This strikes at the fears of visitors who have preferred Hawaii vacation rentals for decades.The battle heats up. Where do you stand?
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This strikes at the fears of visitors who have preferred Hawaii vacation rentals for decades.The battle heats up. Where do you stand?
Get Breaking Hawaii Travel News
The legislature could have enacted laws a long time ago to limit the number of short term rental applications but they didn’t so that is on them. I own a one-bedroom condo that I rent out as a short term rental and a lot of transient taxes are generated by me doing that. Does the legislature think the hotels are going to make up for all the taxes lost if they do away with short term rentals? They are fooling themselves. Also, do they think people will just start renting their places to locals just because they can’t do short term rentals? I won’t because I bought it to have somewhere to stay when I come to Hawaii because I can’t afford to stay at the hotels which not only have outrageous prices but charge $40+ for parking.
Over commercialization of neighborhoods is happening in every appealing location around the world, not just Hawai’i. It’s one thing when one or 2 people around a beach park or with a good view extended hospitality to world travelers, but how can we live our daily lives surrounded by people who are noisy day and night, littering, taking parking, expecting free tips and directions every time I go out to the street. You can hardly blame them looking for alternative accommodation ‘tho, with the absurd prices the hotels have decided they can charge after the shut down. Their greed is not defensible. They certainly aren’t treating the staff right. If vacation rentals are banned, housing prices will certainly go down. I hope hotels will too.
Lake Tahoe changed to a lotto system with only allowing so many short term rental.
Not sure if the intended legislation is targeting short term rental units
that are located in official, Visitor Designated Areas.
Such units were built with the understanding that they were intended for popular visitor areas (Poipu Beach would be just one) and therefore not negatively impact local housing.
If there is any chance of this legislation passing without major legal opposition, it would have to be aimed at housing that was never zoned for vacation rentals.
Even then it is hard to see this as anything more than an initiative to please the hotel lobby,
.
The Governor has made an issue of the large percentage of STR’s owned by non residents of Hawaii. No mention of who owns the major hotel chains.
So, to continue my previous post, the state government itself is simply trying to enable the counties to make decisions on short-term rentals. They are not trying to phase them out themselves. On the contrary, they want to wash their hands, so to speak.
That said, the purpose of these bills probably is to give the counties more authority to phase out short-term rentals out over a “reasonable period of time”, as they’ve said.
Taking away current property uses will open up lawsuits. However, a possible scenario could be that as properties used as short-term rentals are sold, the right could potentially not be transferable. Even that, though, has legal implications, compared to what has been codified into law, at least on Maui.
I think privately owned condos should be allowed to be used as short term rentals as long as it it rented through a property management company, but not allow single family homes to be used as short term rentals, unless they are owner occupied year round.
Ben, it’s already the rule that short-term rentals must have an on-island manager, either a person, team, or company, to take care of anything that might crop up. If you see short-term rentals that don’t have an on-island manager, you should report them.
Report them? Mandate how people should use their second homes or operate their business?
Bob, I have no problem with requiring that someone be present on-island to deal with things that might crop up with guests in rentals (or even tenants in long-term rentals for that matter). Many problems have arisen because of unfettered, uncontrolled guest behavior, which provides more ammunition to residents to give short-term rentals a bad name. A moderate amount of oversight is a good thing.
if they were purchased with the same intent, why are condos more deserving to maintain their short term rental status than free standing houses?
Yes, and by the same token, why are hotels more deserving to maintain their short term rental status than short term rentals? And yet, curtailing hotel room rentals and curtailing hotel expansion is never even discussed.
Hi Pat.
Thanks for the 495 comments to date! There’s some synchronicity with this, as your comment ties in perfectly with an article we’re working on for later today.
Aloha.
Just want to clarify that these bills do not “seek to phase out non-owner-occupied short-term rentals”. The state itself is not trying to phase them out.
HB1838 – Expands the zoning powers of counties. Expands the scope of the transient accommodations tax law to include certain shelters and vehicles with sleeping accommodations.
SB2919 – Clarifies the counties’ authority to regulate the time, place, manner, and duration in which uses of land and structures may take place. Allow counties to enact a zoning ordinance to amortize or phase out transient vacation rental units. Expands the scope of the transient accommodations tax law to include certain shelters and, beginning 1/1/2025, vehicles with sleeping accommodations.
