If you think Hawaii vacations are expensive now, here’s what could happen if Senate Bill 2919 passes.
Get Breaking Hawaii Travel News
Leave a Comment
188 thoughts on “Clash Over Hawaii Vacation Rentals Includes Tourists, Residents, Special Interests”
How about some softening in the language of the proposed measure? What if it stated that a foreign national could only own a certain number of units? (In many countries non-citizens can not own any real property) I am going to throw out a number just for discussion, I have no basis for it. Foreign ownership shall be limited to three (3) short-term rental properties. Now limit the number of properties that may be owned by a United States citizen. American citizens may own up to eight (8) short term rental properties.
Here’s Hawaii again, wanting sovereignty but for someone else to still foot the bill. Who do they think will pay for the long term housing once properties are stolen from the owners?
This is not even ridiculous, it’s asinine.
Here are people not from Hawaii again, chiming in about what Hawaii is doing wrong. I urge folks to consider that the political and economical states of where you vacation are usually entirely different from where you live(d). People are born and raised here becoming priced out of their own home, it’s incredibly ignorant to turn a blind eye to that. There isn’t a simple solution, but there needs to be one so getting angry over amenities or being rude seems silly.
I did not have the privilege of being born in Hawai’i, but I love everything about it.
I am so sorry for the rudeness you’ve encountered in these comments. There’s never a good reason to be anything but kind to others. After all, we are all connected.
All love to you.
Exactly. Well said.
The vast majority of posters here are from out of state, think they are “locals” because they visit and “live like locals” or have a second home or speculative STR here. Almost all of them are just tourists or housing speculators trying to make money.
Aloha Lo,
“People are born and raised here becoming priced out of their own home, it’s incredibly ignorant to turn a blind eye to that.“
Have you ever been to the west coast? The price of real estate goes up commensurately with proximity to the water. Most people paying a mortgage today would not be able to requalify for a new mortgage on the same house.
Mahalo
Ok great? What are you talking about? What does any of that have to do with Hawai’i?
I think everyone agrees that the lack of housing for residents is a problem. The point many are trying to make is that the “solutions” being offered are clearly not viable solutions that will provide the needed relief. Instead, the government is being influenced by the hotel lobby and the anti tourist groups, neither of which is focused on long-term housing solutions that will s actual work — with sufficient jobs still in place for it to matter.
Absolutely! Hawaiians deserve to be here and deserve more than to be treated like scum because they don’t make the millions someone else came here with, bought properties with, and doesn’t reinvest back into the community with.
Nahele, so you are talking about hotels, right? They certainly came here with millions, billions in fact, with most all of the profits leaving the islands.
You can’t be talking about short-term rental owners, 48% of whom live in our community, and do nothing But invest in the community, buying goods, using local services, and keeping hundreds of people employed.
I know of locals who rent their houses out to vacationers for the summer months while they (the owners) go to the mainland
To get away.
Is it legal?
If a person purchased a condo/home in Hawaii, stays in it a month out of a year and rents it out for the rest of the year as an investment, is it legal to take that investment opportunity away from this person?
Any lawyers who can answer this question I would appreciate your insight as I truly do not understand how this could be legal.
Mahalo!
With out vacation rentals we will Never again return to Hawaii. It is so nice to have a kitchen, in a hotel you have to eat out every meal! When we stay it is 2 weeks minimum. No way can we afford to eat out 56 meals and that’s only if you eat twice a day. Vacation rentals make an already Extremely expensive vacation some what affordable.
If it comes to pass that visitors are not able to rent a condo for a stay in Maui, the economy of Maui will collapse. The ungodly taxes that visitors pay for occupancy will disappear and the county of Maui will starve. Hotels are overpriced and unaffordable when you cannot prepare your own meals.
If we can’t rent in our current condo complex we will not be back. We have no interest in the big hotels.
Just a few cities and countries (most much larger populations than the entire State of Hawaii) where speculative short term rentals have been severely restricted ……or banned entirely:
– New York City
– Barcelona
– New Zealand
– Palm Beach
– Berlin
– Amsterdam
– Santa Monica
– San Francisco
– Canada
– Malaysia
– Irvine
– Japan
– Many, many more cities and countries….
