An Oahu teacher’s futile apartment hunt shows how bad the rental market is

Helen Lau’s life was recently upended by a note on her door.

“I regret to inform you that I will not be extending your rental agreement,” wrote Suzi Rim, the owner of the condo that Lau’s been living in since October 2020. Lau had 45 days to move out, the note said.

Since receiving the notice on May 11, the Moanalua High School teacher has been on an urgent hunt for a new place to live for herself and her adult son. Even with an extension to the end of July, Lau is struggling.

She’s made at least 26 calls and been to 11 showings, all in vain. Prices are soaring, she said, and the competition is simply too stiff for places she can afford on her teacher’s salary.

“I feel like we’re in a difficult situation,” she said. “It’s like nothing I’ve seen in 20 years.”

Lau’s experience represents a defining aspect of Honolulu’s housing crisis. With the bulk of rental apartments owned by private investors, and no controls on rent increases, people like Lau are constantly on the edge of being told they need to find a new place to live.

“It happens all the time,” says Hawaii Sen. Stanley Chang, who chairs the Senate Housing Committee. “And it’s within the landlord’s right to do so.”

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And it’s only become harder for renters like Lau. The imbalance of supply and demand for long-term rentals — along with increasing insurance costs, overall inflation and other factors — has sent rents soaring. The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, which tracks inflation, reports a 29% increase in rents for primary residences in Honolulu in the past five years.

The going rate in Lau’s building, Harbor View Plaza, was a little above $2,000 a month when she moved in nearly four years ago, she says. Now she’s paying $2,125 a month on a month-to-month lease. But apartments in her building now are being listed for $3,000 and up, she said.

“I’ve never encountered this type of craziness,” she said.

Lau can only speculate as to why her landlord is asking her to leave. Lau said she has never spoken to Suzi Rim directly, but instead interacts with Rim’s representative, Mark Uyehara.

Asked why Lau’s lease was not being renewed, Uyehara said, “We don’t owe her an explanation of why we want her to leave.”

He did, however, say that for years Rim had been charging Lau less than the market rate. He also said homeowners association fees had risen and that Rim had had to pay for costly repairs, including replacing a sliding glass door to the unit’s lanai. Additionally, he said, more recently Lau had taken it upon herself to reduce her rent payment by $150 because of a broken cabinet door.

He also noted that Rim had allowed Lau to stay past the June 30 date on her original notice to leave the unit.

“We asked her to leave, but she said she couldn’t,” he said. So Rim gave Lau more time.

Policymakers are grappling with the harsh reality that, under the current landlord-tenant code, landlords can ask tenants to leave at the end of a lease for any reason, or no reason at all.

For fixed-term leases, of say a year, it’s recommended that landlords give tenants notice that the landlord doesn’t intend to renew at the end of the year. For month-to-month leases like Lau has, landlords must give at least 45 days notice.

Some lawmakers say that needs to change.

“We need to move away from a landlord-tenant code that so disproportionately benefits landlords,” says Rep. Amy Perruso.

She was part of a coalition of lawmakers who this past session introduced a bill to change that. For people on month-to-month leases, the bill would have increased the notice requirement to 90 days from the current 45.

Such a bill would have given a little extra breathing room to someone like Lau. who already has what amounts to 75 days’ notice.

But Perruso and lawmakers in 2023 had introduced an even more ambitious bill. It provided a sort of rent control, limiting increases landlords could impose when renewing a lease. Also, according to the bill, landlords choosing not to renew leases would have had to provide relocation assistance to tenants being forced to move. The measure died without a hearing.

Forcing someone to leave their home at the end of a lease isn’t technically an eviction, said Arjuna Heim, director of housing policy for the Hawaii Appleseed Center for Law and Economic Justice. But she said it can be just as disruptive, especially with Hawaii’s tight rental market.

“What is this person’s alternative?” she said. “Is it moving to the mainland?”

Other legislative efforts have passed. One high-profile measure adopted this past session makes it easier for counties to prohibit short-term vacation rentals in an effort to free up more long-term rentals.

Another measure, sponsored by Chang, increases housing density statewide. The measure, which Gov. Josh Green signed into law in May, requires counties to allow at least two accessory dwelling units, essentially small homes, along with a main house on every residential lot, subject to restrictions concerning things like parking and sewer capacity.

The measure passed despite significant opposition. Critics included the Honolulu City Council, which passed a resolution opposing the bill. Council member Esther Kiaaina testified that the measure could increase home owners selling their property to investors without helping people who need housing.

In any event, counties have until the end of 2026 to amend their zoning laws to allow the additional dwellings, so it could be years before the new law produces any effects.

Chang also has called for more government-owned housing, which would include rental apartments and homes sold as long-term leasehold properties. The profit motive is just too strong for private landlords, he said.

“The government does not have the same profit-making incentive that the private sector has,” he said. “The private sector is not going to save us.”

Competition Among Renters Is Great

And it certainly doesn’t appear to be saving Lau. The competition is simply too great, she said. She recalls going to one showing for a place listed for $2,500 a month, only to find another prospective tenant boldly announce he could pay $2,800. The landlord soon afterward increased the asking price to $2,800.

More recently there was another promising property, listed for $2,700. That was the upper end of what Lau could afford, but the owner said Lau seemed like the perfect tenant, and the property looked great online, Lau said. But when Lau went to view the property she said it had extensive termite and water damage.

“Even the new laminate floor is already warped with holes,” she said in a text message.

Even if Lau does find a place before she has to vacate her current home at the end of July, Chang says, she will face the risk of being asked to leave again.

“You’re gambling every year that you’re going to be able to stay,” Chang said.

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This story was originally published by Honolulu Civil Beat and distributed through a partnership with The Associated Press.