🎯 STRisker: Bulletin - Honolulu, HI
Vacation Rentals Under the Microscope: Honolulu Cracks Down on Illegal STRs
A Deep Dive into Your Area’s STR Updates — Helping You Navigate the Ever-Changing Rental Landscape.
Vacation Rentals Under the Microscope: Honolulu Cracks Down on Illegal STRs
Aloha, renters and residents! The City and County of Honolulu just launched a fresh new Short-Term Rental Awareness Campaign—and it’s all about helping you tell the difference between legal and illegal rentals on Oʻahu.
Whether you’re a tourist booking your dream Hawaiian vacation or a neighbor keeping tabs on your block, the Department of Planning and Permitting (DPP) wants to make sure you’re informed. Why? Because illegal short-term rentals (STRs) have been blamed for everything from housing shortages to noisy disruptions in quiet communities—and they’re not going unchecked.
The campaign is rooted in Ordinance 22-7, which requires that STRs outside resort zones be legally registered and not advertised for less than 30 days—unless they fall into specific categories like bed and breakfast homes or transient vacation units.
So how can you tell if an STR is above board? The DPP offers a checklist:
- Look for a STR registration number or Nonconforming Use Certificate.
- Confirm the Tax Map Key (TMK)—a unique code that shows the property’s location.
- Watch for a disclaimer if the unit isn’t registered: it must state it can’t be rented for under 30 days.
Still scratching your head? Just send the city a link to the ad, and they’ll investigate for you. It’s all part of a broader push to keep vacation rentals from disrupting residential zones and creating unfair competition for STR operators who do follow the rules.
“We’re not out to stop tourism,” said DPP Director Dawn Takeuchi Apuna. “But we are making sure that vacation rentals don’t come at the expense of our neighborhoods or housing supply.”
STRisker Document Analysis
Finding the right compliance documents shouldn’t feel like searching for a needle in a haystack - STRisker’s Documents Analysis is built to simplify your life, offering instant access to hundreds of thousands of documents from thousands of cities across the US.
The city has also rolled out property tool search, including a searchable STR database and an STR compliance map, to help residents and renters make smarter, legal choices.
Report illegal STRs
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