Everyone knows speculators hoarding housing to try to make a profit with mini-hotels in areas zoned residential is terrible for society.
I stayed for a month in a STVR in Barcelona in 2006. It was one of the best experiences of my life.
I walked 5 miles roundtrip to the Boqueria each day for groceries and came home and cooked like a local. I met the neighbors on the block, and we are STILL in communication with many of them.
I think everyone knows the one bad seed in any given neighborhood who makes life miserable for everyone else on the block. Those people have mortgages and live there full time, and I bet most of the neighbors wish they didn’t.
You can’t legislate who your neighbors are.
I could’ve never experienced the true culture of Barcelona had I stayed in a hotel, nor would I have been able to afford it.
You were just another tourist in Barcelona, not a local. A visitor, taking up housing in a residential neighborhood that was meant for residents, not speculators and visitors.
I do not possess your black and white view of the world.
We are a global earth now, not confined to any one place anymore.
Like I said, the neighbors welcomed me. Given they’re the ones that I was in contact with, and still am, I think they know how they think and feel about my having been there.
I’m glad you had such a great time and were such a “good neighbor”. Unfortunately, not everyone is, and since these are “short term” rentals, they turn over a LOT. That means that a lot of different folks rent them in a year, and there’s a resizable chance that at least one of them is going to cause problems. BTW, one of the reasons that Paris restricted STVRs so much is that investors were buying the majority of the condos in a building, effectively turning that building into a hotel with none of the controls, safety systems, or amenities of a hotel. It also made life hell for the few residents that remained. Spain had a similar problem, so they passed regulations that limit the number of STVRs to 10 per 100 inhabitants.
To me, the answer to this scenario is simple. Get rid of the trouble makers and live and let live the rest.
From the landlord perspective, you are far more likely to have a bad long-term renter causing problems than a short-term renter, and the problems they cause are far more difficult to handle. I don’t say that to suggest short-term rentals should be allowed in every neighborhood, but only to remind that there are two sides to the coin. (It is not short-term renters who are overstaying their leases and dumping cars and washing machines on the side of the road.)
I’m sympathetic to Hawaii residents. I have friends who are trying to live on the island and work. None of their jobs are based in tourism but they are impacted if Hawaii cannot sustain itself. It isn’t cheap to keep paradise clean, the state has alot of infrastructure costs that need to be addressed. Tourism should benefit the residents of Hawaii not the other way around. If it costs more to go to Hawaii because there is less housing, that should be offset by how much less it cost for residents to pay to live. When there are no local businesses to support residents and tourists, no one wins. Having only homes and nothing else will not attract revenue or sustain the community long term. Im not against vacation rentals; limits needed.
A good percentage of the comments herein use the terminology ‘STR’.
This article is about bill 2919.
Bill 2919 has nothing to do with STRs. If you think that’s true, you haven’t read or understood the article.
The state wants to undermine the longstanding right, that has been in the state Land Use Ordinance for decades, that allows for folks that have a property to rent it out for minimum 30 day rental.
Bill 2919 would allow the counties to circumvent that long-standing right. That’s what this article is about; it’s about the state trying to weasel out of their loss of the federal lawsuit, since the LUO would need to be overridden.
If the bill passes, counties will be able to change the minimum to 90 days, or even 180 days!
I disagree with your representation of the bill. The bill includes a definition of an STR and it includes a state regulatory system of STRs. If that isn’t about STRs, what is?
Further the bill enables county regulation of leases for any term less than 180 days.
Dear D,
What is a STR? Short-term rentals (STRs) are also known as vacation rentals, and are lodgings that provide guest accommodation for less than 30 consecutive days. In order to preserve housing for long-term residents, STRs are only permitted in resort-zoned areas and a couple of specific apartment-zoned areas. [honolulu.gov]
Bill 2919 may redefine the term STR, but the law as it is now defines STRs as above. This means that the bill and the article are focused on ‘amortizing’ or paying down the value to the homeowner of the previous right to rent to renters for 30+ days.
You may quibble about what the bill’s language is. But the bill will change existing 30+ rentals to STRs, so the article is NOT about existing STRs
Hal, Perhaps splitting hairs….
