In the latest of strange twists In Governor Josh Green’s planned vacation rental ban, he said, “We have too many short-term rentals owned by too many individuals on the mainland, and it is B.S. (he used the full word). Our people deserve housing here…” You can watch the entire video clip below and let us know your thoughts.
This was part of the governor’s latest call to property owners that coincided with the announcement of a highly anticipated legal settlement fund for those affected by the fires. Valued at $175 million, this fund will allocate $1.5 million to each family who lost a loved one in the tragedy.
In addition, the governor said that about 1,500 residences have been secured for those who lost homes in the fires. FEMA is leasing those properties for the use of fire victims. Approximately 500 of those rentals are in West Maui, where the displaced lived, worked, and attended school. Thus, it’s been reported that only a few of the 1,000 FEMA rentals outside West Maui are occupied. The governor is demanding an additional 850 units be obtained from vacation rental owners in West Maui.
Rental moratorium has been extended one month.
When we first broke the news of a planned vacation rental moratorium on Maui last December, it was supposed to take effect on March 1. But today, the governor unexpectedly retracted the Friday deadline while persevering with his ultimatums, pledges, and now vulgarities. He said that he still hopes he can secure what he deems necessary long-term housing for fire victims by other means, described below.
What if vacation rental owners won’t voluntarily convert to long-term rentals?
At his press conference today, Governor Green warned emphatically that a ban will fall on April 1 for owners who don’t convert to long-term rentals as demanded. Exactly how that would work, or even if it is legal, remains unclear.
The governor is incensed by Hawaii vacation rental owners.
He reiterated that about 89,000 short-term Hawaii vacation rentals statewide cater exclusively to tourism. The owners are declining to sell their properties to residents or enter long-term resident rentals. Speaking to the post-fire situation of Maui specifically, Governor Green added:
“I’m not playing around. People have been in hotels for quite a long time, and it’s very challenging for these exceptional individuals who have survived the wildfire.”
Josh Green, Hawaii Governor.
Here’s the governor’s offer for Hawaii vacation rental owners.
Green has proposed monthly payments of $5,000 for each one-bedroom unit, $7,000 for each two-bedroom unit, $9,000 for each three-bedroom unit, and $11,000 for each four-bedroom unit. In addition to that, those owners agreeing to the plan will become exempt from property tax. Green said that those amounts are “fairly consistent with market rates.”
We agree that those monthly payments seem fair. This is because most vacation rentals that are owned by non-Maui residents use a professional vacation rental company to manage them. The owners share their profit with the company they hire, so to come away with $5,000 for a one-bedroom, they might need $9,000 in rental income.
With the Governor Green plan, however, we are unsure who would be responsible for managing the property, assuming the professional vacation rental company is no longer involved. That also is not clear.
Has governor’s plan resulted in rate increases on Maui vacation rentals?
We are left wondering what the impact of this plan will be on both long-term and short-term rentals on Maui. A friend of BOH editors and a multiple decade resident of Maui said this week she is calling it quits and moving to Seattle. The apartment she’s renting is scheduled for renovation. To her, that meant she was likely going to be evicted so her place could be used as a FEMA rental, which pays far more than her $2,000 monthly rent. This situation could result in the displacement of other long-term tenants on Maui as landlords hope to collect more guaranteed rent via FEMA.
Should be interesting if he tries to force people to rent their places. First of all that’s a violation of their rights and pretty sure he would face multiple lawsuits. And let’s say somebody does agree to this and they rent their place out and they get their 5000 or 7000 or $9000 a month then after those tenants finally get out of there who’s gonna pay for all those renovations because you can bet there’s gonna be plenty of renovations, that have to be done to make that property suitable to rent out again, anybody has ever been a homeowner that has rented out property faces the same thing.
Bills to change zoning and eminent domain keep coming up without much notice. That’s how he’ll force owners to cave or sell and tourism to come to a halt. It’s already at record lows. By the time I get news of a bill such as rezoning, I have only had a day to oppose and spread the word.
If vacation rentals on all of Hawaii are banned, we will not be back. We hate hotels and can’t afford enough rooms for our family to be comfortable. We rent 3 bedroom homes with 2 bathrooms and a full kitchen. Been coming since 1969 and dearly love the state. But enough is enough.
