State may crack down on unpaid public housing rents

Incoming public housing tenants could be subject to credit checks and visits to their current home under proposals meant to better screen applicants and cut down on delinquent renters, the Honolulu Advertiser reported on Feb. 11.

The planned changes are troubling advocates, who say it will only worsen the housing crisis, but public housing officials say the changes are meant to decrease the number of tenants who fail to pay or who damage units, spurring costly repairs. They point out that other public housing authorities already take similar steps.

In December, more than 20 percent of the thousands of households in public housing were behind on their rent, with the Hawaii Public Housing Authority owed as much as $1 million. The planned screening measures are part of other proposed changes to decrease rent delinquency in public housing, including speeding up evictions, and come as the agency attempts to tackle an aging public housing inventory, deal with budget shortfalls and catch up on tens of millions of dollars in backlogged repairs.