The bill expands county enabling power to regulate rentals of Any duration, including less than 30 days. Further, it enables amortizing those uses that become nonconforming. In this context amortization means Extinguish such uses. The bill does not create a nonconforming use of short term leases but enables counties to do so then to regulate and amortize (ie, extinguish) those leases.
I think like here in Arizona you should not have let people from other countries buy or build homes or hotels on any of the islands. Also the rich and famous who are buying homes all over the island should not have been allowed. This situation is only due to the greedy Hawaiian government and the people who elected them.
Ah, I tried to look that up, and all I could find was a reference to a Bill that passed in AZ. “The bill that passed the Senate limits that the restriction to “a foreign government or a state-controlled enterprise of a foreign government.” The amendment to restrict individual foreign ownership was dropped de to “legal concerns”. Can yo point me to the actually bill that passed into law that’s different from that?
The statistic repeated over and over again “27% of short-term rental owners own 20 or more units.” is actually misquoted and false.
This seems to be from an old Appleseed report “Hawaii Vacation Rentals: Impact on Housing and Economy” dated 2018. On page 7 it says: “hosts with 20 or more units earned more than 27 percent of the total revenue generated by multi-unit hosts”. The sentence in the report really has a very different meaning. Also “host” doesn’t mean “owner”. Property management companies manage and advertise multiple listings.
The report adds a disclaimer: “It should be noted that the study was conducted by a group with ties to the hotel industry”
3d printed homes. That’s the answer.
If I were not able to rent a short term rental with kitchen and washer/dryer, I would have to reconsider traveling to Hawaii. Hotel rooms are good for a short vacation, but for a longer stay of 2 weeks or more you need the convenience of a short term rental.
I’ve said it before Hawaiians don’t want visitors. I think they don’t realize how much money everyone spends there. It keeps things going. Provides jobs for the people who live there. After COVID restrictions were over we would go to the beaches, Haleakala no one was there. Just us. People who live there don’t go to the national Park much. My advice go somewhere else it’s cheaper and probably just as nice
Interesting … my experience is that every time I went to Hawaii “post pandemic” it’s been overrun by tourists. You could hardly find a spot to sit on the beach, traffic is nuts, and the restaurants are crowded. The down side was that this level of crowding is destroying the very reason people go to Hawaii. So Hawaii is stuck between a rock and a hard place. They need the tourists because their economy is tourism based, but the tourists are destroying the place. That’s a tough problem to fix and the fix is going to make some people unhappy no matter what it is.
I have been to Hawai’i many times, for months at a time.
I have never experienced the overcrowding that you’ve experienced because I don’t frequent places that are tourist traps.
I go to remote places so I can soak in the beauty of the aina and the people. It’s a rare instance when I see an outsider not respecting both. What I do encounter that rare person, I will say that it does turn my stomach.
That said, last time I did, I complained about it to a local, and she said, “Awe, they’re just having fun.” Go figure!
It’s not that Hawaiians don’t want visitors, they want them to respect the people and the land. We understand that tourism is part of our economy. Its the government that wants to over-regulate it and make money.
How about they build less hotels? Use the proposed hotel spaces to build affordable housing for those that live and work there??? SRT’s don’t have the parking available that people need,and there isn’t enough parking available for people in general.
This will backfire, another example of government trying to solve a p problem. Now there will be too much housing, inviting more to move to Hawaii but wait – there won’t be any work because tourist bus will suffer. Some of the nicer STR resorts will crumble into the sea because those that live there can’t afford the dues to maintain. Nice job senators, real long term thinking.
Clearly, short term rentals are not the reason that there is limited low cost housing. Those with legal permits should be allowed to remain. The fact that some are in residential areas is an unfortunate decision made years ago. The government should simply stop issuing new permits if they want to have some control. They can even rule that permits are not transferable upon the sale of a property. Many short term rentals are in resort areas that are not only too expensive for low income people but also they are units that the luxury hotels in those areas would want to see maintaining their current value. The hotel lobbyists are hurting the organization that they represent in many respects by pursuing this matter so vigorously.
