Some landlords even forced out tenants to instead rent to fire refugees, who could pay more because FEMA was covering the rent — and dramatically overpaying, ProPublica and the Honolulu Civil Beat reported.

Maui residents who lived or worked in the burn zone have seen rent increases of roughly 50 percent in the months following the disaster, according to research from the University of Hawaii. Some landlords took advantage of the crisis, evicting tenants to make way for higher-paying renters. A year later, homelessness in Hawaiʻi had nearly doubled.