Kapālama residents fed up with what they say is substandard public housing conditions filed class-action lawsuits in state and federal courts yesterday against the state for the alleged lack of repairs.

Lifting the public housing project from its deep decline will take effort from all stakeholders—the Housing Authority, state lawmakers, residents, community leaders and more.

The minimum expected of public housing, according to multiple federal laws on the books, is that it be "decent, safe, and sanitary." It's simply unconscionable that there are still public housing projects in Hawaiʻi that can't even reach that low bar.

The state, as a landlord, has an obligation to provide living quarters that are in good repair, just as private property owners do.

Disabled tenants at Kuhio Park Terrace and Kuhio Homes have to worry every day about meeting their most basic needs, but after years of suffering, they have new hope it's about to change.

The suit, filed in U.S. District Court, also says disabled tenants are not being afforded bare-bones accommodations, including accessible showers.

The federal case alleges that the public housing project violates the American with Disabilities Act, the Rehabilitation Act and the Fair Housing Act. The state case alleges a breach of obligation by the state under its warranty of habitability.

Calling the state ''the largest slumlord'' in Hawaii, Lawyers for Equal Justice filed federal and state class-action lawsuits Thursday against the Hawaiʻi Public Housing Authority.

The state will assist families to ensure they attend school.