Aloha, it seems to me that working on finding ways to bring down the costs of hotel rooms and rates should be the other side of phasing out short term rentals. The rentals sprang up in answer to the continued perceived high rates, fees etc hotels charge.
In the late 2000’s and early 2010’s Hawaiians had an opportunity to purchase affordable under valued and foreclosed properties, but chose not too.
Instead individuals with means took the initiative to purchase these under valued properties. They’ve cleaned them up, remodeled and met all requirements laid down by law to turn many into STR’s.
At the time they were hailed as savers of Hawaii’s economy. Now they’re labeled “Exploitive” by politicians and residents.
One thing I do know there’s no easy solution here only a lot of losers.
Just got back from Waikiki area staying at short term rental. Was 60% of cost of hotel, plus got a kitchen. Won’t stay in hotel on Hawaii as way too expensive. Will find other destinations.
My husband and I have owned a condo in West Maui for 38 years. As is true of many buildings, it is nearly 50 years old. Just as Kaanapali Alii and Whaler have had major projects in recent years, I know of at least 4 properties that have major upcoming projects — plumbing, roof replacement, spalling repairs, etc. Every such major project usually ends up with a special assessment to the owners. Our upcoming project is costing us $63,000+. I have quite a few friends among resident Hawaiians. None of them could afford to live in our building even if a condo were given to them free. The maintenance, reserve, utility and project fees alone would be prohibitive.
I’m going to Hilo in May and was planning to use points from a hotel loyalty program to pay for a room, but that company does not have a property in Hilo so I am using points on a short term rental. Not what I would normally do, but you gotta do what you gotta do.
Depending on where you get your facts, there’s a lot of misinformation regarding STVRs.
That said, according to HB1838, the Bill states that only 5% of all available residential housing is operated by STVR’s
Meaning, 95% of All Of Hawaii Housing Is Available For Long Term Use
This 5% cannot and will not solve any housing crisis in Hawaii
Can we extrapolate that the hotels account for the other 95% of the market share that lodge visitors of Hawaii?
By allowing the counties the illegal and unconstitutional ability to remove the remaining 5% of STVR’s, tourists visiting Hawaii will not have a true Hawaiian Experience, they will have a mainland or international Hotel Experience.
We would not return to Hawaii without short term vacation rentals being affordable. We would not stay in a hotel. Mary and John D
Ban all short term rentals. If it deters visitors from coming to Hawaii, goo. Without the ban, local born residents will risk being homeless at a faster rate. The colonizing of Hawaii has been more detrimental than spoken of. With all that has been gained of these STR properties, how much of it is returned to enhance the quality of Native Hawaiian culture and rights. It’s unbelievable how land/property can be taken from Hawaiians in the blink of an eye, but when it comes to out of state investors…it’s not the same approach. Ban short term rentals and make Hawaii liveable for it’s native/born locals.
These short term rentals only benefit the greedy, not the needy.
Placing a ban on short term rentals will not magically reduce the cost of housing for locals. Why should someone just give away a property at a low cost rate because someone can’t afford it. I’ve seen what happens when you try to accommodate people in more affordable housing – they don’t take care of it and the landlord is out thousands of dollars having to fix it after someone trashed it. I see it almost every day.
As I’ve said before, STRs are not the problem in HI. They are just an easy target. The owners are not taking away available housing from locals. The problem is, the locals can’t Afford to buy, or even rent them. Simple, people, supply and demand! Too many people, too little housing. Look at SoCal, the cost of housing there is almost as bad. And no contractor is going to build livable homes (3-4 bedroom family) and sell them for the price the locals are able to pay for them (which could easily be below their cost!). There is no easy answer, but don’t blame the tourists. Locals love them (money spent) and hate them (for various reasons). You can’t have it both ways.
I seriously doubt HI legislators are reading BOH. With over a million readers worldwide I don’t believe there is a much louder voice for the vacationer than BOH. While the stat “27% of owners have more than 20 units” say ban tourism. It’s the corporate greed and elite buying and holding potential visitors hostage. No tourism = return HI to its pristine state. Then come back in 20!years when your greed takes a hit
Meanwhile on the Big Island, according to West Hawaii Today, 70 acres to be developed including “600 residential units, two hotels comprising 150 hotel rooms, 220,900 square feet of commercial use, and a variety of open space features”. No mention of how much those residential units will cost or if they are condos or homes, but also no mention of affordable housing either. Looks like the $6 million investment from the hotel lobbyists is paying for itself. Follow the money…who got that 6 million from the hotel lobby? Disgusting.