Lanai has been privately owned way before Larry Ellisan. Just check it out on Wikipedia. Castle & Cook (previously the Dole Co.) owned the 98% that Larry Ellison purchased 12 years ago for $300 Million and he spent another $450 Million to renovate the Four Season so that it could open again. Other than that, there isn’t much infrastructure there and many of the island’s landmarks are accessible only by dirt roads. There is only 1 school and it would take longer than rebuilding Lahaina to have any type of infrastructure there so that people could make a living. Most people from Lahaina don’t even want to move to Kihei, so what would they do on Lanai?
Life on Larry Ellison’s Hawaiian island is only for the super-rich
In 2012, Ellison bought 98% of the island of Lanai in Maui County, Hawaii. Maybe old Governor Green should tap
Larry for his land to build for the displaced and leave the little STR’s alone.
We could just avoid all of this by making more government created affordable housing, but the county already has an agenda. They support the mega resorts making more money, while average working class investors are forced to take the burden. A potentially profitable burden for some, but one that will just price more renters out of the market in the long term. Building more housing would solve everything, but yelling at, cursing at, and vilifying STR owners, shirks the blame for the disaster and aftermath off of the county in the short term, and just makes the whole thing worse in the long term.
Does anyone care whether passes constitutional muster. The rates seems attractive enough every individual owner has a right to determine what’s best for them without threats coming from the state government.
A lot of property owned by non-hawaiian sits empty many months of the year. Suppose you rented out a property from dec 25 2023->jan 5 2024
I’d go on you hawaii income tax, it go on federal and home state income, then I would need to file a tat and get for the last half year and full year for 23 ,I would need to file a tat and get for the first half year and full year for 24, I would need Htat(county tat) for 23 and 24.
How many tax forms do i need that income on.
Then if i stay more than 200days in Hawaii my tax rate goes up because i have to file as a hawaii full time resident.
the way govt taxes rental income has a high accounting overhead.
Housing is an issue in the state of Hawaii. This should have been addressed years prior to now. To force homeowners on how to run their business is violating my rights.
Many prefer to do vation rentals is because the tenants have more rights than the Landlord. I just went through an eviction process that is lasting for 5 months.. My loss is about $10,000.00 (including damages)
Pathetic messaging out of his mouth. Pathetic messaging from tourism board as well.
I think a years boycott of visitors would reveal the ineptness of local politics and economy.
If my house burned, I would much rather have a fema trailer on my own lot until I could build a new house and it would surely be less expensive and less damaging to the economy.
A FEMA trailer without power, water, or sewer hookup is just a dark, uncomfortable box. Does Maui have the infrastructure, or the ability to support the infrastructure, that would be needed for regular deliveries of propane, fresh water trucks, and black water handling that would be needed?
Getting the properties cleared, determining what underground (water, sewer, gas?) utilities might be salvageable and connecting them, while also getting pole utilities (electric, cable, telephone/broadband) back up should be a priority that can be seen in action.
Then you can put temporary accommodations (or start rebuilding permanent ones) in.
Sure, let’s confiscate the property of people who worked all their lives to buy a condo in Maui for retirement. While we are at it, let’s confiscate other property that people own, but the government thinks it needs! Let’s start with cars. Many fire victims lost cars, but how many Maui residents have 2 or more cars? These people should have to sell their cars a half value to the fire victims. Does a Maui resident have more than one computer in their home? Confiscate those for the fire victims. This is un-American. As much as some don’t wish it, Hawaii is still in America.
I only wish our words would get to the right ears. Well, said and so darn true. What is next?
We own a condo in a resort since 2014 and had been following the politics in Hawaii. The impression we have is that the governors had always been very populistic disadvantaging off island owners, whether it is the exorbitant property taxes or transient acc taxes. What is the governor offering for all of that tax income to the residents I wonder.
Part of me is appalled at the ineptitude from politicians, the shortsightedness of this Lahaina Strong group, and the complete lack of ethics from the hotel trade groups. If they continue down this path, they deserve the consequences.
On the other hand, the timing of the looming condo market crash might be perfect for my retirement plans.
