 Good afternoon, everyone, and thank you for joining us for another episode of Kondo Insider. Kondo Insider is a show regarding and relating to people who live and work in condominiums. And I'm here today with a very, very timely topic. Most associations have completed their budgets. The letters have gone out to the owners about with the bad news that maintenance fees are going up. And I'm hearing the grumbling and the moaning and the groaning from a whole lot of owners who wonder, well, how am I gonna get through next year? And some of the other stuff that are affecting owners' economic health. And we have a solution from the state of Hawaii, the Department of Hawaii Housing, Finance and Development Corporation. And I'm very happy to have with me today as my guests. I've got two people, Kaino, Severson and Kalia Krummer. And they're gonna be talking to us about a new program that the state is gonna be putting out starting. That's gonna bring financial relief to condo owners. And so, you know, let's get started right now. Who wants to start? Kainalu, you wanna give us an intro? So what this program is all about? Yeah, of course, I'll give a brief intro about myself first and I'll hand it over to Kalia to explain the program. But yeah, thank you, Jane, for having us. My name is Kainalu. I do oversee all the emergency financial assistance programs at CNHA. So we're very proud to be part of this show and kind of introduce our Oahu homeowners program. I'll kick it off to Kalia. Oh, by the way, what is CNHA? Why don't you tell our viewers who you guys, you know, who you're affiliated with? Yeah, of course. CNHA, for council for native Hawaiian advancement, we're located on the west side of Oahu, headquartered in Kapolei. And I think the mission of CNHA kind of speaks for itself. We're here to advance the native Hawaiians and as well as the entire population of Hawaii. And you know, this program that you guys are going to be talking about today, you don't have to be native Hawaiians, right? Correct, that is correct. To benefit from it. Yep, majority of our programs are not native Hawaiian specific, so it's applicable to everyone throughout Hawaii. Okay, and you guys have just been designated to basically to implement this program that's developed by the Hawaii Housing Finance and Development Corporation. Is that true? Yeah, that's correct. So we were the administrators of the program and we administer a lot of different programs for partnering with the state, department of Hawaiian homelands, the city and so forth. But this one is specifically out with HHFCC. Okay, so why don't you tell us about the program? What is, what's the name of it and what does it do? Yeah, of course. So the Oahu Homeowners Assistance Fund program or OHAF is a federally funded program that provides services, counseling services and financial relief to homeowners who have fallen behind on their expenses as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. Each county has its own program. The Council for Native Hawaiian Advancement is the non-profit organization administering HFCC for Honolulu County. Okay, so really basically helps people who are having a financial hardship. Correct. And could that mean also the fact that, I mean, not only mortgage payments, what about maintenance fees? Yeah, absolutely. So we assist with both mortgage and non-mortgage assistance. So that's maintenance fees, assistance with your HECO bill, your Board of Water bill and other eligible expenses. And is this like a loan? Do you have to pay it back or is it a grant where you get the funds and you don't have to pay it back? This is a grant. Yeah, you don't have to pay it back. Oh, and is there like a limit that you can apply for? Is there like a cap on the funds that you're allowed to receive? Yeah. So in addition to financial assistance for past few payments, we also provide housing and counseling and legal aid services to those who qualify. The combination of monetary assistance as well as counseling services cannot exceed $30,000. So $30,000 is the cap for each eligible applicant. And you talk about financial hardship as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. Can you give examples of what kind of hardship you have to suffer in order to take advantage of this program? Yeah, so that can include job loss. Those who are furloughed as a result of the pandemic will have incurred an increase in expenses such as childcare expenses. And for this program specifically, you would have to prove a 10% impact on your household, either income or expenses. I see, and what type of expenses or services the program offer? So we offer assistance with HOA, HECO, Board of Water, maintenance, insurance bills. So if you have to be delinquent on your expenses in order to qualify for that type of assistance. Okay, and so what are the eligibility requirements for the Oahu HAF program? Yeah, so there are a list of eligibility requirements. You must be an Oahu resident, at least 18 years and older. You must be a homeowner, there is an income cap, the household income must be at or below 150% AMI or area median income. You must prove your financial hardship. You must be willing to go through counseling or legal aid services. You cannot have interest in any other real property where they're full or partial interest. You cannot have five months or more of liquid assets and lastly, you must be delinquent on the expenses that you're requesting assistance for. Okay, and when you say proof of financial hardship, how do you prove that? Just show that you haven't been able to pay your bills or? Yeah, so proof of financial