Hawaii

Operating rules

Primary residence

—

Min stay (nights)

—

Max nights / year

—

Max occupancy

—

Zoning-restricted

Yes

Cap on licenses

—

Grandfathering: State law preserves matured rights: 'This Act does not affect rights and duties that matured, penalties that were incurred, and proceedings that were begun before its effective date.' (Act 17, SLH 2024, SECTION 4). However, Act 17 expressly permits counties to amortize or phase out transient-accommodation uses notwithstanding nonconforming-use status, so actual grandfathering is set by each county — and is being withdrawn in practice (e.g., Maui Ordinance 5909 phases out Minatoya-list units).

Zoning: State law (Act 17, SLH 2024, amending HRS 46-4(a)) expressly authorizes counties to regulate the time, place, manner, and duration of land uses by zoning ordinance. HRS 46-4(a) normally protects continued lawful nonconforming uses and bars amortization/phase-out of buildings used for residential (single-family or duplex) or agricultural uses; Act 17 carves transient accommodations out of that protection, so they may be amortized or phased out in ANY zoning district. The state imposes no zoning cap of its own; restrictiveness is entirely county-determined. The 180-day figure in state law is a TAX threshold (HRS 237D-1), not a state minimum-stay rule; Act 17 separately confirms a county zoning ordinance may permit transient accommodations for a period of less than 180 consecutive days.

• No statewide STR cap, primary-residence rule, minimum-stay rule, or occupancy rule exists at the state level; all such limits are set by county ordinance.
• Act 17 (2024) responded to litigation over Honolulu Ordinance 22-7: per Act 17's own findings, the district court in Hawaii Legal Short-Term Rental Alliance v. City and County of Honolulu, No. 22-cv-247-DKW-RT (D. Haw., 2022), 'permanently enjoined the city and county of Honolulu from enforcing Ordinance No. 22-7, insofar as it prohibited thirty- to eighty-nine-day home rentals, or the advertisement of these rentals, in any district on Oahu.'
• State-tax 'transient' threshold is < 180 consecutive days (HRS 237D-1); rentals of 180+ consecutive days are treated as long-term and are outside the TAT.
• ADDED IN VERIFICATION: Act 17 SECTION 3 also amended the HRS 237D-1 definition of 'transient accommodations' to add 'shelter' and any 'vehicle equipped with or advertised as including sleeping accommodations'; that section took effect January 1, 2025 (Act 17 SECTION 6).
• Act 17 took effect upon approval (approved May 3, 2024), except SECTION 3 which took effect January 1, 2025.

Enforcement

Active enforcement

yes

Fines

Enforcement of STR/zoning rules is a COUNTY function; the state sets no STR fine schedule. State law authorizes counties to enforce their zoning ordinances: 'The ordinances may be enforced by appropriate fines and penalties, civil or criminal, or by court order at the suit of the county or the owner or owners of real estate directly affected by the ordinances.' (HRS 46-4(a), as amended by Act 17, SLH 2024). Act 17 adds that 'Any civil fine or penalty provided by ordinance under this section may be imposed by the district court, or by the zoning agency after an opportunity for a hearing pursuant to chapter 91.' Specific STR fine amounts are set by each county's ordinance. CORRECTED: the draft asserted 'Honolulu's ordinance provides for penalties up to $10,000 per day per media reports' — that figure is widely reported in secondary sources but could NOT be quote-anchored to the official Ordinance 22-7 text in this pass, so the specific dollar figure has been removed from the state record rather than carried as a media-sourced guess. Separately, state tax non-compliance is subject to GET/TAT penalties and interest under HRS ch. 231/237/237D.

Notes

Enforcement intensity is county-driven and currently escalating. Maui Ordinance 5909 (Bill 9), signed December 2025, phases out roughly 7,000 apartment-zoned transient vacation rentals — including Minatoya-list units — by January 1, 2029 in West Maui and January 1, 2031 in the rest of the county, with no opt-outs or renewals; at least two lawsuits (e.g., Malter v. Maui County, No. 2CCV-25-0003778, filed Dec. 19, 2025) challenge it as an unconstitutional taking, and no court had granted an injunction as of mid-2026. The Maui Planning Commission rejected (8-1, February 2026) a hotel-rezoning proposal that would have exempted roughly 4,500 units. Hawaii County Bill 47 (2025) requires annual registration for hosted short-term rentals, effective July 1, 2026. Kauai requires a Non-Conforming Use Certificate for vacation rentals in most areas and has not issued new ones for years. Honolulu has restricted STRs outside resort zones since 1989; its Ordinance 22-7 attempt to extend the minimum term from 30 to 90 days was permanently enjoined in federal court. Verify the specific county ordinance for any given address — these county facts are corroborated by reputable reporting but are not primary-source quote-anchored in this state-level pass and should be treated as directional.