Owners at the Hawaiian Prince apartments in Waikīkī faced an unexpected financial blow in May when Hawaiiana Management Co. imposed a one-time special assessment of $3,770 per unit alongside a 152% increase in maintenance fees for the remainder of the year, according to a Civil Beat investigation published in September 2026. The move pushed monthly bills from $1,216 to $1,844 per property, with one couple's first invoice totaling $11,234 for their two units. The situation highlights broader challenges facing Hawaii residents in housing cooperatives and condominiums, where volunteer board members often lack training and struggle to access financial documents needed to evaluate whether dramatic fee increases are justified.
The financial strain affects a significant portion of Hawaii's population, with over 42% of residents paying monthly housing association fees that rank among the nation's highest. The Hawaiian Prince, built in 1959, operates as one of roughly 12 housing cooperatives on Oahu where residents own shares in the housing corporation rather than individual units. Letters sent to shareholders in December 2025 had indicated that maintenance fees wouldn't rise in 2026, and a reserve fund study from that same month showed a balance of $168,000. Yet by May, the management company announced both the special assessment and the steep fee hike, attributing the decision to "a careful and thorough review of the corporation's current and future cashflow" with board approval. Shareholders told Civil Beat they received conflicting information about their financial situation and couldn't get access to underlying financial documents.
A legislative task force that concluded work in June heard testimony showing that owners continue facing obstacles when requesting relevant information from boards and management companies. The report found a significant gap between legal rights and real-world administrative enforcement, despite provisions allowing fines up to $10,000. Three of the task force's 10 recommendations directly address document access problems, including a request that the Department of Commerce and Consumer Affairs impose stronger minimum fines and sanctions on "repeat offenders" who decline owner requests for documents. Task force member Raelene Tenno noted that boards consist of volunteer residents who "often have little to no training in property management," though "they have a fiduciary responsibility." Hawaiiana Management strongly disagreed with assertions that financial information had been withheld, saying it provided the board with monthly financial statements and additional documentation upon request.
The report explains that maintenance fee increases face resistance from building residents, which creates pressure on boards to keep costs artificially low even as inflation and building needs mount. Industry recommendations call for maintenance fees and reserve fund contributions to track inflation at 3% to 5% annually, making gradual increases "much easier to swallow than a $200 or more increase in one hit," according to Tenno. When boards defer increases for years, buildings risk depleting reserves and requiring sudden special assessments for major capital projects like repiping or elevator modernization. The task force recommended amending the law to "improve timely and affordable access to governing documents and other records essential to an association's physical, financial, legal operations, by strengthening enforcement for timely production." But any legislative changes won't help Hawaiian Prince residents, since housing cooperatives fall outside the Department of Commerce and Consumer Affairs' oversight of condominiums. For co-op owners, recourse runs through the corporation's own governing documents or civil court, leaving shareholders with few practical options when disputes arise over transparency and financial management.