Malaika Tapper is a student at Harvard College. Her reporting has appeared in The Intercept, The Sacramento Bee, and The Idaho Statesman.
Native Hawaiians cannot take out second mortgages or home equity lines of credit on their homesteads — but not everyone understood that was part of the deal.
Those fortunate enough to secure a DHHL lot — often after waiting years or decades — find themselves unable to access the property’s market value.