Housing on Maui

[singlemalt_18]

Things may be about to get more complicated...

https://www.hawaiinewsnow.com/2023/...s-fire-evacuees-and-housing-relief-statewide/

 

[Luanne]

There has been discussion on this on the Trip Advisor Maui forum.

My thoughts from reading this, and other information is, why would someone who can rent out their unit for $2000 - $3000/per week want to rent for $5000/month? Are these landlords going to tell people who already have confirmed, and paid, reservations that they are cancelling?

Here are some comments from the TA forum:

"The mayor is proposing to incentivize owners to rent longer term to local residents by giving them a tax break. It is a voluntary program. It is a choice owners will be able to make. There are more short term rental units than there are displaced residents."

"This is so deceptive. What people don't realize are several things:

1. Property taxes are always paid "in arrears", and the fiscal year begins each July 1st. So his plan will not be a "break" for people until their tax payments in August 2024. They will still have taxes due in February 2024. Then the other two deductions would be in the calendar year of 2025--NOT 2024.

2. The number he tossed out (11K/1 million property) is not going to cover the losses that going long term will cause, for most owners. In addition to mortgages, most have expenses like HOA dues, insurance, income taxes (those will still be due to the State and the Feds), and more. Properties worth less than a million will be hurt the most--since their tax "refund" will be far less than 11K.

3. Currently, no one can be evicted from a rental. So if people stop paying, trash the house or condo, add too many people, add animals that were not allowed--too bad for the owner. That can then result in action by a HOA against the owner, who is helpless due to the proclamation in effect. The cost of repairs to a unit can be huge, and insurance will usually not cover them if they were caused over time by a tenant.

The governor's proposal is better, but still needs work. Having FEMA and other funds pay the landlords directly is good, especially since he is willing to pay a higher sum. But--it's still not enough and there are no protections for owners from the damage and other issues.

The other monster in the room is if you pay some landlords this much for long term rental/waive property taxes--what about all the others who already rent long term? Do they get left out? It seems so, at this point.

Lastly, they MUST pay FMV if they decide to force this or "take" STRs. They will spend hundreds of thousands of taxpayer dollars on legal fees for nothing otherwise, because they will lose in a suit. The Constitutions of both Hawaii and the US prohibit taking property without due process."

 

[DeniseM]

I opened this thread to move 2 posts to it since the thread they were in is for factual updates, rather than discussions.