Hawaii HOA Short-Term Rentals

Quick-Reference Table

Last verified: July 17, 2026

Section 1 — Overview: Can an HOA restrict short-term rentals in Hawaii?

A Hawaii condominium or planned-community association can restrict short-term rentals through its recorded declaration and bylaws, and, separately, short-term rentals face aggressive and tightening county regulation that the state has affirmatively empowered — so both layers restrict short-term rentals at once. Condominiums fall under the Hawaii Condominium Property Act, Haw. Rev. Stat. ch. 514B,² and planned communities fall under the Planned Community Associations law, Haw. Rev. Stat. ch. 421J.³ Whether transient use is permitted in a given building turns first on that building's existing declared and zoned use status, since many Hawaii condominiums were declared or zoned for resort or transient use while others prohibit it. In 2024 the Legislature enacted Act 17 (Senate Bill 2919), which amended HRS §46-4(a) to confirm that counties may regulate the time, place, manner, and duration of transient accommodations and may phase out or amortize such uses — the conceptual inverse of state preemption.¹ County permitting and the transient accommodations tax stand as owner-facing layers that regulate the owner-to-government relationship and run distinct from association authority. Hawaii runs as a condominium-dominant market and a leading example of a state with some of the most aggressive short-term rental regulation in the country. The sections below set out the statutory framework, the operational tools associations use, and the recent county and court activity.

Section 2 — The legal framework for HOA short-term rental restrictions

2A. The two statutes and the source of rental authority

Hawaii community associations fall under two separate statutes. Condominiums fall under the Hawaii Condominium Property Act, Haw. Rev. Stat. ch. 514B, which took effect July 1, 2006 and is based substantially on the Uniform Common Interest Ownership Act.² Its predecessor, Chapter 514A (the Condominium Property Regimes law), was repealed as of July 1, 2020 but continues to bear on the interpretation of governing documents for condominiums created before Chapter 514B took effect, and amendments to Chapter 514B apply to all condominiums regardless of when created.⁴ Planned communities fall under the Planned Community Associations law, Haw. Rev. Stat. ch. 421J.³ Both statutes operate alongside the Hawaii Nonprofit Corporations Act, Haw. Rev. Stat. ch. 414D, which supplies general corporate governance where the association statute stays silent. The two frameworks run separate and shouldn't be cross-applied; each has its own sections.

The source of any rental restriction is the recorded declaration and the bylaws, not the statute itself. Neither Chapter 514B nor Chapter 421J bans or authorizes short-term rentals directly; each looks to the governing documents. A condominium declaration must state the permitted and prohibited uses of each unit, HRS §514B-32.⁵ Hawaii is overwhelmingly a condominium market of high-rise and resort condominiums, and the resort-condominium nuance sits at the center: some condominiums were declared or zoned for transient use with rental-pool or hotel operations, while others prohibit transient use entirely. Whether short-term rentals are permitted in a specific building depends on that building's existing declared and zoned use status. A residential condominium that prohibits transient use gets treated very differently from a resort condominium authorized for it, and county phase-out efforts target specific previously permitted categories, such as the apartment-district condominiums on Maui, where transient vacation rentals make up 21% of Maui County's overall housing stock — more than any other county in Hawaii — and more than 90% of short-term rental owners don't live in the county.²⁰

2B. Association authority, amendments, and grandfathering

An association restricts transient or short-term rentals by adopting a use restriction or minimum-stay requirement in the declaration or bylaws. Under Chapter 514B, a condominium declaration may be amended by the vote or written consent of unit owners representing at least sixty-seven per cent of the common interest, unless the declaration requires a higher percentage, HRS §514B-32(a)(11), and the bylaws may be amended by at least sixty-seven per cent of all unit owners, HRS §514B-108(e).^5,7 Under Chapter 421J, where the association documents provide no amendment procedure, a declaration may be amended by three-fourths of the votes association members are entitled to cast, and other association documents by two-thirds, HRS §421J-12(b).⁸

A separate statutory limit applies to board-adopted rules at condominiums: a board may adopt rules restricting the leasing of residential units only to the extent the rules are reasonably designed to meet the underwriting requirements of institutional lenders, HRS §514B-105(b).⁶ That limit applies to board rules, not to restrictions adopted in the declaration or bylaws by owner vote. Chapter 514B, although modeled on the Uniform Common Interest Ownership Act, doesn't contain a 2008-style owner-protection provision shielding non-consenting owners who purchased before a rental restriction was adopted; Chapter 421J likewise contains no such provision.^5,8 Whether a newly adopted restriction binds an owner who bought before the amendment is therefore governed by the general amendment provisions and by contract and common-law principles, and no Hawaii appellate decision squarely resolves the question for a privately adopted rental amendment. This association-level grandfathering question runs distinct from the county-level amortization question, which concerns whether a county may end a previously permitted transient use over a phase-out period.

