{"id":2009277,"date":"2023-08-23T12:34:02","date_gmt":"2023-08-23T16:34:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/maui-residents-attempt-to-fend-off-land-grab-as-outsiders-swoop-in-like-vultures-preying-on-us\/"},"modified":"2023-08-23T12:37:02","modified_gmt":"2023-08-23T16:37:02","slug":"maui-residents-attempt-to-fend-off-land-grab-as-outsiders-swoop-in-like-vultures-preying-on-us","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/maui-residents-attempt-to-fend-off-land-grab-as-outsiders-swoop-in-like-vultures-preying-on-us\/","title":{"rendered":"Maui locals resist land takeover by outsiders, feeling preyed upon like vultures."},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">24<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fmaui-residents-attempt-to-fend-off-land-grab-as-outsiders-swoop-in-like-vultures-preying-on-us%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=2009277&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><h2>Maui Residents Attempt to\u2064 Fend Off Land Grab as Outsiders Swoop \u200cin &#8216;Like \u2064&#8230; Vultures Preying on Us&#8217;<\/h2>\n<p>The disaster is still fresh, but that isn\u2019t\u200d stopping some predatory investors from trying to \u2062pick up a piece \u2062of property in the area of Maui destroyed by wildfires.<\/p>\n<p>The problem became so widespread \u2063so quickly that the Office of Consumer Protection in Hawaii has already warned\u200b residents\u200b selling \u200bout to \u201cpeople making \u2064below-market offers,\u2063 playing on fears of foreclosure and the cost\u200d of rebuilding,\u201d according to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.reuters.com\/world\/us\/maui-wildfire-victims-fear-land-grab-may-threaten-hawaiian-culture-2023-08-22\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Reuters<\/a>.<\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<h3>Protecting Residents from Predatory Investors<\/h3>\n<p>The office didn\u2019t want to say how many reports\u200c it had already received of low-ball \u2062offers,\u2063 but clearly \u200csomething prompted the warning.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAny reported instances of misconduct will be investigated, \u2064and\u200b if \u200dconfirmed, wrongdoers will \u2063be prosecuted to\u2062 the\u200c full extent of\u2064 the law,\u201d said Mana Moriarty, OCP\u2019s\u2062 executive director. \u201cIllegal\u2064 conduct and those seeking to take advantage of those most vulnerable will not be tolerated.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>\u201cIt felt like \u2062we had vultures preying \u2064on us,\u201d said \u2064retired flight attendant Deborah Loeffler, whose grandfather built a home on\u200d beachfront property in <a href=\"https:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\/biden-spend-week-ritzy-vacation-town-maui-suffers-complete-utter-devastation\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Lahaina<\/a> roughly 80 years ago.<\/p>\n<p>She told Reuters that she was concerned about outside \u2062investors buying up land with\u200b no interest in preserving <a href=\"https:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\/video-deadly-hawaii-fire-destroys-everything-leaves-church-seemingly-unscathed\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Hawaiian culture<\/a>.<\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<h3>Preserving Hawaiian Culture and Protecting \u200cHomeowners<\/h3>\n<p>The average <a href=\"https:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\/ap-mortgage-rates-rise-5-66-weighing-housing-market\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">home price<\/a> \u2062in \u200bLahaina was\u2063 $1.1 million prior to the fire, or almost three times the national average of roughly $416,000, according\u2062 to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.fool.com\/the-ascent\/research\/average-house-price-state\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">The Motley Fool<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Average income in the area, however,\u2062 was only\u2064 about 24 percent higher than the national average, \u2062Reuters said.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cBefore the fire in Lahaina, the same process had continued to unfold in west \u200dMaui, where Native Hawaiians, local families, were\u2062 being priced out of their homes as wealthier people\u2064 from out-of-state\u2063 bought second or third homes, investment properties or homes that they \u2064could retire into,\u201d Sterling\u2064 Higa, \u2063executive director of the local nonprofit \u200bHousing Hawaii\u2019s Future, told <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cnn.com\/2023\/08\/17\/business\/maui-land-grab-fears-history\/index.