Without the Legal STRs, what are the the trickle down affects? For example, less people can afford to visit. Therefore, the vacation travel industry’s business and jobs will be lost, hence creating more unemployment, and tax revenues will also be lowered. Affordable housing has always been the state’s problem for a long time but has the state ever stepped in and subsidies the affordable housing projects?
I think they should go after the illegal STRs and not the legal ones since they collect and pay the TAT and GE to the state.
It seems like they’re creating a big legal problem.
Amen!!!!
What about all the new builds we see? Why aren’t any of those for the local Polynesian instead of luxury places /secondary homes for the wealthy. Condos, specifically STRs pay most of the tax $ in the states And they employ the people too. It’s starting to feel fake or like misplaced anger so the distractions are scattered everywhere.
As my favorite cousin told me years ago, there are no Native Hawaiians. We are all visitors, some of our families from Polynesia, some from the Mainland, others from Japan, China, and Europe. But this place was just a rick we all fell in love with.
It depends how far back you want to go. Doesn’t Native Hawaiian mean you were born here and so were your grandparents? There are programs in Hawaii and you need to be of “Hawaiian ancestry”, not just born here. Personally, I don’t think that people should have rights just for the fact that they are born somewhere. I also don’t feel that tourists should feel entitled just because they bring money. Hoping we get the Aloha spirit back, but it’s tough right now.
I thought Hawaii already passed regulations restricting short rentals. Does more need to be done?
Is if fair to force owners to turn over their property in response to a disaster the government failed to prevent?
Can the government pass regulations requiring all homeowners allow displaced residents move into their homes?
Should tax payers be responsible to pay for long-term housing for displaced residents?
Does Hawaii have a master plan to guide rebuilding Maui’s destroyed buildings and infrastructure?
There are no restrictions in place. For now, it has been a lot of “talk”, but many owners of short term rentals are already selling ….
David David Mr Gov is from the government and knows best. Does government officials have renters in their homes or own rental properties? Asking for a friend.
If Hawaii has consciously allowed the growth of STRs (permitted), then It is what it is and will have to be addressed somehow. However, if this is a case of AirBnB running roughshod over the state with unlicensed STRs in R1 (residential) zoning, simply because no one is stopping them, then you got a problem and a choice to make. Rogue and random STRs have become a blight on residential neighborhoods all around the country. Here in SD county it is a huge and thorny issue. If you are among the people that made large, significant real estate investments on that basis, you just may have some chickens coming home to roost. If it’s just a matter of enforcement, there are a lot of absentee property owners in for a very, very rude awakening.
Hawaiis first dictator.
What happened to the families home owners insurance. Why are the insurance companies not paying out to the families who had insurance coverage and why are these families not being allowed to rebuild on Their land. Why Is FEMA Involved At All. And who does our Governer think he is dictating what people should do and if they dont comply, what, he’s just gonna act like a bully?
just wondering because the whole situation looks very fishy.
Folks in the fire zone can’t live or rebuild in the burn zone because power, water and sewer service is unavailable in most cases. The properties are contaminated with toxic ash which is unsafe.
For properties that are mortgaged, The lenders won’t sign off on the insurance claim release except to cover the remaining principal balance of the loan. It has been reported that many owners are uninsured, or underinsured.
I doubt owners could get loans at this time to finance new construction.
Thank goodness FEMA is here to fund, among other things, the costs of housing for displaced fire victims, and funding of the toxic ash removal through the Corp of Engineers.
Exactly. Hope that gives some clarification to those who wonder why one individual cannot just get their house rebuild in the mids of chaos. As much as I didn’t like how FEMA handled the housing situation, at least they are cleaning up the grounds and the Mayor just decided on a permanent site for the ashes and debris from the fire. Looks like things are moving forward.
Exactly! Many were under insured and not insured. That was a choice and should not be put on other taxpayers.
In case you own property, check your insurance. Most people who have owned their property for a long time got their insurance when they bought the property, in many cases 30+ years ago and even with a slight annual increase, it’s not enough to rebuild at today’s cost. I certainly checked my insurance after the fire in Lahaina (I was not affected) and increased my contribution.
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.