County Buyback Program now accepting applications.

[AaronM]

Forms can be found at the following link - https://recovery.hawaiicounty.gov/resour...ut-program

[terracore]

That's a pretty sweet deal! If somebody got a fat insurance payout for loss of structure, they can get an additional $230k for selling the county the barren wasteland it once sat on.

Disaster-Recovery (CDBG-DR) Action Plan, the recovery team worked with the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) to clarify the application of duplication of benefits for the VHBP. HUD has confirmed the following will not count as duplicative, meaning receiving these forms of assistance won’t reduce buyout grant amounts:

Federal Emergency Management Agency Individual Assistance for rental assistance, home repairs, or housing replacement;
U.S. Small Business Administration loans for home repairs, housing reconstruction, housing relocation, or other approved purposes;
Private insurance payouts for loss of structure and/or contents;
Private sources such as grants for home repairs or in-kind assistance.

[Obie]

The barren wasteland was once worth a lot of money. My 3 lots were appraised at more than the buyout amount.
My wife would like to keep the property and go back and build something.
Some of us are worried about a checkboard of homeless camps and overgrown crap.
The bottom line is if they are going to give me a quarter million dollars, what would you do ?

I think it's stupid, spend that money to build a protected beach at the end of lighthouse road.

[My 2 cents]

3 lots....Does that mean you can collect 3 times?

[AaronM]

If I knew whether or not they would be rebuilding roads and infrastructure, I would be able to make a better decision. As it stands, the 230K is enticing and yet I too have hopes of rebuilding albeit at a much smaller scale (think cabin, not house).

In order to be as fair as possible, the program prioritizes full time residents whose lot was fully inundated and who are below the poverty line.

This is a move by the government (Fed and County) to curb future residential use of the rift zone.

[Obie]

"3 lots....Does that mean you can collect 3 times?"

No, primary residence was on the middle lot with a lot on either side.

[kalakoa]

No, primary residence was on the middle lot with a lot on either side.

So the buyout could fund the construction of two new homes!

[Obie]

The lots were consolidated years ago so they would have to be subdivided.

[dobanion]

My take is if the lots were consolidated, then the max the county will give you is $230k for the combined value of ONE lot (albeit triple the size of usual) and the home on it.

Had you left them separate, you could recoup $230k for the middle lot (house and lot), and whatever the tax value was on the other two lots at the time the lava took them (~$20k each I'll guess).

I highly doubt they'll let you subdivide now.

The reinstallation of any roads in Leilani, Vacationland, or similar, would seem entirely counter to what the county seems to be trying to do. Which seems to be making sure they never get developed again.

[eightfingers2.0]

I heard some sold empty lots at a huge loss, would that get reimbursed?