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">CNN<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAnd prices of housing \u200cin west Maui has \u2063vastly outstripped the wages that are paid \u2062in\u2063 Maui, especially for people working in the hospitality\u200b industry,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>Gov. \u200d <a href=\"https:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\/dem-governor-hawaii-false\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Josh \u200dGreen<\/a> said last \u2062week \u200dthat he had ordered his administration to find a way \u2064to put a moratorium on <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/how-the-legacy-media-tried-to-vilify-reddits-wall-street-bets-during-the-gamestop-fiasco\/\" title=\"How The Legacy Media Tried To Vilify Reddit\u2019s \u2018Wall Street Bets\u2019 During The GameStop Fiasco\">real estate sales<\/a> for \u2064the moment, according\u200c to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.npr.org\/2023\/08\/17\/1194351587\/hawaii-governor-vows-to-block-land-grabs-as-fire-ravaged-maui-rebuilds\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">NPR<\/a>, though he admitted that such a move might not stand up in court.<\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<h3>Government Intervention and Legal Assistance<\/h3>\n<p>\u201cMy \u2064intention from start to finish is to make sure that no one is victimized from \u2063a land grab,\u201d \u2063the Democratic governor told reporters during a news conference. \u201cPeople are right now\u2062 traumatized.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cPlease do not approach them with an offer to\u200d buy their \u200bland,\u201d he added. \u201cDo not approach \u2064their \u200dfamilies saying they\u2019ll be much better off if they make a deal. Because we\u2019re not going\u200c to allow it.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>He also said that the state would offer \u2062free \u200clegal assistance through <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/msnbc-finds-way-to-complain-about-racism-while-celebrating-brittney-griner-being-freed\/\" title=\"MSNBC Finds Way to Complain About Racism While Celebrating Brittney Griner Being Freed\">local attorneys<\/a> who volunteer to work pro-bono to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/texans-cant-lose-power-for-nonpayment-orders-utilities-commission\/\" title=\"Texans Can\u2019t Lose Power For Nonpayment, Orders Utilities Commission\">protect residents<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>\u201cNative Hawaiians have a fear that is rooted in \u2062a history of \u2063dispossession,\u201d Higa said. \u201cFor centuries now, they have watched their land being taken by \u2064foreigners.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Others agreed.<\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<h3>Protecting Hawaiian Heritage<\/h3>\n<p>\u201cFear\u200c of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/maui-residents-attempt-to-fend-off-land-grab-as-outsiders-swoop-in-like-vultures-preying-on-us\/\" title=\"Maui locals resist land takeover by outsiders, feeling preyed upon like vultures.\">predatory land grabbers coming<\/a> in is legitimate because it\u2019s already happening, it\u2019s been happening for generations now,\u201d said Kaniela Ing, a Hawaiian community organizer who told CNN her family had lived on Maui for seven \u200bgenerations.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAnd every time there\u2019s a crisis,\u201d she said, \u201cit accelerates.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>The post\u2064 <a rel=\"nofollow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\/maui-residents-attempt-fend-off-land-grab-outsiders-swoop-like-vultures-preying-us\/\">Maui Residents Attempt to Fend Off Land Grab as Outsiders Swoop in &#8216;Like \u200d&#8230; Vultures Preying on Us&#8217;<\/a> appeared first on <a rel=\"nofollow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\">The Western Journal<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Despite the recent disaster, opportunistic investors are relentlessly pursuing properties in the fire-ravaged area of Maui. The Office of Consumer Protection in Hawaii swiftly cautioned residents about accepting low-ball offers from these individuals, as the issue rapidly escalated.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2010,"featured_media":2009278,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/cndimages.nyc3.digitaloceanspaces.com\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/IMG_2758-scaled-1.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[548],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2009277","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-conservative-news-daily"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/cndimages.nyc3.digitaloceanspaces.com\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/IMG_2758-scaled-1.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2009277","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2010"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2009277"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2009277\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2009278"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2009277"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2009277"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2009277"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}