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Committee advances bill requiring relocation help or right of first refusal for tenants displaced by HHFDC projects
Summary
House Bill 1325, HD2 would require developers of HHFDC-funded affordable housing to provide displaced tenants a right of first refusal for comparable units or establish a relocation fund and provide tenant assistance and tracking. Committee advanced the bill after extensive tenant testimony about Kuhio Park Terrace and other redevelopments.
The committee moved forward legislation aimed at protecting tenants displaced by redevelopment of HHFDC-funded affordable housing.
House Bill 1325, HD2 would require developers working under Hawaii Housing Finance and Development Corporation financing to offer tenants who face displacement the right of first refusal to comparable units at an affordable rate or, in lieu of that right, to establish a relocation assistance fund and offer at least three months' relocation assistance. The bill also requires developers to provide outreach and assistance — either directly or through contracted services — to help tenants exercise their options and to maintain a tracked line of communication with displaced tenants.
HHFDC testimony said most projects do not involve displacement; when they do, federal funding usually triggers a relocation plan and federal protections, but HB1325 would set a minimum state baseline that applies to all developers. Tenant and legal advocates gave extended oral testimony. Speakers from community groups and tenant organizers said relocation and right-of-return practices in some current redevelopments (cited repeatedly: Kuhio Park Terrace — KPT low-rise) have left residents without meaningful options, with instances of inaccessible units being offered as "comparable" and poor communications from developers and property managers. Witnesses asked for accountability and clearer enforcement.
The committee accepted proposed technical amendments to clarify the right-of-first-refusal language and to delete a sentence that could be read as defining relocation as only when tenants have moved back into the new project. The committee moved HB1325 forward with those amendments.
