Attorney Calls for Three Year Mortgage Deferral and Foreclosure Moratorium for Lahaina Homeowners

News Release from Law Offices of Lance Collins, Sept 18, 2023

Lahaina, Maui -- Many Lahaina homeowners who have survived the fire are now at threat of foreclosure. Federal regulations permit most homeowners a ninety day forbearance on the payment of their mortgages due to natural disaster. After that time, they must begin making payments again and also pay the three months of missed payments.

Most of these homeowners no longer have homes, many remain displaced in temporary housing and are without work. It is estimated that rebuilding will take at least three years.

Maui attorney Lance D. Collins has formally requested that the Federal Housing Administration, the Federal Housing and Financing Authority, Government National Mortgage Association and the Veterans Affairs Benefits Administration require mortgage lenders to declare a general deferment of both mortgage payments and the accrual of interest for three years and to extend the maturation date of any loan by three years, or allowing the re-amortization of the three years over the life of the loan.

Collins is also calling on Governor Josh Green to use his emergency powers to suspend the Foreclosure Law for residential properties in the burnout zone in Lahaina to strongly encourage lenders to work with property owners on deferments and loan modifications.

Collins said, "Without immediate intervention, the Lahaina community will next be faced with a tsunami of foreclosures and predatory land grabbing will reign under the cloak of legal process."

Several local banks have offered forbearance, meaning that interest continues to accrue and that the missed payments with the additional interest are tacked on at the end of the loan's term. This request is for a general deferral and an extension on the maturity date of loans, meaning that no interest accrues during the deferral and that the loan is extended by the period of the deferral.

Lance D. Collins is a Maui attorney who, along with Honolulu attorney Harrison L. Kiehm, leads the Mālama Law Group. The Mālama Law Group represents property owners, renters, businesses and  families who have lost loved ones in the Maui fire, having filed one of the first lawsuits arising from the fire that destroyed Lahaina. Collins' and Kiehm's offices have united to form Mālama Law Group. Joining the Mālama Law Group from California is native Hawaiian attorney Kristine Kalama Keala (formerly Meredith), managing partner of Danko Meredith, a preeminent utility wildfire firm that has won over $1 billion in cash compensation for survivors of utility fires.