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More than 3,500 people who survived the Aug. 8 fires in Lahaina are still living in hotels set up as emergency shelters, unable or unwilling to move into longer term housing that the Federal Emergency Management Agency is offering through direct-lease contracts with Maui homeowners.

But time is running out. With the agency’s non-congregate sheltering program set to end in four weeks, it’s unclear if all the remaining families will find acceptable placements before having to leave the hotels.

FEMA and the state say they are working with partners to address the problem as quickly as possible but have been hampered by a range of issues on all sides.

FEMA Program Analyst Tracy McCauley said at the weekly Lahaina fire recovery update meeting last Wednesday that nearly 300 property owners who signed leases have “changed their minds.”

That’s what happened to Cynthia and Terry Shibao, who were finally matched with a three-bedroom home in Lahaina after standing firm it would be difficult to live outside of West Maui.

“We were so excited because that’s like finding a needle in the haystack,” said Cynthia Shibao, whose home was destroyed in the Lahaina fire.

But that joy was soon shattered. After weeks of getting the runaround about what was happening with the required background checks — which they say they could easily pass having completed similar ones for employment with the Department of Education — the Shibaos got a phone call on March 2 that the owner of the home had pulled out of the program.

McCauley said last week there were only four available units in Lahaina.

“There’s two studios and two one-bedrooms and that’s it,” she said. “It doesn’t mean that we’re not continuing to put our requests out there to try to get more, but I don’t have what you guys want. And it hurts us. It really does because we’re hearing you on the phone saying, ‘I don’t want to go (outside West Maui).’”

‘It’s Moving Faster Now’

As of Wednesday, FEMA-provided data showed 1,236 properties for eligible fire survivors had been secured, but only 432 families have been placed in them. The number of eligible households for the program fluctuates, but has been less than the number of units secured.

FEMA Deputy Federal Coordinating Officer Curtis Brown told the crowd at last week’s community meeting that the goal is to house 300 households per week. He said Wednesday night after another Lahaina community meeting that only 64 families had been housed in the past week, but remained optimistic.

“It’s moving faster now,” he said, noting there are about 400 households matched with units now in the pipeline.

David Greenberg, president of Miami-based , one of the three out-of-state property management companies that contracted with FEMA, said there is a “very concerted effort” to get all the survivors out of the hotels.

“We get new matched units every day,” he said.

But as of Wednesday, there are still 3,558 people in 1,444 households living in 12 hotels or other properties through FEMA’s non-congregate sheltering program, according to the American Red Cross, which is running it.

That program, which includes three meals a day and is the most expensive way to house survivors, is set to expire April 10. McCauley said last week the state has asked for the deadline to be extended, and FEMA is reviewing the request.

Housing Dogs, Cats, Birds, Reptiles And Other Pets

One issue is finding places willing to accept pets. There are 197 dogs, 82 cats, three birds, two reptiles and six other small animals currently in the non-congregate sheltering program.

While many people have turned down units that are not in West Maui for a variety of reasons including lack of transportation, others are willing to move to other parts of the island but have run into problems.

A woman posted on Lahaina Strong’s Facebook page that said she got a call on Dec. 19 saying her family had been matched with a three-bedroom home in Wailuku. She wrote: “We could not be happier, and it gave us a lot of hope for the holiday and new year.”

But in March, she was told the owners had just remodeled their floors and “they no longer wanted us to move in because they fear my dog will mess up their floors. … How can FEMA let this happen?”

When asked at last week’s meeting why property owners can pull out of the program after getting high rents, McCauley said owners only get security deposits until a household is licensed into the property.

But several property owners told Civil Beat they are indeed receiving rent checks despite their units being vacant for weeks and even months. On Wednesday, Brown said it was “answered wrong last week.”

Other property owners have signed leases, but their properties remain empty and they have not received rent. They are concerned FEMA will cancel their leases and they are losing income when they could be renting to other people in the tight housing market.

