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A HOMEOWNER has been devastated after spending $140,000 on a house he had newly renovated.
The homeowner fought for the right to keep his house in a lengthy legal back-and-forth.
Shahzaad Ausman was thrilled after he bought the shoreline property in 2021 from its previous owner.
The property was a small house on the Milolii Beach Lots subdivision.
Two years after buying the property, Ausman filed a lawsuit against the Hawaii County Board of Appeals (BOA) and former Public Works Director Stephen Pause after they revoked a 2020 renovation permit, as reported by the Honolulu Star-Advertiser.
The lawsuit alleged that the county’s Electronic Processing and Information Center system (EPIC) had trapped him in a permitting Catch-22 that would force him to tear down the house.
Ausman was told he wasn’t allowed to remodel or live in the home.
In 2022, the DPW told the homeowner that the original 1987 building permit for the home had expired, and the 2020 permit had also been revoked.
The Department of Public Works said it revoked the remodeling permit for 88-129 Kai Ave because a 1987 building permit tied to the property had expired.
That original permit, they claimed, lacked a final inspection for the shoreline cottage completed in 1989.
Before the DPW revoked the 2020 permit, Ausman spent nearly $140,000 on home renovations.
He decided to appeal the decision to the BOA which would uphold DPW’s decision to revoke the 2020 permit.
However, Third Circuit Chief Judge Wendy DeWeese ruled that the DPW’s decision was “unjust” and “unreasonable,” according to the Honolulu Star-Advertiser.
She said Ausman “reasonably” relied on the 2020 permit to purchase the property and renovate the space.
“(Ausman’s) substantial rights have been prejudiced because the administrative findings, conclusions and order are clearly erroneous in view of the reliable, probative and substantial evidence on the whole record,” she wrote.
Ausman said he knew the house was a fixer-upper, but purchased it anyway.
I’ve been fighting for so long, and at every corner there was something happening. And when I finally saw the decision and read it, I was in tears, just shaking in disbelief because this is potentially over.
Shahzaad Ausman
“Before, I was on edge because I didn’t know what was going to happen with the house,” he said.
“And the county threatened me in letters that I could not live in the house or they would fine me.”
“I thought being told I couldn’t live in my house was an extreme thing for them to say to me,” he added.
The homeowner is also looking to be reimbursed for his legal fees.
“I feel like a million bucks, right?” Ausman said.
“I’ve been fighting for so long, and at every corner there was something happening. And when I finally saw the decision and read it, I was in tears, just shaking in disbelief because this is potentially over. And I can go on with my life now and go on with my house now.”