Military housing rent hikes taking a toll on residents

By Kristen Consillio

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    HAWAII (KITV) — Christine Roberts, a civilian teacher living with her two children in military housing, says her rent will soon jump by $325, to $3,300 a month for her four-bedroom home in Radford Terrace.

That’s on top of a $200 increase on her electricity bill.

“This catches us off guard,” she said. “I had to already extend my budget for the extra electric payments and now I’m having to figure out how I’m going to pay the extra rental increase. I feel like it’s a slap in our faces after the Navy poisoned us.”

The hikes come after her rent was raised last year while she was staying in a hotel to get away from the contaminated water at Red Hill.

Roberts says if she doesn’t sign a new lease, she’ll have pay even more.

“The agent said that that’s fair market value and they have every right to do it,” she added. “To me personally, I feel like they are trying to push civilians out of housing.”

In an email last month, Hunt Companies, the manager of the military housing, told Roberts: “This rate is adjusted each year based on the DOD-determined BAH (basic allowance for housing) rates for the area. Because of this, all of our civilian residents will see these increases each year with their annual lease renewals.”

The latest rent increase takes effect in April. And Roberts fears there’s no end in sight.

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