Frequently Asked Questions

The County’s CDBG-DR Action Plan allocates $288,579,950 to this program.

The  Ho`okumu Hou Single-Family Reconstruction Program provides funding to homeowners whose primary residence was destroyed by the Maui Wildfires in August 2023. The program helps rebuild safe, decent, and resilient housing, ensuring compliance with current building codes and mitigation standards.

Yes, the maximum amount of assistance is based on several factors, including cost reasonableness determinations, program limitations and unmet need after accounting for any duplication of benefits (e.g., FEMA, insurance, SBA, etc.) but the assistance amount will never exceed $1,200,000.

No. Under the program, homeowners do not select their own contractor/builder. To ensure compliance with federal procurement rules, construction standards, and cost reasonableness requirements, the program uses a pool of pre-qualified, competitively procured contractors. These contractors/builders are assigned to projects by the program. The program enters into contracts directly with the selected builder/contractors and pays the builder/contractor on behalf of the homeowner.

If you’ve already completed repairs, you may apply for our Ho`okumu Hou Single-Family Reimbursement Program, which may provide reimbursement of any out-of-pocket expenses paid for eligible costs associated with the reconstruction of your destroyed property. 

    If you have started any construction work but have not completed, you will need to fully complete reconstruction and receive a completion inspection (Certificate of Occupancy) before you can apply for the Reimbursement Program.

At this time, condominium complexes are not eligible for assistance under the Single-Family Homeowner Reconstruction Program. The current program guidelines restrict funding to eligible single-family, owner-occupied structures. 

Applicants to the program must meet the following criteria: 1.) must have owned the destroyed property on 8/8/23 and must still own the property; 2.) must have occupied that property as their primary residence on 8/8/23; 3.)The destroyed property must be located within the burn zone; 4.) The destroyed property must be an eligible single-family home; 5.) The applicant must be current on property taxes or on a payment plan; 5.) If there is a mortgage on the property, it must in good standing, in forbearance, or on a payment plan; and 6.) the applicant’s combined household income must be at or below 140% of the area median income, adjusted for family size (household refers to all individuals who intend to occupy the assisted property).

Applicants will need to provide: 1.) Proof of ownership at the time of the disaster and current proof of ownership; 2.) Photo ID for all adult household members, birth certificates for all minors; 3.) Most recent mortgage statement, if applicable; 4.) Proof of income for all adult household members.

Likely not. The reconstruction is based on program design standards, which prioritize functional, code-compliant homes. While efforts are made to accommodate reasonable preferences, reconstructed homes are often standardized models to control costs and ensure efficiency.  The program endeavors to provide homes that are of a similar square footage as the permitted square footage of the pre-fire primary dwelling.

That assistance will be reviewed and deducted from your eligible award to avoid duplication of benefits. If you received funds but did not use them for housing repair, you may be required to return those funds or apply them to the reconstruction.

Timelines vary, but from application approval to project completion, it can take several months to over a year, depending on several factors including environmental reviews, permitting, and construction materials availability.    

You must be a U.S. Citizen or legal permanent resident.

Tax consequences are complex and depend heavily on individual circumstances. Individuals and businesses receiving CDBG-DR assistance are strongly advised to consult with a qualified tax professional for personalized guidance regarding their specific situation. 

Applicants may only apply to one program, as you will likely qualify for only one program. If you qualify for the HRRP program, you will not meet the requirements for the HOP program because if you are a homeowner, then by definition you are not a first-time homebuyer. 

The County’s CDBG-DR Action Plan allocates $10,000,000 to this program, but it is subject to increase if the demand requires.

Reimbursement may be provided regardless of the home size as long as construction has been completed prior to application.

No, SBA is not considered a private loan as it is federal government loan funded and administered by the U.S. Small Business Administration.  You can’t be reimbursed for it because it is considered a duplication of benefits, and the program only reimburses for out-of-pocket expenses.

If you have received other funds, that does not mean you are ineligible for a CDBG-DR program, it would just be a lesser amount (cannot duplicate benefits from another source). Example: $1M to reconstruct, $500k from insurance/FEMA for housing, still have a $500k gap that CDBG-DR can cover.

