KAHUKU — A landlord that was on the verge of eliminating a federal rent subsidy for its elderly affordable housing project has agreed to drop the plan in the face of two lawsuits filed by seniors living in the complex.

Landlord Kahuku Housing Foundation Inc. and the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development have tentatively settled lawsuits filed by the Kahuku Senior Citizen Community Association, which is made up of some tenants living in Kahuku Elderly Housing.

The landlord and HUD have signed a contract to continue the HUD subsidy for four more years, according to attorneys involved with the cases. The contract also gives the landlord more flexibility in managing the facility.

Exact terms of the contract have not been finalized, but for the tenants it means a continued $990 Section 8 subsidy for each unit and guaranteed tenant rights such as the right to form an association, said Tim Shea, a resident there.

The tenants and the landlord are celebrating the tentative settlement.

"We don't know the particulars of the contract," said Shea, 68. But, "we're happy that since we're going to stay with HUD we get to keep our tenants rights."

Under an agreement with the city, the foundation leases the property for $1 a year and has a 75-year lease. Rents there range from $150 to $500 and the HUD subsidy pays the rest, Shea said.

A year ago the landlord had given notice that it would opt out of the subsidy program and seek a similar subsidy with the city, but the city had inspected the units and found many of them ineligible for its subsidy program until repairs could be made. The federal opt-out was to take place May 1. The tentative settlement contract was signed April 30.

The city's affordable program is different from the federal program and tenants felt that some of them would lose their homes and some of their tenant rights, Shea said.

The Kahuku Senior Citizen Community Association, made up of 22 of the 64 tenants, said they felt compelled to file two lawsuits over the issue.

Other tenants didn't share the same fear, and the landlord had tried to convince everyone that their homes would not be lost, he said.

"What we did, we did for everybody," Shea said.

The tenants plan to celebrate with a get-together next week, he said.

The Kahuku Elderly Housing project opened in 1978 and is part of the Kahuku Village that is across Kamehameha Highway from Kahuku High & Intermediate School and next to the Kahuku Golf Course. There are 64 units in 32 duplex buildings on 6 acres.

William McCorriston, attorney for the landlord, said maintaining the complex's Section 8 status wasn't the issue.

"The settlement gives us the management flexibility we need to perform our functions well, to make sure that the project is maintained for the benefit of the constituents in a way we think it should be," McCorriston said. "More control over the common facilities, making revenue decisions on the common facilities, that's what was important to us."

The landlord is glad to have settled the issues, but for now it's only in principle and must still be documented, McCorriston said.

"I'm happy they're celebrating," he said. "So are we."

The tenants were represented by the Legal Aid Society of Hawaii. William Durham, attorney for Legal Aid, said a contract has been signed but technicalities are still being worked out.

Staying in the HUD program preserves the subsidy, the affordable nature of the complex and all the federal tenant rights, Durham said.

"The main thrust of this lawsuit, the reason why Legal Aid was involved was because we felt that without the funding the project would not be viable so they would either have to charge the people who live there more or it would just simply fail and those (affordable) units would be lost and that subsidy would be lost forever," Durham said.

He added that the complex still faces other issues, including needed repair work to the structures. But, he said, those are "for another day."