owed. Instead, after Epeluk unsuccessfully tried to fire her attorney, the case was continued until June 13.
Deputy Attorney General John Wong told the judge that there is a waiting list of more than 4,000 people "who are willing to pay the rent."
Epeluk said very little in court, relying on her pastor, the Rev. Akendo Onamwar.
In a written statement, however, Epeluk said she had learned much through her eviction experiences.
"I learned that a right is not a right unless a person knows about that right," she said. "Unfortunately, I did not know my rights until after I appeared before the HCDCH eviction board."
Reach Mike Gordon at mgordon@honoluluadvertiser.com or 525-8012.
The state, however, says Aritae Epeluk, a resident of Kalihi Valley Homes since 1994, owes $8,136.65 in delinquent rent, according to documents filed in Circuit Court.
Aritae Epeluk, left, waiting outside court yesterday with son Harrison, 6, and her aunt, Arleen Mefy, says state officials violated her rights.