Cruise around Kona and take a look at all of the old and new empty retail and commercial properties. They are everywhere. Most of the huge Kmart area, the old Safeway area, the brand new Safeway area is surrounded by new and empty buildings just sitting there for years, lots of empty retail mixed in shopping centers, empty office space everywhere. Just look around, over built and empty. Commercial real estate is in the early stages of a big crash.
I think they are in the process of doing this very thing. It’s a mess right now but they will probably eventually sort it out. See here:
washingtonpost.com/nation/2024/02/22/maui-fires-hawaii-housing/
Let’s hope these temporary homes alleviate some of the pressure and put a roof over the heads of those who have lost everything.
If STVR’s are gone, we will most likely not return to Hawaii. The comfort and convenience of these over Hotels is considerable in our minds, not to mention the price.
We do not like hotels, especially when they aren’t located where we want to be, away from tourists.
Therefore if our Puna (Moku, o Keawe) vacation rental is forced to shut down, we wont be returning.
We come to enjoy and support the local economy on the island, not line the corporate pocket of mainland hotel chains.
It’s ironic, the government is concerned about “offshore” vacation rental ownership…who do they think owns the big hotel chains????
Typical self centered politicians, only acting on behalf of those who fund their re-election.
We have been traveling to Hawaii on a yearly basis for the last 10 years & now bring our adult kids as well as our grandchildren. With the exception of our first trip, we have always stayed in a vacation rental normally 10 days at a time. If the vacation rentals are no longer available, we would find another vacation location where rentals are available for 9 people.
Instead of forcing short term rentals out why not build tiny homes for those misplaced by the recent Lahina fires? When the mainland was hit with hurricanes FEMA built tiny homes and also placed mobile homes in various states to assist those that lost their homes. Why can’t this be done in Hawaii? The government in Hawaii is so very liberal that the first thing they think about is confiscating legally owned properties from hard working people.. How about Governor Green and his merry band of Robin Hood thieves get off their butts and figure out how to solve the housing problem without robbing those they consider rich. Not everyone that owns a vacation rental is wealthy. Most have worked hard for the money to afford one.
In the process of doing that now, both for homeless and now Maui fire victims. The homes are an easy build. Establishing infrastructure takes time.
So apparently the government is taking a smart, multi pronged approach. If you lived here or followed current events, you would know that.
Would not visit if an exorbitantly priced hotel were the only option.
I come to Hawaii, North Shore, for a month every year. That’s my days off and vacation combined. I infuse the economy with roughly 25k, while I am there. With everyone who comes with me. And I am just one person for one month. Should this not be available, I will not be returning. That would be very sad as I really love the North Shore.
Residential areas aren’t right for STVRs & aren’t zoned for it. Many buildings, neighborhoods, towns, and counties prohibit STVRs and/or have requirements for occupancy which is smart regulation in high-demand neighborhood as it keeps property values within reach. I was in Kauai in Oct and 100% of shop & store owners told me finding help post-COVID has been terrible, in a large part because so many moved away and nobody can afford to move back. Yes, there are existing property owners who followed the rules and should be allowed to phase out and/or be grandfathered in.
Finding any kind of help, in any desirable area in the nation, is a terrible dilemma.
The isolation of Hawaii causes it to believe that it is unique in the worker/consumer imbalance. It is not.
The only way Hawaii is unique economically is in its complete and utter reliance on the Tourism industry. That has been the case at least as long as Hawaii has been a state, and will continue to be for the foreseeable future. It is too economically isolated to make the numbers work any other way.
Complete and utter reliance is not an apt description of the Hawaii economy. While occupying a large chunk of GDP, tourism accounts for ~25% of annual GDP.
GDP is not what you should be looking at – the effects of tourism are much more far-reaching than that. For instance, here is what our County of Maui says about Maui:
“The visitor industry serves as Maui County’s economic engine, generating more than 80 percent of the County’s economic activity. Tourism also provides 75 percent of all private sector jobs on Maui and contributes approximately 40 percent of real property tax collections.”
