“The pandemic is over.” That’s been the recent messaging of the Biden administration, which announced on Jan. 28 that it intends to end the national public emergency declaration on May 11.

This so-called end, or at least slowing, of the pandemic brings with it the end of federal funding for much needed government programs. Notable among these programs is emergency rent assistance, which has helped keep island residents housed for the last few years.

However, even as the pandemic subsides, tens of thousands of renters across the state remain cost-burdened, only a paycheck away from eviction and even homelessness. If Hawaii legislators are committed to reducing evictions and improving residents’ housing stability, they must continue to prioritize funding rent relief and other eviction prevention programs.

Around 2,500 evictions are filed every year in Hawaii. Evictions are harmful to our housing ecosystem and to the landlords who rely on consistent rent payments from tenants.

Evictions are especially harmful to the individual or family losing their home. More specifically, evictions can result in interrupted work schedules and loss of wages; negative health impacts such as anxiety and depression; and impaired legal records. Some studies estimate that up to 25% of all evictions led to an individual or family becoming homeless and/or needing emergency shelter.

Evictions also incur significant public costs. According to a recent study by the Hawaii Budget & Policy Center, the state’s annual evictions lead to $30 million in public spending on emergency shelters, medical care, foster care and juvenile detention. This figure does not include the millions of dollars the state and county spend on criminalizing homelessness.

For example, the City and County of Honolulu spends approximately $5 million annually to carry out sweeps of homeless encampments. When police enforcement of homelessness results in incarceration, costs increase even further.

Conversely, investing in preventive housing services results in savings — especially for medical providers. For example, in 2018 the Queen’s Medical Center implemented the Queen’s Care Coalition.
The program was developed as a response to the growing costs of serving the homeless community.

In 2015, Queen’s estimated that they spent nearly $40 million on emergency room services and in-patient care for homeless patients. The Care Coalition provides navigation services to 300 to 500 people per year, with a goal of connecting high-need hospital users to more stable housing and their assigned medical home.

For every person navigated, Queen’s estimates savings of at least $40,000, or more than $12 million in total savings in 2018.

Preventive Programs

Rental assistance and landlord-tenant mediation are preventive programs that have been proven to reduce evictions and save public resources. Since 2020, Hawaii’s rent assistance program has kept nearly 30,000 families housed, proving to be one of the most successful eviction prevention programs in the country.

Additionally, following the end of the state’s eviction moratorium on Aug. 6, 2021, Act 57 (2021) required that all landlords offer tenants the opportunity to mediate prior to eviction proceedings. On Oahu, over 85% of mediation sessions resulted in an agreement which allowed the tenant to remain housed and helped landlords secure rent back payments.

Across the state, the Act 57 program kept 1,660 families — who may have otherwise been evicted — housed. In addition to housing stability benefits, this program also decreased the backlog of eviction cases in the courts.

Unfortunately, as federal pandemic-relief funding is waning, the rent relief and mediation programs are dwindling in resources and may soon sunset unless the state steps in. Even as we move into a new, less severe phase of the pandemic, programs to reduce evictions must be continually pursued.

It is in both our moral and financial interest to do so. The HBPC estimates that for every dollar spent on the rent relief and mediation program, Hawaii taxpayers save $6 on homeless services.

Rent relief and mediation programs are dwindling in resources.

Luckily, there is a current proposal (House Bill 1439, Senate Bill 393) at the State Legislature to extend the success and savings of our rent relief and landlord-tenant mediation program. If passed as currently proposed, HB 1439 and SB 393 would require landlords to offer tenants pre-litigation mediation before an eviction for non-payment of rent could be filed with the court.

Mediation participants would have exclusive access to a rent relief fund to help pay back rent and provide a shallow rent subsidy of $500 a month for a few months, buying tenants time to get back to a more stable financial situation.

HB 1439 and SB 393 must be scheduled for hearings in their respective final committees by early next week to move forward to a final vote. The proposal in these bills is a Hawaii Affordability Housing Coalition legislative priority.

To learn more about HiHAC’s priorities and to get involved, visit www.hihac.org/priority.