I am surprised how little empathy some of you here seem to have for the plight of us locals. Wake up, Hawaii vacationers ! And look around when you have a chance to visit our islands next. Many of us are now sleeping in their cars. You seem to think that property rights and profits of outside investor types, who made their money in rich city economies far far away from our islands, trump our basic need for housing? And then, are you seriously suprised if the mood amongst us turns sour on visitors?
What about the support people employed to run the vacation rental properties? The gardeners, the housekeepers, the handipeople, the plumbers, the electricians, the painters, the drapers that make curtains, the management companies et al? The vacation rental properties already pay higher property taxes (second only to hotels). Vacation rental properties also pay a higher fee for garbage pickup, for the same size can, same number of pickups. If the vacation rental properties go away, what happens to the loss of all this incremental tax revenue? The counties will come looking for it somewhere……hello home owners.
It’s worse than that – on Maui, vacation rental properties pay Higher property taxes than hotels do.
Sounds like the Hotels are worried they will only fill if condos can’t compete any more. $800-$1000 a night for a bedroom. Give me a break.
I’m reading how tourism is on a downward trend and now the Hawaii government wants to disallow vacation rentals. I’m sad to think the millions of us that visit beautiful Hawaii will no longer be able to afford to visit.
Unfortunately this lack of logical government thinking continues to plague Hawaii. Both the moves that have been made since the fires and those being contemplated continue to mold Hawaii into a true Welfare state, turning the non-wealthy into a society totally dependent on government to survive (This worked great for Venezuela and the former USSR).
The billionaires buying up the islands are setting themselves up well to have a wonderful exclusive paradise for themselves. Great.
I totally understand the need for locals to have housing, my question would be: if you remove the tourism are you going to replace it with some type of sustainable jobs. The pineapples and sugar are gone and most forced to work in the tourism industry.
Sounds like maybe the large hotels are who would benefit most.
I vote for the Hawaiians to have a huge say moving forward🌺
I am very sympathetic to the plight of those who live full time in Hawai’i. I was born and raised in an area that is a vacation (and now 2nd home) destination. Granted, where I grew up does not have the significant cultural sensitivity of the islands, but none of my friends can now afford to live in the town they grew up in.
That said, in parallel with the growth of the size and sophistication of the vacation rental market, it seems that Hawai’i has done very little to address the housing needs of its residents. And now they want to focus on vacation rentals as a panacea. That is truly astounding. Perhaps start with a functional and rational building permit process?
I’m always amazed at how those in government want to confiscate your property or property rights. After 20+ years of visiting and spending tons of money across Hawaii, I’m done. I’m sorry you haven’t spent your tax revenue wisely. Penalizing visitors and property owners is just plain stupid.
How much will the short term rentals impact the local taxes collected for the short term rentals? Rental owners still have a mortgage to pay so more than likely they will not fall under “affordable housing” even if rented for long term rentals. Many owners spend part of the year in their short term rentals.
I’m afraid it is a rare vacation rental owner who pays the transient excise tax.
Seriously? I have paid the TAT for 11 years ever since I have owned my condo. I’m not sure where you get your information.
If we were to be forced to go to a hotel rather than rent a condo for our annual trip to Maui, we would definitely not be returning to vacation there any longer! This would be a shame.
Wow, It appears my previous comment was right on!
Later comments seem to indicate you all think the government has a right to tell you what to do with your own home or business.
Keep letting Muffi and all the corrupt officials ruined Paradise, tax you until you’re broke and tell you what to do.
The island of Kauai has around 450 licensed (“legal”) vacation rentals located in non-tourist designated areas. Around half are located in Hanalei to Haena area on far north shore. These are not condos or apartments. If Kauai county was to cut-off the licenses of all 200+ of them, precious few would become “affordable housing”. They would simply be second homes for mainlanders that sit empty when the owners (or their friends, family, etc.) aren’t on-island. This is already true of many (most?) homes near the water that are not vacation rentals.
If you read the bill, it gives counties and cities ability to phase out or ban short term rentals over time starting next year based on those local entities to change zoning of structures vs land use. It’s not a state sanctioned outright ban, but likely some counties may ban, severely limit, or phase out over time depending on the situation. This already has happened on Molokai and taken to Federal/State courts, where plaintiffs lost. Given the nature of how the bill is written and if it does pass in the Senate, not sure how it could be repealed, either, as it simply grants counties more specificity on zoning types. I suspect a lot of lawsuits v individual counties.
