HONOLULU (KHON2) -- Soaring condominium fees due to insurance cost hikes are putting owners at risk of foreclosure, and trapping others in properties they can't sell, according to residents struggling to keep up.
County and state lawmakers, insurance regulators and the governor all acknowledge it's a huge problem and are working on all sorts of remedies. But people faced with enormous bills tell KHON2 time is running out.
Mike Elliott has owned his Aiea condo for decades.
“It's a very quiet neighborhood. We've had really no issues with the homeowners’ association,” Elliott said. “We've only had like 3-to-5-percent increases from year to year over 20 years."
But then he and all his neighbors got walloped with a massive hike in condo fees.
"We got this large notification of insurance increase of over 164 percent for coming year, and basically another 100 percent for the following year,” he said.
That means what used to cost him around $640 a month is now over $1,830 a month -- that's more than $14,000 extra a year. And he says there's no end in sight, with projected insurance quotes already just about doubling again for the following year according to a letter from their association.
“And then next year, you know, it could be well over $2,000 a month that they're looking for,” he estimates.
Elliott is not alone. This is happening to thousands and thousands of property owners statewide. And to make matters worse if they can't pay up?
"They'll fine you a monthly fine upon the amount that you owe, and then they'll just put a lien on your property,” Elliott explains.
Honolulu City Councilmember Val Okino Okimoto says the insurance crisis has quickly jumped to one of the top problems she's hearing from constituents.
"They get notices, and sometimes it's within the month they're asked to then pay this absorbent amount of money that they don't have, and following that, it'll come with foreclosure notices,” Okimoto said. “And so that's what these residents are dealing with."
She initiated a resolution calling on the state Legislature to do more. The resolution passed committee this week, and it comes before the full council early next month.
"When it deals with insurance, this is not something that on the county level that we have any jurisdiction over,” Okimoto said. “I really wanted to take this step forward and see what we can do to help them, state level, federal level, whatever it takes."
Earlier this year Gov. Josh Green put together a task force to address the property and condo insurance crisis. Always Investigatin asked: What are some of the latest results that can bring relief now?
“Governor Green is aware of the insurance crisis and takes it very seriously,” the Office of the Governor responded. “As many are aware, it is a global crisis.”
The governor’s office points to a second emergency order this month that among other things suspended certain laws in order to allow an industry association and a state agency to issue master policies to condo associations.
The Hawaii Insurance Division told KHON2 an RFP is about to come out to hire a consultant that will review the market and recommend what the Hawaii Hurricane Relief Fund could do to stabilize it.
The governor’s task force will list stabilization actions to put into a bill for the next legislative session, and the division says they'll put out FAQs to explain what's happening in the market and clarify what they call "misconceptions."
"The good news overall,” the Hawaii Insurance Division states, “is that the market does seem to be improving and moving in a positive direction.”
But that's not being felt right now or fast enough for thousands statewide who face the abyss of bills for which they never knew to budget. Selling isn't a magic bullet either.
"They already have their mortgage,” Elliott said. “Now they have this addition that is going to have to be conveyed to a new potential buyer. And you know, who's going to buy that? Who's going to pay for that?"
All of these factors leave strapped and trapped homeowners with the anxiety of unaffordable bills, facing liens and foreclosure as the consequence of any nonpayment.
“At the end of all this they may lose their home,” Okimoto said. “That's essentially what's about to happen if they are not able to pay for these really big insurance increases."