hardship, we would request your income statements or expense statements in order to prove your 10%, the 10% impact on your household income or expenses. And the list of, I know it's a long list of eligibility requirements that's available to view on our website as well. Okay, and we have now put some information on the screen. HawaiianCouncil.org Oahu Home, that's where people should be logging in, right? To apply if they're interested in this program. Yes. And that information is going to be scrolling, you know, throughout the program. So people should, I mean, people should look for, that's where they have to go to apply for the program. So what kind of properties are available? What kind, I mean, you said property ownership. So condo owners can take advantage of this, right? And single family homeowners as well? Yep, that's right. So condos are included in properties that are eligible. So eligible properties would include single family homes and condominium units, located in Hawaii and occupied by the homeowners as their primary residents. Okay, so they can't be investors. They have to be owner occupants in order to apply for these grants. That is correct. And so that would also apply to HOAs, the plan, unit developments, you know, like these homeowners associations, like they haven't ever, you know, they're single family homes, but it's like a community association, would apply to them as well, right? Yeah, absolutely. And how much assistance, I mean, you said it was $30,000. So it's $30,000 max per applicant? Yes, yeah, $30,000 maximum per applicant. And that's inclusive of any legal aid services that were provided as well as counseling services. Okay, and how would the homeowners apply for this program? Yeah, so you can apply at our website. That's hawaiiancouncil.org forward slash oahu home. And the website includes all the details regarding our program, the eligibility requirements, as well as the list of required documents needed to apply the application itself would take about 15 to 20 minutes to fill out. And if you need assistance, and if you need further assistance, if you're not able to fill out an application online, we can arrange an in-person application where we can have one of our care advocates assist. And you can give us a call. Our phone number here is 808-596-8155. Can you, why don't you say that phone number again in case people just didn't get it? Yeah, sure. So the phone number is 808-596-8155. Okay, so if they can't get online, at least if they can call you, right? You will send somebody out to help them. Yeah. Okay, are there any non-mortgage homeowner expenses eligible under the Oahu program? Yes, so non-mortgage expenses again, include homeowner association fees, maintenance fees. We can also assist with real property taxes, homeowners insurance and any other utility bills that fall out of the program. And these funds are from where you, I mean, I know you said that it was federal funds. So federal funds that were given to the state of Hawaii. That is correct. And is there like a limit? And at some point, you know, how long does this program, is this program gonna go on, do you know? Until the money runs out or? Yeah, essentially, yes, until the money runs out. Yeah, so we're looking for at the program and it's projected to last for about three years. Oh, okay, all right. Do homeowners have to be delinquent in their mortgages to apply for other eligible homeowner expenses under the Oahu program? No, the homeowners do not have to be delinquent on their mortgage expense in order to qualify for other expenses. They can still receive assistance with any other non-mortgage items as long as they do qualify. But you wouldn't necessarily have to be delinquent on your mortgage in order to get assistance with other types of expenses. Okay, yeah. Oh, sorry, Jane, I'll also add to that. I mean, for our condo segment of our beneficiaries that HOA fees are incredibly popular, you know? So although they may be able to have paid their mortgage or come to some kind of agreement with their lender, maybe even pay their utilities, what slips through ends up being the association fees and dues, so that's where it's very popular for our program for condo owners. Yeah, and you know, the payments, once somebody applies and they're approved, are the payments made to the applicant or are the payments sent directly to like, let's say the mortgagee or to the state of Hawaii, I mean, to the sitting county for real property taxes? In other words, does the money come to the person who's supplying or does it go to who's supposed to get paid? So it'll go to payments will go directly to the vendors. Yeah. So that means when you apply, you say, you know, I need some help making my maintenance fee payments. That means the payments would go directly to the association. It wouldn't go, or if it's a, if they're delinquent on their mortgage, the payments would go directly to the lender. Yes, that is correct. Okay. And how long do these payments, or how long, I mean, is it like, do they have to apply every month? Or, you know, how long do you, like if somebody's delinquent on the mortgage and you're paying it this month, do they have to apply next month so that you will, or, I mean, does it continue? No, so it's a one-time assistance program. So it's set up as a non-recourse grant. So once you've applied and you've received assistance and you wouldn't be able to come back to reapply. And I can take you through the application process and what that looks like for each applicant. So as soon as an applicant applies, they'll have one-on-one assistance with a