Honolulu Yanks ‘Renovation Aloha’ Permit After Civil Beat Exposes Illegal Work
HGTV hosts Tristyn and Kamohai Kalama are facing backlash because some of their speedy projects lacked proper permits.
Honolulu is revoking a building permit issued to the home-flipping hosts of the HGTV show “Renovation Aloha” after a Civil Beat investigation identified work done without a county review.
The show captured Tristyn and Kamohai Kalama transforming a disjointed, derelict property in Kalihi into a high-end home suitable for multigenerational living. They combined two structures, lifted part of the home onto stilts, added a new roof and renovated multiple kitchens and bathrooms – a $425,000 job, according to the show.
The permit, however, mentions only and says the work cost $80,000.
“They essentially submitted plans with incorrect information, similar to some of the monster homes developers,” Dawn Takeuchi Apuna, Honolulu’s director of planning and permitting, said in an email. “As a result, we are in the process of revoking the permit.”
What that means for the Kalamas or the current homeowners is unclear. Takeuchi Apuna declined to comment further but noted she may have more to say next week.
Meanwhile, the couple’s skirting of the rules has ignited a firestorm of conversation across the islands and on social media, from and to the popular Instagram account . Their forgoing of permits has invited a backlash from some.
Honolulu resident Mai Hall, who is Hawaiian, said she had high hopes for a show that features a Hawaiian man and his wife. But what she’s learned disappointed her.
“We don’t need that hewa. We don’t need that ʻaʻole pono,” she said, using Hawaiian words to refer to “wrongdoing” and “not doing what is right.”
Others blame the permitting department for moving at such a glacial pace that flipping homes on the up-and-up would be impossible.
“At some point a proper response to massive overregulation and bureaucracy is to just show them the Middle finger,” a Civil Beat commenter wrote.
Featured in the first episode of “Renovation Aloha,” the Kalihi property was one of several where Civil Beat discovered discrepancies between the work shown on television and what was described in building permits.
The building plans, reviewed by Civil Beat, make no mention of the new roof or lifting the foundation of part of the house. None of the permit documents for that property mention plumbing, despite multiple kitchen and bathroom renovations. Plumbing repairs can be done without a permit, but only if they cost under $2,500.
The flippers did obtain a for electrical rewiring, which can be obtained right away online.
The Kalamas and their attorneys did not respond to a request for comment. On Thursday, Civil Beat spoke briefly with the contractor listed on the permit, Song Lin Zhang of SL Construction, but there was a language barrier, and it wasn’t clear whether he understood what he was being asked.
Teri Fukuhara-Le, who bought the Kalihi home with her husband Andrew, was unavailable for comment on Thursday.
The Les previously told Civil Beat that they’re exploring their legal options after they found structural problems with the home. The couple noticed mold in their son’s room, they said, which led to the discovery of cracks in the home’s siding. They said they didn’t know their home had unpermitted work.
Six of the eight properties featured on the first season of “Renovation Aloha” were issued violation notices for starting construction before permit approval. The other two were also put on the market before the county gave the OK, public records show.
The Kalihi property was assessed a tripled building permit fee of about $1,400 and a fine of about $2,800 for starting work before the permit department approved the plans, according to the permitting department.
The county is supposed to inspect projects during construction and compare observations with approved building plans to ensure safety standards and code requirements are met. When work is done outside the scope of the permitting process, homebuyers are left to rely on the contractor’s word that the property is safe.
Home inspections completed as part of real estate transactions are done after the walls are sealed up and are therefore more superficial.
Buyers of homes with unpermitted work can run into problems if a neighbor complains or when the owners want to make their own permitted additions or alterations. If the county inspector visits the property to review the new project and sees unpermitted work, they can require retroactive permits and assess penalties.
Even if the work was done prior to the current owner buying the place, the plans have to match the work, according to Cheryl Cudiamat, president of the engineering firm Structural Hawaii.
“Anytime you go in for a new permit, it has to match, so it will be their cost to permit it eventually,” she said.
If a county inspector finds the unpermitted work is not up to code, the county can call for it to be removed at the owner’s expense.
Honolulu City Councilman Matt Weyer, chairman of the housing committee, called Civil Beat’s findings concerning, and said he has empathy for the buyers who might not have been aware of what they were getting into.
“I definitely would hope they’re able to get a remedy,” he said. “HGTV has deep pockets. They should know better. Hopefully they step in and fix it.”
A message left with an HGTV media coordinator was not returned.
Scott Startsman, a realtor on Oahu, said he has a checklist for his clients when it comes to flipped homes.
“Was it permitted? OK, who did the work? If they say ‘It’s all licensed contractors,’ great. Give me the name. Give me the company. Tell me the info. I’m going to look ’em up,” Startsman said. “If they won’t do that, then it’s a red flag.”
If that checks out, Startsman asks them if they are willing to “warrant the work” – meaning if there are problems within a certain time period, they will return and fix it.
“If not, which they never are, you’ve got to be concerned about people not willing to put their name behind the work they’re doing,” he said.
Meanwhile, construction continues at one of the Kalamas’ latest projects in Kailua, according to neighbor Rhonda Burk. The Kalamas’ company Stand Firm Developments has applied for a permit there, but it hasn’t yet been approved.
That house is located on, of all places, Kalama Street.