Craig L.:
It’s odd to me that such a law would be required. Kauai forbade any and all short term rentals that are not located in tourist designated areas back in the mid-2000s. Because of lawsuits, they decided to grandfather-in existing rentals outside of the tourist designated areas If the owners could prove they were paying the TAT/GET taxes. There are less than 450 on the island – the number shrinks a little bit as ones go away for various reasons and nothing new can be added. Just to get a building permit for a non-TDA property requires that the owner agree to a deed restriction/covenant to not rent less than 6 months at a time. Not sure what this new law changes?
Good call out. I think it’s more to stem new rentals, but also to set precedent and standards across counties/cities where there is not a state baseline from a zoning perspective. I did not watch the recorded proceedings on the senate floor, but perhaps some worthwhile commentary there to observe that the news outlets aren’t covering. Too early to tell on impact where law meets enforcement, it is really sort of a county thing in my opionion once this passes. Thanks to BoH to posting the PDFs of the bills, as revision.
Since Hawaii is dependent on tourism and people need affordable housing some consideration for high rise apartment buildings that would not impact the beauty of the island needs to be considered.
Re: decreasing short term rentals: In the past we’ve preferred short term rentals due to the high cost of hotel rooms. A sizeable percentage of short term rental owners do not live in the islands, so the profits go off island. Plus, short-term rental property is not available to address the housing shortage on Hawaii for residents. Decreasing short term rentals is a policy for the well-being of Hawaii residents. For once, that should be considered over tourism.
👎🏼
Without jobs people will not be able to afford rents. We need jobs to pay our bills. Right now there is not a business on Maui that does not benefit from tourism. Unemployment benefits ended in March. Do they really think they can afford even “affordable” housing on welfare? The STRs can not afford to lower rents enough for those without jobs, on welfare or working for $10.00 an hour. Who is going to make up for the tax losses? Many people have already moved and many more will have to. There are not enough jobs or resources to sustain them. The long time residents should have consideration. Others, it may be time for them to move back home.
More than 60yrs, Hawai’i is my only home. Now my house I live in is surrounded, it’s like living in a motel. My neighbors even advertise their place as a hotel! And they moved here 5 yrs ago. So, who should leave. And yes, tourist jobs are 10.00/hr!
I just don’t understand how this “homeless” issue is the state’s problem. In any other reality this is personal responsibility. Either you have insurance and rebuild, or you dont and find on your own somewhere else to live. Perhaps set a go fund me to help? But it isn’t the government’s problem. Second comment is, if the State disallows these vacation rentals, they owe each investor market value for their property since they are eliminating the income stream used to pay the mortgage.
Absolutely correct. I’m embarrassed that so many are content to live off of others. The hand outs won’t last forever. It is time to rebuild, move forward and get a job. Then they will realize that we need tourism here. I can’t see the sense of this unless the politicians are benefitting somehow. The hotels will definitely benefit. Hotels don’t fit every visitors needs. A family can not be comfortable without space and a kitchen. Time to buy a Hawaii timeshare. Even their inventory is limited. There will be even more demand for Hawaii timeshares. I see those prices going up too. Will hotels and timeshares be able to make up for the income and tax losses or will that be put on the residents and visitors?
We just got back from another beautiful Hawaii vacation, and while I can understand there might need to be a balance in certain areas of the state, others (like Waikoloa/Mauna Lani where we stay) would clearly suffer if vacation rentals disappeared. There was one for sale in the gated community we stay in, asking $1.3 million. It’s not affordable for most people to buy and live in (the HOA is about $1100/month), but perfect as vacation rental. Like everyone, we also paid the 25% tax (about $1000 if I recall), so Hawaii will have to think of that revenue loss. We will not stay in a hotel. We’d go somewhere else, which would be sad since we love the Island of Hawaii.
As a long time canadian tourist, Hawaii is loosing its appeal if short term rentals are not available. Hotel costs (near the beach) are way too expensive…
Why don’t they make a deal with a hotel, My kid goes to HPU and they where renting out floors at one time,
Hawaii Politicians are morons. Actually, it would appear most liberals fall into that category because they keep voting for a party and people dinner corrupt.
Dilapidated structures & highways abound, homeless are everywhere and you need $1 million for a single wall constructed house? It’s insanity. Who is to blame? Liberals & their crooked representative and failed policies.
Wake up Hawaii!
