On Monday, the Lahaina Community Land Trust quietly flipped the switch on something a lot of fire-impacted families have been waiting for: a homebuyer portal meant to keep Lahaina-rooted ʻohana in Lahaina.
The new online intake form gives local households a locally controlled path to permanently affordable homeownership. It places applicants in a queue for future Lahaina Community Land Trust (LCLT) homes, connects them with homebuyer education and lender partners, and routes qualified households into a fair selection process once properties are ready. Under the model, the trust keeps ownership of the land and sells only the house under a long ground lease, which keeps resale prices capped for generations to come. For many families who lost homes in the August 8, 2023 wildfire, LCLT is pitching the portal as a concrete step toward staying put in Lahaina rather than being priced out.
How the portal works
As reported by Maui Now, the portal starts with a short intake form. Households submit basic information so LCLT can notify them when homes go up for sale and invite qualified applicants into a lottery-style selection.
Autumn Ness, the trust’s executive director, called it "the next chapter, a tangible path for Lahaina residents to come home and stay home." Along with building that path, the trust says signups will help it better understand real-time housing needs in the community and decide where to focus future building.
Who qualifies
According to the Lahaina Community Land Trust, eligibility is tightly focused on those directly affected by the fires. Applicants must be current Maui County residents who lived in a home that was damaged or destroyed in the 2023 Lahaina fires. They must also have household income at or below $300,000 or 140% of area median income, whichever figure is higher.
There are asset limits as well. Households must hold at least $1,000 in liquid assets, keep non-retirement assets below $500,000, and cannot own more than a 33% share of another residential property. Buyers also need to qualify for a mortgage. Lenders typically look at steady income, debt-to-income ratios, and credit history, and LCLT says it will connect applicants with homebuyer education and trusted lending partners to help navigate that process.
When a home becomes available, the trust plans to run an independent lottery, then prioritize the top 10 households based on how many years they have lived in the 96761 zip code. The idea is that the people who have been rooted in Lahaina the longest get the strongest shot at staying there.
First ʻāina and the long view
The portal sits on top of groundwork that has already started on the land side. LCLT’s first parcel, at 1651 Lokia Street, has been secured for future rebuilding with a main house and two ʻohana units, according to Maui Now.
The same outlet notes that LCLT caps annual resale appreciation at about 1.5%. That lets buyers build some equity while keeping the homes within reach for the next local household. It is the core trade-off at the heart of the community land trust model that LCLT is using as a shield against speculative pressure while Lahaina rebuilds.
How to sign up and what comes next
To get in line, households are asked to start with the short intake form linked from the "How To Qualify" page on Lahaina Community Land Trust, which also lists required documents and verification steps.
After submitting the intake, applicants verify their email, then may be invited to apply for specific homes that match their needs. They will complete a homebuyer education course if required, and LCLT says it will conduct annual check-ins to support new homeowners over time.
For now, the nonprofit, formed after the fire to help keep Lahaina ʻohana home, is framing the portal as an early but practical step in a much longer recovery. The big picture goal stays the same: keep local families rooted in Lahaina even as the town rebuilds around them.