Yes, you must wait until construction completion before applying for the Reimbursement Program.

The Reimbursement Program will reimburse any unsubsidized loans.

Currently, we anticipate that Intake will be open for 6 months, but depending on program response, that can be extended.

Tax consequences are complex and depend heavily on individual circumstances. Individuals and businesses receiving CDBG-DR assistance are strongly advised to consult with a qualified tax professional for personalized guidance regarding their specific situation. 

Yes.

Yes.

Cost of construction for the home (labor, materials).

You must maintain ownership of the property; you must maintain occupancy of the property as your primary residence; you must maintain all required insurance (homeowners, hurricane and flood, if applicable) – throughout the agreed upon affordability period – TBD.

An initial $10 million has been allocated for this program. However, if the program proves successful and demand remains high, additional funding may be made available.

Council for Native Hawaiian Advancement (CNHA).

Yes, all are permanent construction residences.

$288,579,950  for Reconstruction

$92,500,000 for First-Time Homebuyer

$10,000,000 for Reimbursement

Yes, final inspections by the County’s Permit Office must be submitted at the time of application.

The County’s CDBG-DR Action Plan allocates $92,500,000 to this program.

Yes. You are encouraged to submit an application if you are interested in purchasing a home. Your case manager will work with you to identify a lender, and obtain housing counseling if you need help qualifying for a mortgage. 

The program will prioritize renters displaced by the 2023 Maui wildfires while remaining open to all first-time homebuyers up to 120% area median income (AMI).

A first-time homebuyer is someone who has no ownership interest in a residential structure during the three years prior to applying to the HOP Program.

Applicant certification of non-ownership attesting to having not held ownership interest within the last three years; tax returns for the prior two years; first mortgage commitment or mortgage preapproval showing a minimum 30-year mortgage term with fixed-rate, dated within 30 days of application date (if unable to obtain mortgage approval, must be willing to enroll in financial fitness counseling with a HUD-approved counseling agency).

Yes. Homebuyer education is required and must be completed with a HUD-approved counseling agency. There are four (4) HUD-approved HCA’s that provide the required pre-purchase counseling course. They are:

1.    Hawaiian Community Assets, Inc. – Wailuku Branch
1950 E Vineyard St
Wailuku, HI 96793
808-727-8870 http://www.hawaiiancommunity.net

2.    Hale Mahaolu Homeownership/Housing Counseling
95 Mahalani Street, Suite #28-2A
Wailuku, HI 96793
808-242-7027 http://www.halemahaolu.org

The program may assist you to purchase a single-family home, condo, or townhome in the County of Maui. The home must not be located in a flood zone. To see if a property is in a flood zone, view the County's Flood Hazard Assessment Tool. 

Must be a first-time homebuyer; must be able to obtain first-mortgage financing from a lending institution; must be a current or returning resident of the County of Maui; must be purchasing an eligible property that will serve as primary residence within the County of Maui; must be willing to occupy that property throughout the affordability period (up to 99 years).

Any assistance that was received for the same purpose (i.e., for the purchase of a home). For example – gift funds, philanthropic donations, or nonprofit organizations, etc., that provide funding for the same purpose as this program that can be used in the same manner as this program (i.e., down-payment assistance, closing costs assistance, interest rate buydown, etc.), insurance settlement for housing replacement, are all examples of duplication of benefits.

You must be a U.S. Citizen or legal permanent resident.

No. You may use any lender. Your case manager may provide you with a list of lenders if you need assistance finding one.

The program does not have a minimum credit score requirement, however, the lender that you choose to finance your first mortgage loan will have credit score requirements that you need to meet. 

As long as you continue to occupy the property as your primary residence for a long period of time (99 years), you do not have to make any payments. 

No. Renting out the home during the affordability period is a violation of the program terms and may trigger repayment of the assistance.

The Program cannot provide financial assistance that duplicates benefits you’ve already received from other sources for the same loss. This means if you have already been awarded funds from FEMA, SBA, insurance, or another program, the Program must take those into account when calculating your award. You must disclose any financial assistance you’ve received related to the disaster.

