On the Home Front

Maui Housing Hui, a nominee for the 2025 Organizing Awards and an NLIHC member, is recognized for leading advocacy efforts that prevented further displacement and instability for tenants following the devastating August 2023 wildfires in Maui. Their campaigns successfully modified the implementation of an Emergency Proclamation by the Governor to ensure greater housing stability for tenants and helped connect tenants to legal information and representation to exert their rights.

Maui Housing Hui was created by tenant organizers in the aftermath of the August 2023 wildfires in Maui to address the housing needs of the community through outreach, education, and research. The hui – a Hawaiian word meaning “group,” “association,” “gathering,” and “cluster” – is led by renters who, even before the wildfires, faced the greatest risks of becoming unhoused and experiencing housing insecurity, including Native Hawaiians who have faced ongoing impacts of colonialism and displacement. The 2023 disaster made it clear that a strong, united voice was necessary to prevent further instability for the most marginalized people on the island of Maui.

Following the 2023 wildfires, Hawaii Governor Josh Green issued a temporary Emergency Proclamation stating that landlords could not raise rents. However, advocates with Maui Housing Hui heard from dozens of tenants that this order was being violated. Further compounding the issue, FEMA launched a Direct Lease Program, which allowed local landlords to receive direct payments from FEMA if they rented to households impacted by the wildfires. To incentivize participation, FEMA offered rental prices far higher than the market rate – sometimes as much as 40% higher – which led to rent inflation across the region. The rent increases were untenable for countless Maui renters, especially those who were cost-burdened prior to the fires and then faced further economic hardship due to the resulting impacts on the tourism industry. To make matters worse, landlords began to abuse the Direct Lease Program, illegally evicting their existing tenants so they could lease homes to other tenants – sometimes not even wildfire survivors –at a much higher price.

Maui Housing Hui sounded the alarm about these unlawful evictions and other negative impacts the Direct Lease Program was having on renters, elevating their stories in the media and urging policymakers to reform the program. With advocates’ support, community members sent 112

letters to the governor’s office asking for changes to the Emergency Proclamation to close the loopholes that were allowing illegal evictions to continue. FEMA, state, and county officials, however, released statements to rebuke the advocates’ concerns.

Maui Housing Hui stood firm in its message, grounded in the stories of people directly impacted, and pursued other avenues to help renters remain in their homes. Maui Housing Hui surveyed hundreds of homeowners and renters about their experiences with the Direct Lease Program and issued a report to document the negative community impacts. They continued to organize with renters, speak to the media, and advocate for solutions. After eight months of Maui Housing Hui’s organizing, FEMA finally amended the Direct Lease Program to require landlords to submit an affidavit prior to evicting current tenants, which must prove that these evictions are for legitimate, lawful reasons.

In addition to successfully improving the Direct Lease Program, organizers with Maui Housing Hui helped tenants contest their evictions and rent increases. Maui Housing Hui sent out at least 100 legal form letters for tenants to use, led trainings to inform tenants of their rights, and helped tenants connect with legal representation when necessary.

Maui Housing Hui’s organizing led to improved housing stability for marginalized tenants across Maui, and has empowered tenants to refuse unlawful rent increases and exert their rights to remain in their homes. Join NLIHC in congratulating Maui Housing Hui on these organizing successes!

About the NLIHC Organizing Awards

NLIHC’s annual Organizing Awards recognize outstanding achievements in statewide, regional, citywide, neighborhood, or resident organizing that further NLIHC’s mission of ensuring that people with the lowest incomes have quality homes that are accessible and affordable in communities of their choice. On the Home Front will highlight the victories of organizing award nominees throughout February and March. The winners will be announced the week prior to NLIHC’s 2025 Housing Policy Forum, where they will participate in a plenary discussion.