On July 5, the Ninth Circuit dismissed with prejudice an appeal by Front Street Affordable Housing Partners, confirming that the developer may not unilaterally end rent restrictions.

The dismissal confirms that FSA may not end unilaterally the rent restrictions that prevent it and subsequent buyers from raising rents or selling the project unencumbered by the rent restrictions.

The decision by Judge Otake rejected an attempt by the Front Street Apartments developer to unilaterally end restrictions that are meant to keep rents affordable there until 2051.

Lahaina Front Street Apartments, a 142-unit development built using federal housing tax credits, cannot be converted to market-rate housing or sold without the tax credit program's rental restrictions.

Without the court challenge, ending of rent restrictions could have led to the doubling or tripling of rents and the eviction of low-income tenants who were unable to pay.

The lawsuit challenged a developer’s attempt to increase rents to market rate, or sell the property without restrictions.

A lawsuit filed by tenants of a Lahaina affordable housing project has become a bellwether case for the future of affordable housing in Hawaiʻi. Victor Geminiani, an attorney with Lawyers for Equal Justice, is representing some of the plaintiffs in the case.

The lawsuit challenges developer’s attempt to convert the property into market-rate rentals in violation of the 51-year commitment to keep rents affordable to low-income tenants.