For the direct-lease program, FEMA contracted with Fedcology, North Carolina-based Aesthetics and California-based Lima Charlie, which all have done similar programs in other federally declared disasters.

“But none of these companies that were picked knew the market, or its nuances,” said Snehal Patel, director of sales at Maui Resorts Rentals.

He said his company and several other local property management businesses in West Maui did not apply to be a contractor for the program because they didn’t know about it until a meeting in November where the out-of-state companies were introduced. He explained after the fire that local businesses had been without internet and phone service.

One example of being out-of-touch with the market: On Maui, it is well-known that Harbor Lights is a rundown complex with units that are either owner-occupied or rented long term.

Recently, a woman on social media said after one direct-lease match fell through after two months, she was “over the moon happy” to be matched again with a place in Kahului.

“It was in Harbor Lights,” she wrote. “The place was absolutely disgusting, filthy, screens falling apart, evidence of roaches … I walked into the apartment and began to cry.”

Another person wrote: “I turned down Harbor Lights as well. I told the rep I’d rather live in my car.”

Meanwhile, there are hundreds of legitimate vacation rentals in the program sitting empty while existing long-term tenants at Harbor Lights and other properties have been receiving eviction notices and are fearful of being kicked out so their landlords can receive higher rents from FEMA direct leases.

FEMA repeatedly has said it will not give leases to property owners who have long-term tenants, and that was the case for Sheree Love’s landlord.

She was surprised to get a knock on her door recently by a person doing an inspection for FEMA on the three-bedroom house she rents in Makawao. When the inspector learned she had been living in the home with her dog and cat for nearly six years, he told her: “If you’re living here, I can’t put FEMA here. It doesn’t qualify.”

‘Unlike Any Of These Other Disasters’

Then there is the issue of securing enough accessible units.

Limerle Kaaihue, a 68-year-old who survived the Lahaina fire by spending hours with her adult son in the ocean, has been living at the Royal Lahaina Resort since Oct. 15. She said she has received four calls from FEMA about available properties — three on the west side and one in Kihei. But each time she asks if it is a handicapped-accessible unit she has been told: “No. We didn’t know you were handicapped.”

Greenberg said there is a final push to secure dozens more units, but primarily for people with special needs, including being blind.

Brown said FEMA was trying to secure 50 more units in West Maui.

Patel said he would like FEMA to add local property managers to the program to specifically help with obtaining units in West Maui, most worth $1 million or more, that are owned by people who are concerned about using an out-of-state property manager.

FEMA said at this stage of the program, it does not need to do so.

FEMA inspections to meet the have also been part of the delay.

Greenberg said in some cases properties didn’t pass and the owners were unwilling to make the necessary modifications or repairs to make the unit safe and habitable. He said almost every older unit has an issue with outlets not having ground fault circuit interrupters that protect against electrical shocks.

“Just getting an electrician over there and changing those (unsafe) outlets and coordinating the re-inspection takes time,” he said.

Greenberg said his company has done similar programs following Hurricane Ian in Florida, tornadoes in Mississippi, flooding in Vermont and typhoons in Guam.

“This is unlike any of these other disasters in the scope and size, the devastation, the nature of the landscape, the community, access to this area, and the prices of the local real estate,” he said.

The cost for a direct lease is “exponentially” higher than anywhere else his company has worked, he said.

Brown said he recently talked with a couple who were so excited to get the keys to a direct lease that they “just stayed the night in the unit without anything.”

But for Cynthia Shibao and other fire survivors, the process has been maddening. After their match fell through, she said her family was full of anxiety.

“We already lost our home, community and work. We just need a stable place in our community of Lahaina so we can rebuild physically and mentally. Because right now we are falling apart,” she said.

On Monday, the Shibaos got a call from FEMA saying they had been matched with another three-bedroom home in Lahaina.

“We’re back in the same process again, waiting to hear from somebody about background checks,” she said.

Civil Beat’s coverage of Maui County is supported in part by a grant from the Nuestro Futuro Foundation.