Maui County is launching a new loan program this summer to help middle- income Lahaina homeowners who are still struggling to rebuild since the Aug. 8, 2023, wildfires.
The Deferred Payment Loan Program is aimed at residents who fall into the “gap group” — families who make too much to qualify for federal disaster assistance but not enough to cover the full cost of rebuilding on their own.
Maui County is committing $7.5 million to the program as part of its fiscal year 2026 budget, with additional contributions expected from philanthropic partners.
The Hawaii Community Foundation and Maui United Way have pledged to support the program financially, though exact amounts have not yet been announced. The county’s share will be administered through Hawaii Community Lending, which will act as the implementing agency.
The program is scheduled to launch later this summer, with July as a tentative target date.
Interested Lahaina homeowners can begin the application process through the Lahaina Homeowner Recovery Program at hawaii communitylending.com/mauirelief, to find information about eligibility, required documentation and available support services.
The loans, which require no monthly payments upfront, are designed to close critical funding gaps that have left many families in limbo nearly two years after the disaster.
“This is about ensuring everyone has a path forward,” Mayor Richard Bissen said in a statement. “Our community deserves a recovery that reaches all — from our most vulnerable residents to the middle-class families who may not qualify for federal aid but still need support to rebuild their homes and lives. This partnership is a commitment to them.”
The Deferred Payment Loan Program is a collaboration among Maui County, HCF, MUW and HCL, which expands on an earlier initiative already underway through the Lahaina Homeowner Recovery Program.
Josiah Nishita, Maui County managing director at the Department of Management, said the new loan program has been in the works for some time as officials looked for ways to support families left out of traditional disaster funding streams.
Although the county continues to coordinate with FEMA, the Small Business Administration and the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development to bring in long-term recovery dollars through the Community Development Block Grant Disaster Recovery — or CDBG-DR — program, that federal assistance comes with strict eligibility criteria and income thresholds.
“The (Deferred Payment Loan) program is primarily going to be able to help those families that are cut in the middle,” Nishita said. “They make too much for some of the federal assistance programs but then don’t make enough to finance reconstruction or rebuild their homes on their own.”
Nishita said HCL already has been working with affected homeowners to help them navigate the complex recovery process, offering one-on-one guidance to connect people with grants, insurance support and financial counseling.
The new loan program will build on that work, targeting costs like property surveys, construction estimates, fire-safe rebuilding upgrades, homeowners insurance gaps and even foreclosure prevention.
Nishita added that program flexibility is key, as every family’s situation is different. While officials do not yet have a specific number of households the program will serve, Nishita said the goal is to stretch available resources to make the greatest possible impact across a wide range of needs.
The county also emphasized strong oversight. Each participating organization will be responsible for ensuring that funds are used appropriately, and the county will require documentation and reporting for its share of the funding.
“Hawaii Community Lending has been very open and transparent with the community, as well as engaging a lot of community dialogue,” Nishita said. “We have our own requirements for use of public funds, including on grant reporting processes and documentation. … Maui United Way and Hawaii Community Foundation each have their own sets of requirements that Hawaii Community lending will need to ensure to meet so that people can have confidence in the funds being spent appropriately.”
As the community awaits the broader rollout of CDBG- DR funds — Maui County expects to receive roughly $1.6 billion in federal aid — Nishita said the loan program fills a critical gap to ensure no one falls through the cracks. HUD already has approved the county’s administrative action plan for CDBG-DR, which allows 5% of the total funds to be used for managing and administering recovery programs.
“One thing that Mayor (Richard) Bissen has said many times is, if we build a bunch of buildings but don’t recognize the faces within them, then we’ve really failed our mission,” Nishita said. “Our goal is really simple: to keep our community at home and to keep our community together … keep our local residents in their homes and on their properties with their neighbors in their neighborhoods.”
Outreach will continue through community meetings in Lahaina and updates from the county’s Office of Recovery, which also helps survivors access other recovery programs.
To date, the county and its partners have held around 60 meetings with homeowners and plan to continue hosting them twice a month.
Nishita encouraged wildfire survivors to stay engaged.
“If you’ve been impacted by the wildfire, continue to participate in the county’s informational updates, meetings and keep providing us good feedback,” he said. “The county is fully committed to ensure that our local families can continue to stay here, to raise their families here and thrive here.”
