Hawaii evictions loom as federal shutdown persists
An Oahu family headed by parents who are both working without pay for the shuttered federal government was evicted in the final days of October, and the Mediation Center of the Pacific expects more to follow as the country last week set a record for the longest shutdown in U.S. history.
The parents wanted to negotiate a new rent agreement with their landlord, who instead went to District Court and had them evicted, according to Tracey Wiltgen, executive director of the Mediation Center. They represent one of the record 268 mediation cases the center saw last month — the highest number so far this year. By comparison, the center was involved in 207 cases in August and 210 in September.
“There is a large increase,” Wiltgen said. “The number of cases are up.”
Gov. Josh Green in October directed $100 million in federal Temporary Assistance for Needy Families funding to be used to provide rent and utility relief to families with children. It will likely prevent more struggling families from losing their housing, but Wiltgen is bracing for more evictions if the shutdown drags on.
State Sen. Stanley Chang (D, Hawaii Kai-Kahala-Diamond Head), who chairs the Senate Housing Committee, continues to search for ways to make housing more affordable in Hawaii, especially now that the government shutdown has disproportionately affected the state because of the large federal presence in the islands.
“I’m very concerned. It’s a big problem,” Chang said. “Our housing market has never been less affordable than it is now. We all need to talk seriously about how Hawaii’s current housing situation is utterly, utterly broken.”
**Challenges of Court-Ordered Evictions**
Court-ordered evictions make it harder for families who suddenly lose a paycheck to find a new place to rent because potential landlords can access eviction court records when screening tenants.
“If they’re evicted through the legal process, it makes it difficult to find another place,” Wiltgen said.
Asked if the family with federal workers had been evicted before, she responded, “It looks like this is their first time.”
Without a paycheck—which also makes it hard to get a loan—“suddenly they don’t have any idea how long this is going to go on. It leaves them in a very scary situation,” Wiltgen said. “This is the challenge of when people lose their paycheck and have to pick between food and rent—they’re going to pick food.”
Evicted families typically try to move in with friends and family but often end up living out of their vehicles, where many of Hawaii’s homeless begin their journey into homelessness.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, then-Gov. David Ige tried to avoid a sudden spike in homelessness among idled workers in April 2020 by ordering a statewide moratorium on evictions for nonpayment. The moratorium remained in effect for over a year.
**Legislative Efforts and Opposition**
Two bills introduced during this year’s legislative session—House Bill 466 and Senate Bill 155, both introduced by Chang—would have prevented landlords from terminating rental agreements without cause and required landlords pursuing a no-fault eviction to offer relocation assistance to the tenant or forgive the final month’s rent. Both bills died early in the session.
Lyndsey Garcia wrote in opposition to HB 466 on behalf of the Hawai‘i Association of Realtors and its more than 10,000 members, stating that the bill would unduly burden landlords who don’t receive rent payments.
“In cases where a tenant is late with rent more than twice, defined as paying more than 10 calendar days past the due date, the housing provider may only issue a no-fault eviction after the rental agreement expires,” Garcia wrote. “This means that if a tenant is late within the first two months of a one-year rental agreement, the housing provider must wait until the end of the term before initiating a no-fault eviction. Additionally, the provider must then issue a 90-day notice, making it challenging to manage rental properties effectively and potentially reducing incentives for tenants to pay rent on time.”
In written testimony supporting the bill, Catholic Charities Hawai‘i highlighted the plight of renters: “Almost 40% of Hawai‘i households are renters. Our workforce deals with high rental costs in order to make Hawai‘i their home. Elders are often long-term renters whose homes give them safety and peace. Losing your home due to an eviction without cause is not only destabilizing, it is unfair. Arbitrary no-cause evictions disrupt the lives and often the health of tenants and contribute to financial insecurity and housing instability.”
“Our state’s many renters in good standing deserve housing stability,” Catholic Charities added. “One of our state’s top priorities is ending homelessness. To accomplish that, we need more strategies to help prevent homelessness. This bill is one more tool to help families retain their housing and provide some hope to renters.”
**Mediation Efforts Amid Rising Evictions**
During three days of advanced mediation training at the Mediation Center last week, some of the unpaid, volunteer mediators said their role requires them to consider the perspectives of both landlords and renters when they try to reach a compromise both can live with.
In the approximately 30 cases she has handled in her first year as a mediator, Patty Reiss said she’s heard plenty of “sad stories” from tenants who say, “I’m going to be homeless. I don’t know what to do.” But she also understands the economic pressures on landlords who are not receiving rent.
“The No. 1 tool you have [as a mediator] is they need to believe you are impartial and don’t judge them,” Reiss said.
Some landlords could be operating “mom-and-pop” rental units that provide necessary income, Wiltgen said. Owners of multiple rental units also feel financial strain when tenants fall behind in their payments.
In either case, “if they have tenants who aren’t paying, they have a problem that can be very costly. For landlords, it’s a business and how people support themselves,” Wiltgen explained.
Most of the cases coming to the Mediation Center are referred by a judge as a way to avoid court-ordered evictions that could haunt renters, Wiltgen said. And 65% of the time there is some form of compromise, such as a payment plan that allows renters “to stay or at least buy the tenant time.” Alternatively, tenants can agree to move out without having to be evicted, provided they pay back their overdue rent.
Now, with the number of mediation cases on the rise, Wiltgen worries that more tenants and landlords will face hard economic pressures as the effects of an extended federal government shutdown take hold.
“The numbers are increasing,” she said, “and will continue to increase.”
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