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Letter: How many more residents will be forced to move?

Last month, Maui County Council Housing and Land Use Committee Chair Tasha Kama heard from renters who begged for help after rents skyrocketed after the Lahaina wildfire tragedy.

At a follow-up meeting for addressing rent stabilization, Kama stated, “Since our last meeting, I have been contacted by members of the development industry. Even consideration of this topic has had a chilling effect on those in the private sector who fund affordable housing rental projects to the point that they are considering abandoning Maui for future housing projects. We need housing and cannot afford to scare off investors that create housing. So, I want to make it clear at this time that I am not entertaining any legislation that regulates rent.”

Rent stabilization is a policy that protects tenants from excessive rent hikes, by creating a predictable schedule for the maximum rent increase allowable each year based on the consumer price index, while ensuring a fair return for landlords and stability for tenants.

There are 182 municipalities in the U.S. that have rent stabilization policies, some decades old.

Maui renters are at the whim of a largely unregulated market with few tenant protections. After the wildfires, according to state economists, rent on Maui has gone up approximately 50 percent and according to University of Hawaii Economic Research Organization, poverty has increased by 40 percent.

After the Lahaina wildfire, an estimated 4,000 residents have been forced to move off island due to the housing emergency.

Solutions are way overdue.

Ann Pitcaithley

Wailuku

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