The above is directly from the Maui County General Plan document here:
mauicounty.gov/DocumentCenter/View/84679/Chapter-4#:~:text=The%20visitor%20industry%20serves%20as,of%20real%20property%20tax%20collections.
Like I said, complete and utter reliance.
Good for you to find the Maui exception. Maui is indeed ultra-dependent on tourism, but overall the state islands (think Oahu) housing the most residents and other islands (think BI) less visited are not as dependent.
Again, complete and utter is an overreach.
I’m just one person, but I’m spending a huge amount of money in the south pacific this year instead of in maui, and the main reason is uncertainty over STRs. I have no desire to stay in overpriced, crowded hotels.
We just sold our timeshare weeks, but still plan to return to Maui every other year, at least. If it is just my husband and myself we would prefer a vacation home but we could live with a hotel. But if family wants to come I don’t see us renting hotel rooms if we can’t get a vacation rental. We would just go elsewhere.
I would be Definitely less interested in coming to Hawaii if short-term vacation rentals are limited. There are many other tropical areas to visit, and Hawaii is going to find fewer and fewer visitors if they continue on this path.
Do they think that if nobody is allowed to rent the condos that are being used for short term rentals, that suddenly the people who are unhoused at the moment are going to be able to rent or buy them. If the government is willing to pay 8,000.00 per month to rent a 1 bdm., plus cover the property taxes, why can’t they just get a shovel in the ground and start building affordable apartments. So unorganized with all the money that has been donated. No central organized plan at all and it’s being wasted.
The state will pay up to $5,000 per month for a one-bedroom home, not $8,000. They have to offer that amount and more just to get the owners of a STR to rent to a victim of the fire. That’s pretty much double what a normal rental would be but unfortunately no one is willing to offer their property unless they make a lot of money…
It shouldn’t be compared to what a normal renter would pay. Short term rentals are typically in upscale or commercial areas, with mortgages, HOAs and taxes that don’t come near allowing for any kind of significant profit. The main reason owners have purchased these units is so that they can afford to visit Maui themselves once in a while, usually once a year.
5-7K is what most owners pay in expenses every month. Is this anywhere near what a resident can pay? No, of course not. Therefore, short-term rentals are not viable as long-term rentals, and the revenue shouldn’t be compared as such.
well said, PatG
What you are pointing to are indeed the bulk of STVR, resort zones where most hotels are also located. The main beef that most in Hawaii have about STVR are those illegal units and in areas where residents live. In many of those areas, especially the ones near, but well outside the main towns, the local rental market is squeezed by apartments, second units and ohanas that rent only short term.
There is a difference.
6 million dollars paid out by hotel lobbyists to legislators to wipe out STVRs–then blame STVRs for lack of housing in Hawaii–never heard of a more ridiculous farce than this! Why not convert those hotels into affordable housing since they are no longer attractive and catered to by tourists?
That is Exactly what i was thinking.STVRs should only be allowed by Hawaii Residents and Native Hawaiians and Ownership of STVRs be Limited to Max 2 VRs.
I think you put this under the wrong person’s comment.
That being said, why do you think that STRs “Should only be allowed by Hawaii Residents and Native Hawaiians”? Are you a member of one of those groups?
2 points here:
1) Wanting only one race to benefit from something is racist.
2) Anyone in the US can own property anywhere else in the US. That’s just the way it is.
Hawaii residents come in all shapes, sizes, colors and races. Native Hawaiians are generally of Polynesian/Asian decent. As for ownership regulations, as another has already posted, many states and countries place limitations on ownership and usage. New York is the biggest example.
While unfortunately we can’t restrict ownership, I don’t see why we couldn’t limit the granting of permits to operate short-term rentals to native Hawaiians, with a cap on the number each permit holder could operate. Then people could feel better that their vacation dollars were going to improve the lives of native Hawaiians, many of whom have been forced to move out of the state. This might give some a chance to come back to their ancestral home. (Note: I would not benefit from this directly, except to the extent that it frees up more housing for sale and rent.)