Updated September 14, 2026: One of the biggest uncertainties about Big Island vacation rentals has now been resolved. When we first published this article, Hawaii County had already created a new vacation rental registration requirement but had not yet given owners a way to register. That has now changed.
The law took effect September 1, and the county’s online registration system went live September 7. Existing permitted STVRs, nonconforming use certificates, and B&Bs are being carried into the new system, while other hosted and unhosted rentals must now register.
But booking a Big Island vacation rental can now come with a risk most travelers never imagine: not whether your place will have ocean views or air conditioning, but whether it will still be legal when you arrive. That uncertainty is more immediate now that the registration system is live and the law provides fines of $1,000 to $10,000 for operating an unregistered rental, with additional daily penalties possible if a violation continues. As we’ve reported before, a Hawaii Airbnb could disappear before check-in when legal or regulatory problems surface after a reservation is made.
Maui is following a different path with its own vacation rental phase-outs, while Oahu and Kauai remain relatively stable for now. Hawaii’s counties are operating on separate timelines with seemingly little coordination, leaving visitors booking into a regulatory minefield where laws, enforcement and deadlines differ from one county to another.
The Big Island’s system is now live.
Hawaii County’s new registration requirements apply to rooms, houses, condos and similar rentals for fewer than 180 consecutive days, including both hosted and unhosted properties and rentals inside someone’s home. Existing rentals with valid STVR permits, nonconforming use certificates or B&B permits before September 1 are deemed registered, while other operators now have a way to register, resolving the problem we reported last year when the county had created the requirement without yet providing the system needed to comply.
But registration doesn’t necessarily make a rental legal. Hawaii County says the new system does not override separate zoning and land-use requirements, which means the question for some owners is no longer whether they can register, but whether their property is otherwise allowed to operate.
For travelers, a property may appear on a booking platform like Airbnb or Vrbo and have a registration number, but that alone does not guarantee it meets every county requirement. The new system gives Hawaii County much more visibility into who is renting what. Hosting platforms must also report covered Big Island listings to the county, and if a rental’s registration is expired, canceled, or otherwise invalid, the county can order the platform to remove that listing within 30 days.
A statewide pattern of dysfunction.
This chaos is not unique to the Big Island. Maui visitors face a different kind of uncertainty, with thousands of Maui vacation rentals in apartment-zoned properties scheduled to lose their eligibility beginning in West Maui at the end of 2028 and elsewhere at the end of 2030. Many other Maui vacation rentals are unaffected, while some properties facing phase-out are pursuing new hotel zoning that could allow them to continue.
No statewide framework, uniform system, or central database exists. Four counties are operating under different rules and enforcement timelines, with potentially very different consequences for owners and Hawaii visitors alike.
Registration doesn’t settle where rentals are allowed.
The bigger unresolved question is Bill 147, which would rewrite where vacation rentals may legally operate and establish new operating rules. It would treat hosted rentals differently from unhosted STVRs and spell out the zoning districts where each can operate. It is still pending, so none of those proposed changes should yet be treated as current law.
That leaves some vacation rentals in a strange position. The county can now register them and collect information about their operation, while their long-term viability may still depend on existing zoning rules or whatever eventually happens to Bill 147. That matters for hosted rentals and properties rented for 30 to 179 days, which now fall under the registration definition even though Bill 147 has raised questions about how some of those uses would be treated.
The impossible question for travelers.
Working with a licensed local vacation rental company adds another layer of protection and accountability for visitors. Otherwise, ask your host if they are properly registered and paying state taxes. All legal rentals must have Hawaii GET and TAT tax ID numbers, which should appear on their listings or rental documents. Some counties also require a vacation-rental registration, permit, or nonconforming-use certificate.
What Big Island visitors can do now.
For Big Island travelers, the situation is at least more concrete than it was when we first wrote this. The county’s registration system is now active, so asking a host for the property’s registration status now means something, although separate zoning and land-use restrictions still apply.
Registration is now a useful first check, while not a guarantee. The question is no longer whether Hawaii County will build the system, but whether a particular property can legally continue operating.
Visitors still do not appear to have a simple county lookup that conclusively verifies both registration and legality.
By Rob and Jeff, Beat of Hawaii.
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Hawaii is racing to make itself irrelevant to the travel market. What will we do next? Grow pineapples?🍍
We will consider joining a class action law suit on Maui should it come to that!
Hawaii continues to shoot itself in the foot. The reality is Hawaii can’t survive without tourists and it seems they’re hellbent on learning that the hard way.
Your statement of “a pattern of dysfunction” says it all. The incompetence of state and local government in Hawaii today is just unbelievable. Ridiculous!
Can it be harder to own and rent your property in any other state? The Governor is making anyone that wants to own property or travel to Hawaii think twice…The most unwelcoming and bizarre laws and taxes in the nation. I say one thing for those wanting to move, invest or visit. Stay away! That is till it is pro business and commitment to use all the taxes wisely they continue to impose. Just one dudes opinion but guessing I am not alone.
Several years ago the legislature expanded County authority to regulate vacation rentals. Unfortunately, the legislature failed to put some guard rails on County authority. County Councils are over their heads in the complexities and legal aspects of the topic.
The Governor and the legislature should find expert resources to advise on necessary legislation before the wheels of the travel industry fall off.
I think you’re right. It feels like they are playing with fire.
These regulations seem to be a way to cause tourist to seek other places to vacation. It might help housing for locals but only because tourist will not be coming.
To expand, Kauai vacation rentals are specifically allowed in designated areas and by special permit under a system that has been in place for many years and unlikely to change.
Ordinance 436 (adopted in 1982) established Visitor Destination Areas (VDAs) in Princeville, Poipu, Wailua and Kapaa allowing short-term rentals (TVRs) in these areas. The intention was to acknowledge the importance of TVRs to the island while protecting the remaining areas for the local housing supply. TVRs were still found throughout the island. Ordinances 864 and 876 adopted in 2008-09 clarified and stopped the proliferation.
TVRs fall into two different categories: those in VDAs and about 450 outside “grandfathered in” operating under non-conforming use permits (TVNC #s).
Jeopardy! comes to mind.
Clue: A complex and utterly disordered, mismanaged, or chaotic situation
Answer: What is, an absolute cluster****.
Rent a timeshare – it may be safer these days.
This happened to us! We rebooked a cottage that we love on the Big Island. A month before our arrival we were told it was no longer available. They said they were shut down by the local authorities. We were able to rebook in time, and we went by the cottage to say hi to the caretaker of the property and she told us the sheriffs were there with cease and desist orders recently. Also, during our stay, we were in the neighborhood kayaking and again there were sheriffs going to properties with cease and desist orders telling them they had to get out Right then and there. Your article is very timely and I believe very helpful! Anybody going to the islands and staying in a rental, you have got to make sure they are legal. Just because they’re listed on a website doesn’t mean they’re legal, take it from us. Aloha and Mahalo!
Just such a rediculous mess. We are coming the second week of January ‘26 to Kona and are terrified by the options once we arrive. Of course we are taking about thousands of dollars on our side that are completely in limbo. Who in their right mind would step into such and uncertainty? I guess we are just stupid.
Wow! I sounds like you are just trying to scare people away! As a STR vacation owner, I don’t think things are that dramatic. There is plenty of notice if things change.
Hawaii County registered Short Term Vacation Rentals several years ago. Why are we doing this again?