Hawaiʻi Gov. David Ige unveils $100M program to help renters affected by pandemic

Under the program, payments could go as high as $2,000 per month on Oʻahu and $1,500 per month on the neighbor islands. Payments will go directly to landlords and can be made in lump sum amounts of up to three months at a time.

Those who have been lobbying for financial assistance for renters welcomed the effort.

Gavin Thornton, executive director of the Hawaiʻi Appleseed Center for Law & Economic Justice, said the $100 million figure is roughly in line with projections of rental assistance in the islands through the end of the year.

“The big question now is the implementation,” Thornton said in an email. “Is the process going to be easy enough to navigate to connect the available funding with the landlords and tenants that need it?”

The CARES Act money is available only through the end of December, he noted.

“It seems increasingly likely that the record level of unemployment spawned by the pandemic is not going away by the end of the year, so our state (and others) are going to need additional support from the federal government in the coming year,” Thornton said.