Hello. Can someone please explain how this could work? There may be more housing available, at lower prices, but a multitude of businesses of all varieties would be closing down, and tourism would be at an all time low. We have never stayed in a hotel on Kauai, and do not intend to do so. There are many like us who do not care for the hotel/resort experience, or can not afford it. It stands to reason that hotel prices would be going up (supply and demand), so that would would mean even fewer tourist dollars. This “plan” may create more housing for locals, but I think that there would be an even larger exodus due to lack of jobs. Perhaps I’m missing something, but I cant understand how this would really help the current situation.
This move is playing right into the hands of the hotel industry. As we are well aware hotel room prices are off the charts, to the point the average family cannot afford that option. While I agree that STR’s should not be in local neighborhoods, STR condominiums were designed for vacationers. They are not suitable for most families with children to live on a long-term basis.
They will just like the do in Sedona List as 30 days and find a work around, if not Hawaii market will crash
This will be very interesting when it gets to court. It may well be unconstitutional under the 5th and 14th amendments.
The Lahaina folks are seeking the limited available housing. The homeowners have some rights to rent their extra space. The Lahaina folks seek to have access to the rentable housing. The current focus is to eliminate the current rentals to make them available to homeless locals. At what cost? There’s no incentive to lower the rent. The real issue is for businesses to start paying a living wage to their labor force.
Even if the let them rent them, With the HOA’s rents would be 6 grand a month min.
You are correct but with the elimination of the STR’s the hotels will try to increase the prices but then the tourists won’t come anymore. The funny part is that do you really think the hotels will pay a living wage….that’s absolutely laughable, it’s what the problem has been all along. Why do you think they allow so many illegal immigrants, so they can keep the wages low and make Huge profits. The island governments have been completely negligent in addressing the housing affordability issue forever. Need to look in the mirror. Maholo
The County already made STVR owners jump through hoops a few years ago and they shut down many illegal rentals doing so! I have been cleaning vacation rentals for 12 years & this will greatly affect my life and my income! What about all of the General Excise taxes that owners & people like me pay into? Shouldn’t people be able to do what they want with their own property?
I keep reading about how locals are angry about homes in neighborhoods that are being used for STR. Are they also targeting condos in complexes that were designed for short term use? Are the bills including this differentiation between property types? As a side note, I’ve generally found the reporting spotty on this issue, including when the Governor was talking about his moratorium: Was it only for West Maui or everywhere?
Vacation rentals in the visitor destination areas.
Long term everywhere else.
Hmmm…..by any chance do you own a condo in a VDA?
This calls for a meme
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I have seen this same thing play out in other markets under the guise of creating more affordable housing. It’s a lie. No property owner is magically going to make their property cheaper just because they can’t vacation rent it. The state wants more long term housing, it better be prepared to pay the property owner to house long term tenants at the same rate the property owner was getting before. Also, I don’t want to be a landlord. I don’t want to deal with a long term tenant. there are too many instances of terrible tenants and squatters that destroy property and I have been a victim of it myself. This bill is wrong
Would these bans also include all of the 1 and 2 bedroom condos located within a condominium complex?
Let’s face it Hawaii is a tourist location. If this Bill is implemented many visitors will refrain from coming to Hawaii and it will be Hawaii’s loss
I have been coming for many years and I will be one that will go elsewhere
Pardon me. I meant to say Blackstone.
No. We’re not going to change and go to a Hawaii hotel. We’re going to a different destination.
I understand the housing plight of the locals. Build more affordable housing dedicated to the locals.
My wife and I always book short-term vacation rentals when we go to Maui. We usually stay a month or so. We like having our own space and a kitchen so that we don’t have to go out for meals as much. It’s more affordable, and more comfortable than being in a hotel.
Given the rates we have seen, we would not go to a hotel. Given that, and if there are no short-term rentals, we won’t be coming back to Maui.
There is no judgment here. Hawaii has to sort this out on its own, and its good people are well within their rights to decide such issues. But personally, the result for my family, should such a ban go through, is that it would be very unlikely we come back.
Good luck and much wisdom on wrestling with this issue.
This is just a blatant money grab by the hotel industry supported by corrupt politicians under the guise of housing reform. The hotel industry knows that should it pass that they are the only game in town Hawaii will become a playground only the wealthy can afford. They will make it completely unaffordable for the regular Joe. This will do little to nothing for the housing crisis, which can only be fixed by reducing the ridiculous regulations that increase costs and fill the state coffers. Aloha is alive and well on the islands, but aloha is non-existant with those who supposedly serve the people.