2C. The three regulatory layers: state empowerment, county regimes, and tax

The defining feature of Hawaii is that state law empowers counties to restrict short-term rentals — the inverse of the preemption posture in states such as Florida. Act 17, Session Laws of Hawaii 2024 (Senate Bill 2919), signed May 3, 2024, amended HRS §46-4(a) to confirm that counties may regulate the time, place, manner, and duration of land uses including transient accommodations, and that uses providing transient accommodations aren't residential uses and may be phased out or amortized by county zoning regulation over a reasonable period of time.¹

Each of Hawaii's four counties regulates short-term rentals differently. On Oahu, the City and County of Honolulu restricts short-term rentals largely to resort and limited zones, with a registration regime administered by the Department of Planning and Permitting. Ordinance 22-7 (Bill 41, 2022) defined a transient vacation unit as a rental of less than 90 days outside resort areas,¹⁸ but a federal court permanently enjoined enforcement of that increase against 30-to-89-day rentals lawfully in existence at the ordinance's October 23, 2022 effective date, so a 30-day minimum continues to govern pre-existing rentals while stays under 30 days remain barred outside resort zones.¹⁹ On Maui, following the August 2023 Lahaina wildfire, the County Council passed Bill 9 in December 2025 (Ordinance No. 5909) to phase out transient vacation rental use in apartment-zoned districts, including the "Minatoya list" units.²⁰ On Kauai, short-term rentals stay largely confined to designated Visitor Destination Areas under Ordinance 864 (2008), with limited nonconforming-use certificates outside those areas.²¹ Hawaii County, the Big Island, regulates short-term vacation rentals under Ordinance 2018-114 (Bill 108) and has adopted a new county registration ordinance.²²

The tax layer runs separate again. Hawaii imposes the transient accommodations tax under HRS ch. 237D, county TAT surcharges, and the general excise tax under HRS ch. 237. Critically, Hawaii's tax definition of a "transient" stay is a stay of less than 180 consecutive days — far longer than the 30-day threshold common elsewhere — so an owner can owe TAT on a stay that a county ordinance or an association declaration wouldn't treat as short-term.¹⁷ County STR permitting and the TAT regulate the owner-to-government relationship; neither grants nor removes association authority, which comes from the declaration and the applicable association statute.

Section 3 — Operational mechanics and enforcement

Adopting a valid restriction (the tools)

The primary tool is a transient-use or minimum-stay restriction written into the declaration or bylaws, accounting for the building's existing declared and zoned use status. A condominium declaration states the permitted and prohibited uses of each unit, HRS §514B-32, so a residential condominium can prohibit or cap transient rentals through that instrument, while a resort condominium declared for transient use presents a different starting point.⁵ To add or tighten a restriction by amendment, a condominium needs at least sixty-seven per cent of the common interest for the declaration, HRS §514B-32(a)(11), or at least sixty-seven per cent of all unit owners for the bylaws, HRS §514B-108(e); a planned community needs three-fourths for the declaration where no procedure is provided, HRS §421J-12(b).^5,7,8 Rental caps by percentage of units aren't addressed by statute and depend on the governing documents. An association may also impose internal registration and owner-information requirements through its rules, subject at condominiums to the limit that board rules restricting leasing must tie to institutional-lender underwriting requirements, HRS §514B-105(b); broader restrictions require a declaration or bylaw amendment.⁶

Enforcement

Before fining a unit owner for a short-term rental violation, a condominium association must follow a fining procedure that states the basis for the fine and allows an appeal to the board with notice and an opportunity to be heard, HRS §514B-104(a)(11).⁹ Available remedies include reasonable fines, injunctive relief, and enforcement of unpaid amounts through the association's assessment lien, HRS §§514B-104(a)(11), 514B-146, with recovery of attorneys' fees and enforcement costs, HRS §514B-157.^9,10,11 For planned communities, enforcement follows the declaration, with an assessment lien available, HRS §421J-10.5, and attorneys' fees for enforcement, HRS §421J-10.^15,16

Hawaii's condominium dispute-resolution mechanisms bear on enforcement. Mediation runs mandatory upon written request when a dispute involves the interpretation or enforcement of the association's declaration, bylaws, or house rules, HRS §514B-161, and parties may agree to voluntary binding arbitration, HRS §514B-162.^12,13 Because a rental-restriction enforcement dispute involves interpretation of the declaration or house rules, a pre-suit mediation step can apply if a party requests it, subject to statutory exceptions such as threatened property damage or safety. Chapter 421J provides its own mediation provision, HRS §421J-13.¹⁴ These statutory rules operate alongside the governing documents, which may add procedures so long as they aren't inconsistent with the statute. Association enforcement runs independent of county STR enforcement: a county citation for operating without a permit doesn't resolve an association's declaration claim, and vice versa.

Section 4 — Recent legislative and judicial activity

A. Recent bills and county measures

B. Recent rulings

C. Active debates

The Maui apartment-district phase-out remains the most active issue: Bill 9 is in force but faces filed legal challenges and a parallel effort, Resolution 25-230, to create new hotel districts that could let some affected units continue, while Hawaii County keeps refining its registration and enforcement ordinance.

