Nearly a year after wildfires devastated Maui and displaced many of its residents, Charles Nahale is still searching for a permanent place to call home.
Nahale is one of the more than 1,300 fire victims who find themselves enrolled in FEMA’s Direct Lease program, which aims to convert short-term rental units into long-term housing for up to two years for fire survivors, but has been fraught with challenges.
Since the Lahaina fire displaced him last August, Nahale has relocated five times. He didn’t like the first property he was assigned.
“The contract reflected something completely different from what the actual space of the unit was,” Nahale said of the first place he was offered. “For example, the space was a studio. The contract says it’s a one-bedroom and newly remodeled, which it wasn’t. The bed was practically in the kitchen.”
FEMA has allocated $197 million to three companies, none of which are based in Hawaii, to administer the Direct Lease program.
These companies are tasked with the complex process of finding and leasing ready-to-occupy residential properties from owners before subleasing them to displaced residents as temporary housing. According to FEMA, they are also responsible for ensuring units comply with HUD standards and is functional, inspection, providing on-call maintenance, and coordinating repairs.