Common sources of Duplication of Benefits may include repair/replacement funding from FEMA, Small Business Loans (SBA) loans, homeowners/fire or flood insurance payouts, assistance from nonprofit, and other state and local disaster recovery programs.

If your disaster-related damage totals $100,000, you cannot receive $100,000 each from FEMA, SBA, and the Program. That would be considered a Duplication of Benefits. You may only receive up to $100,000 total from all sources of assistance.

From the same example as above, if FEMA provided $50,000 and SBA provided $25,000, the Program may provide up to $25,000. Together, this adds up to the full $100,000 in documented damage.

You must disclose any financial assistance you’ve received related to the disaster. The Program will review your documents and cross-check with third-party records to confirm. The Program determines how much of your prior assistance is considered duplicative and deducts that from your award calculation.

If you applied for a subsidized loan, such as a SBA Home Loan, but the loan was declined or cancelled, the undisbursed loan amount is not considered a Duplication of Benefits. However, this exception only applies if the applicant can provide documentation confirming the loan (or part of it) was declined or cancelled.

A declined loan is one that was approved or offered by a lender (like SBA), but you chose not to accept it and did not sign the loan documents. If the County becomes aware that you were offered an SBA loan but cannot confirm whether you accepted it, you may be asked to provide a signed written certification confirming that you did not sign the loan documents and you did not receive any loan funds.

A cancelled loan refers to a loan (or portion of a loan) that you initially accepted (by signing the loan documents), but the lender later did not disburse some or all of the funds, and those funds are no longer available to you. To exclude the cancelled loan amount from the Duplication of Benefits calculation, one of the following must be provided:

• A written communication from the lender (e.g., SBA) confirming that the loan, or undisbursed portion, has been cancelled and is no longer available, OR
• A legally binding agreement between you and the County of Maui stating that the loan funds are no longer available, and that you agree not to reinstate or draw additional funds from the loan.

Yes. If you used funds from insurance or a subsidized loan, such as a SBA Home Loan, to voluntarily pay down or pay off your mortgage, those funds are still considered a Duplication of Benefits. The only exception is when the mortgage payoff was involuntary. For example, if your mortgage company required the payoff and they took control of the funds directly. In those cases, because the applicant did not have legal control over the use of the funds, it is not considered a Duplication of Benefits.

HOP homes carry a 99-year affordability covenant that limits resale price, regulates transfers, and requires primary residency. These restrictions run with the land and affect every future owner.

Yes, but only up to the Maximum Resale Price determined by Program Guidelines. The home will not appreciate at full market rate.

Only Eligible Buyers (≤120% AMI) unless the home has been diligently marketed for 12 months after the County’s Purchase Option expires. This is critical for agents and lenders screening buyers.

The County calculates and confirms the Maximum Resale Price before listing or contracting. Agents must not estimate this themselves.

Yes - only with County approval and only if it qualifies as a Permitted Mortgage under Article VII. PACE loans are prohibited.

They must:

•    Submit an Intent-to-Sell Notice to the County
•    Wait through the County’s Purchase Option period (60-90 days)
•    Comply with inspection/repair requirements
•    Sell only to Eligible Buyers unless exceptions apply

This governs the entire transaction process for agents and lenders.

No. The home must remain the homeowner’s primary residence for the full term of the covenant. Rental of the whole home, room rentals, short-term rentals, or investment use are not permitted.

DTI is determined by the lender, but affordability is reviewed by the County as part of Program compliance. If housing costs change during escrow, lenders should flag this early so the Program team can review updated figures.

Changes in insurance premiums, property taxes, or HOA fees may impact affordability. These situations are reviewed on a case-by-case basis, and early communication helps prevent closing delays.

No. HOP assistance does not function as a dollar-for-dollar gap filler to reach market-rate prices. Purchase price, loan amount, and assistance must align with Program affordability limits.

HOP transactions typically take longer than standard sales due to County review and required procedures. Realtors should generally plan for 45-60 days, depending on the transaction.