care advocate during the initial phase of the application process. The application will go under review. And at that point at the end of that process, we'll determine that the applicant is conditionally eligible. We will then refer the applicant to either one of our partnering organizations. So we partner with the Legal Aid Society of Hawaii and the Hawaii Home Ownership Center for our counseling services. So depending on the needs of the applicant, they'll be referred to either one of these organizations to receive their counseling services. We'll then move on to the third phase of the process, which is confirming loan status and delinquency with the mortgage lenders, which is the more technical side of things before we move on to actually dispersing to each of the vendors. So that means that if you apply to the program and they make the payment, let's say, for the December mortgage payment, if they can't make the January, they would have to apply in January again, right? No, so it's a non-recourse grant. It's a one-time assistance program once you come through and apply, we'll cover the delinquent expenses. You wouldn't be able to come back through and reapply. So it's only one time you can apply? Correct. So it might even be better to wait until you're two or three months in arrears or, you know? Well, I will say that the goal of the program is to prevent displacement, to prevent the foreclosure for any of the applicants that apply. Also, that's why you require them to go to the legal aid for counseling. That's right. Because there's the issue of foreclosure involved. Yes. And you want to make sure that the applicant is educated about the consequences of not making these payments. Yes. Yeah, we work really closely with our partner and organizations to ensure that the applicants are aware of the requirements of the program and are able to get back on their feet after they've received assistance through OHAF. Okay, so this is basically, you know, just to help people, you know, who are in financial distress to basically get on their feet. It's not something that's going to be repeated over a period of time. That's right. I see, okay. Do you have to be native Hawaiian? I think I asked you this. Do you have to be native Hawaiian to apply for the program? No, you do not have to be native Hawaiian to apply for the program. Yeah, we assist all eligible homeowners in Hawaii. Okay. And how does the application process work? So, yeah, after the applicant submits their application, we'll go through a review process here at CNHA with our partnering organizations and with the mortgage lenders and vendors that we work closely with prior to disbursement. If anybody has any questions regarding the program, you know, before they apply, is there any place they can call and, you know, get their questions answered before they actually go forward with the application process? Yes, of course. So our information is located on our website. So our phone number is located on our website as well as our email address for OHAF. You can go there or you can give us a call. I believe the link to our website will be on a ribbon here on the screen. But the website is hawaincouncil.org forward slash oahu home. Okay, there it is, right? Yeah. That's the one that people should go to in order to apply for this. And can they go now? I mean, has the program started already? Yeah, the program started and is still open and we encourage applicants to visit the website and, you know, gather their documents and give us a call or shoot us an email if you have any questions prior to submitting an application. Okay, when did this program begin? I mean, I know I was contacted by the Hawaii Housing Finance and Development Company last week. So when was this program and when did it begin? So the program launched in January of this year. I see. And is it part of a larger program? Because you said it was federal funds. Yeah, so the program has now launched in all 50 states. Yeah, and is available in all four, in three counties here in Hawaii. And I can figure... Yeah, one other issue. I mean, does this apply to renters? Do you have to be an owner? It doesn't apply to the renters that... Right, I can take that, Jane. So these funds do flow down from the US Treasury. It was passed in the American Rescue Plan Act. So there's different segments. So this one is for homeowner assistance fund as far as the allocation. So renters got their own and homeowners have this one, which is completely separate. So we administer only the Oahu Island. So if anyone from outside of Oahu County that is interested, they can go to HHFDC's website and they can see which nonprofit is administering those programs. Okay, I think that kind of segues into the next question is what if I live on another island in Hawaii? Is there a mortgage relief program for my island? Right, so they should all be up. So some of our great nonprofit friends run those programs, but you can go to HHFDC's website and they have links to those programs. This is all very helpful. So we thank you, because I know so many people in this industry, and it's always nice to know that there are programs out there that are gonna help some of our constituents, some unit owners who are facing financial hardship. And like I said before, we have, this is the end of our budget season and the letters all went out to unit owners as of December one as to what their maintenance fees are going. And I've heard from a lot of associations that their maintenance fees went up anywhere from 15 to 22% this year. So, that's a big hit, and so that means that, maybe their mortgage