Nonprofit lawyers sue state for Kuhio housing residents

Residents of Kuhio Park Terrace and Kuhio Homes in Kalihi on Oahu say sewage leaks, garbage chute fires and lack of hot water for up to 18 hours a day have long plagued their public housing projects. Because the state has allegedly let these housing projects fall into disrepair, nonprofit law firm Lawyers for Equal Justice on Dec. 18 joined local firm Alston Hunt Floyd & Ing and mainland firm O'Melveny & Myers LLP to file two class-action lawsuits, one federal and one state, on behalf of the residents.

"It is tragic that the state has become the largest slumlord in Hawaii," said Victor Geminiani, executive director for Lawyers for Equal Justice, which is representing Kuhio Park Terrace and Kuhio Homes residents who say they have lived with "notoriously unsafe and inaccessible" conditions.

The federal case alleges that the public housing project violates the Americans with Disabilities Act, the Rehabilitation Act and the Fair Housing Act. The state case alleges a breach of obligation by the state under its warranty of habitability.

The suits were filed “to bring court scrutiny to how badly public housing has been run in the state of Hawaii," said attorney Paul Alston. "We also know based on history that under this administration, it won't change without a court mandate."

The legal action addresses conditions at two of the largest and oldest public housing properties in the state — Kuhio Park Terrace,  which has 614 units in two 16-floor towers, and Kuhio Homes, a low-rise complex with 134 units. The suits name the state government, the Hawaii Public Housing Authority and property manager Realty Laua LLC. They seek to force the state to improve living conditions, as well as an unspecified amount of monetary compensation for rent, "emotional distress, pain and suffering."

Maintenance problems include ripped-out fire alarms, corroded garbage chutes backed up by rubbish, and pest infestation. According to Public Housing Executive Director Chad Taniguchi, a number of upcoming improvements will address many of the issues. For example, a contract has been awarded to replace fire alarms at the two high-rise buildings for $1.5 million and contracts for elevator modernization and replacing the garbage chute will be awarded soon.

Residents report daily trash bin fires and elevator breakdowns, gas leaks, hot water that comes on only from midnight to 6 a.m. and lack of accommodations for disabled residents.