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Katherine Kamaunu, 71, has lived at Lahaina Crossroads Apartments for more than 35 years.

Now, she and her husband, Aaron Kamaunu, 60, are being forced out of the complex, along with nearly 20 other families — a handful of whom are kūpuna on fixed incomes.

“To have my life ripped out from under me is not what I planned,” she said.

The Kamaunus and other tenants said Lahaina Crossroads Apartments ownership is kicking them out to renovate — then charge nearly double the rent. After all, units are located a couple blocks mauka of Front Street and outsiders are paying outrageous prices to live in Hawaiʻi, they said.

The 767 Luakini St. complex is managed by Kokua Realty LLC, which sent a letter to the Kamaunus, saying they have until June 30 to vacate.

Rent will go from about $1,220 to $2,200 for a one bedroom in the 20-unit apartment building, which has some two-bedroom units, tenants said. The Kamaunus live on the fourth story, and phased renovations will force people out floor by floor.

With low housing inventory on the west side, retirees, nurses, teachers, service industry workers and others at Lahaina Crossroads are left scrambling for places.

Freeman Tam Lung, 79, said he’s been living at Lahaina Crossroads for nearly 20 years and he doesn’t know what he will do next.

“I gotta go homeless then,” said Tam Lung.

He said he could try and move to Kentucky where his son lives, but he wants to stay in Lahaina, where he is from.

“I was born here — I want to be buried here,” said Tam Lung, a Native HawaMaui’s housing crisis is displacing elderly people.

“Being evicted so they can renovate it and then move it to $2,200, $2,250 — we can’t afford that, we just can’t afford that,” he said.

His wife, Katherine Kamaunu, said she’s been crying all the time.

“My husband is Hawaiian for Christ’s sake, and he can’t even live on this island,” she said. “People are greedy, money hungry.”