payments didn't go up, but now they're paying more in maintenance fees. And I'm sure because of the inflation, their grocery bills are going up, and our electricity at our account, we're in the process of putting in PV, but that's a whole, another expensive process, but our electricity went up 25% from our budget last year because we're still on HECO, yeah? So, we face a lot of challenges and we are so grateful that you guys have come to us to give us information about this program because it comes right in the nick of time, so to speak, because I'm sure there are homeowners who are getting their letters from their associations saying, oh my goodness, what am I gonna do now? My maintenance fees went up 22%. Do you get involved in talking to these applicants who apply to find out what their situations are? We hear the stories every day about increased expenses and applicants that are fallen on hard times. And, you know, we've been able to assist and help get a lot of homeowners back on their feet and cover these delinquent expenses and some of them have really built up over time. You know, those who were laid off due to the pandemic and weren't able to catch up on their expenses or weren't able to pay their expenses for a long period of time, we were able to come in and assist. Right, and you know, and a big segment of the people who live in condominiums, they're retired people who are on fixed incomes. And, you know, so, you know, yes, they're gonna get a higher than normal increase in their social security payments, you know, but they're not gonna, you know, and I think they said it was gonna go up 8%, but that's not gonna cover the 22% increase in maintenance fees or the 25% increase in HECO charges. And, you know, so these folks are gonna have a challenge, you know, paying their bills going forward. So this loan could help them as well, right? I mean, this program, not loan, I take it back, this program. Yes, yes. This program may be able to assist as long as they qualify, but yeah, absolutely. Okay, and so, and people, even if they, you know, don't know if they qualify, they should call and check because it doesn't hurt, I mean, it doesn't cost them anything, right, to call and call you guys and ask you questions because if they qualify, you know, they're gonna get the assistance up to $30,000, you know, to help them, you know, over this financial hurdle, at least in the short term. Yeah, absolutely. Yeah, we definitely encourage, you know, if they're, even after going through the website and there's anything that, you know, it isn't understood to give us a call or just shoot us an email to get a better understanding and we're more than happy to help. Okay, and so you estimate that the program will be in effect for about three years before the money runs out? Yeah, hopefully, I mean, at this point, maybe two more years or until the funding runs out. So we encourage everyone who's in this hardship position to apply and seek for assistance. Okay, you know, we're getting close to the end of the program. Do you guys want, you know, I'll give you the platform, famous last words as to why people should, you know, apply for this program? COVID impacted everyone, right? And so if you're still impacted and you're a homeowner on Oahu, please reach out and give us a call, go to our website. We can assess your eligibility and see if you qualify. We have great community partners, as mentioned, Hawaii Homeownership Center and Legal Aid Society of Hawaii. So if the direct funds may not be needed, we do have a lot of services available for you in. And so please apply and hopefully we can help those in need. Thank you. Well, thank you both, you know, for being with us today. You know, let me tell you, I mean, this is such good news and we need all the good news that we can get because it's been, you know, the end of the year has been, you know, very disappointing. I mean, with, you know, with the market, you know, kind of bottoming out and, you know, nobody buying homes anymore and the interest rates going up. I mean, it's been very, you know, it's been kind of disturbing watching all of this and figuring out where the light is at the end of the tunnel. And then now we have, you know, these increasing maintenance fees. So, you know, this is a godsend. So thank you so much for being on the program and bringing us this good news, you know, that is gonna help a whole lot of people, I hope. And I hope all of you guys who are out there watching the program, if you can't benefit from it, at least tell your neighbors and, you know, get the word out that there is a program, there is money and it's not a loan. So if you qualify, you know, please, please apply. And if you're not sure, at least go to the website or and call and talk to, you know, people at CNHA and find out, you know, what the scoop is to see if, you know, there's some way you can benefit from it. You know, because, you know, it is free money, you know, to help you out in this time of, you know, financial crisis. So thank you very much, Kainalo and Kuya for being with my guests today. And, you know, for our viewers, please tune in next week for another episode of Condo Insider, the home of the show regarding people who live and work in condominiums. And so thank you again for joining us today and please tune in next week. Thank you and mahalo. Thank you so much for watching Think Tech Hawaii. If you like what we do, please like us and click the subscribe button on YouTube and the follow button on Vimeo. You can also follow us on Facebook, Instagram and LinkedIn and donate to us at thinktechawaii.com. Mahalo.