Section 5 — National positioning and related coverage

Hawaii stands as a leading example of a state that empowers aggressive local short-term rental regulation, including phase-outs of previously permitted uses, and it forms the conceptual mirror image of states that preempt local bans, such as Florida and Arizona. It also differs from states that leave the question to the declaration or that limit HOA rental authority by statute, such as California and Arizona. The 2024 state law removed the preemption argument that had constrained counties, and Maui's Bill 9 shows how far a county may go once empowered. County regulation governs the owner-to-government relationship; it doesn't grant or remove association authority, which comes from the declaration and Chapter 514B or 421J. For a multi-state operator entering Hawaii, the practical implication: this is a condominium-dominant market with two separate association statutes, where the declared and zoned use status of each building controls what rentals are allowed, and where county phase-outs keep changing quickly.

HOA Weekly's Hawaii Short-Term Rentals coverage updates quarterly as the Legislature, the counties, and the Hawaii appellate courts act, and county rules keep changing quickly. Federal frameworks — including the FHA, ADA, FDCPA, SCRA, and OTARD — also apply to Hawaii associations regardless of the state framework.

Footnotes

1. S.B. 2919 (2024), Act 17, Session Laws of Hawaii 2024, Relating to Property (amending HRS §46-4(a)), Hawaii State Legislature ↩
2. Haw. Rev. Stat. ch. 514B, Condominium Property Act, Hawaii State Legislature ↩
3. Haw. Rev. Stat. ch. 421J, Planned Community Associations, Hawaii State Legislature ↩
4. DCCA Real Estate Branch, Hawaii Revised Statutes (noting ch. 514A repealed effective July 1, 2020; recodification into ch. 514B) ↩
5. Haw. Rev. Stat. §514B-32, Contents of declaration (declaration amendment by at least 67% of common interest), Hawaii State Legislature ↩
6. Haw. Rev. Stat. §514B-105, Association; limitation on powers (board rules restricting leasing tied to institutional-lender underwriting), Hawaii State Legislature ↩
7. Haw. Rev. Stat. §514B-108, Bylaws (amendment by at least 67% of all unit owners), Hawaii State Legislature ↩
8. Haw. Rev. Stat. §421J-12, Amendment of association documents when no procedure provided (three-fourths for a declaration; two-thirds for other documents), Hawaii State Legislature ↩
9. Haw. Rev. Stat. §514B-104, Association; powers (fines; notice and opportunity to be heard; litigation), Hawaii State Legislature ↩
10. Haw. Rev. Stat. §514B-146, Association fiscal matters; lien for assessments, Hawaii State Legislature ↩
11. Haw. Rev. Stat. §514B-157, Attorneys' fees, delinquent assessments, and expenses of enforcement, Hawaii State Legislature ↩
12. Haw. Rev. Stat. §514B-161, Mediation (mandatory upon written request for declaration/bylaw/house-rule disputes), Hawaii State Legislature ↩
13. Haw. Rev. Stat. §514B-162, Arbitration, Hawaii State Legislature ↩
14. Haw. Rev. Stat. §421J-13, Mediation of disputes, Hawaii State Legislature ↩
15. Haw. Rev. Stat. §421J-10.5, Association fiscal matters; lien for assessments, Hawaii State Legislature ↩
16. Haw. Rev. Stat. §421J-10, Attorneys' fees and expenses of enforcement, Hawaii State Legislature ↩
17. Hawaii Department of Taxation, Tax Facts 96-2 (2025), Transient Accommodations Tax (TAT rate 10.25%; "transient" is a stay of less than 180 consecutive days; GET applies) ↩
18. City and County of Honolulu, Ordinance 22-7 (Bill 41, 2021, CD2), Relating to Transient Accommodations, Department of Planning and Permitting ↩
19. Hawaii Legal Short-Term Rental Alliance v. City and County of Honolulu, No. 1:22-cv-00247-DKW-RT (D. Haw. Dec. 21, 2023), summary-judgment order (Watson, C.J.) ↩
20. Maui County Council, "Final reading brings approval to Bill 9" (Dec. 15, 2025) (Bill 9, CD1, FD1; phase-out 2029 West Maui / 2031 elsewhere; Resolution 25-230; ~4,500 units) ↩
21. County of Kauai Planning Department, Transient Vacation Rentals (VDA and nonconforming-use framework, Ordinance 864) ↩
22. County of Hawaii Planning Department, Short-Term Vacation Rentals (Ordinance 2018-114 / Bill 108; Rule 23) ↩
23. Rosehill v. State of Hawaii, Land Use Commission, 155 Haw. 41, 556 P.3d 387 (2024); Office of the Governor / Attorney General release describing the unanimous decision ↩
24. Haw. Rev. Stat. §514B-51, Registration required; exceptions (condominium registration with the Real Estate Commission), Hawaii State Legislature ↩
25. Maui Now, "Mayor Bissen signs Bill 9 into law" (Dec. 15, 2025) (unaffected: ~6,500 TVR parcels, 2,400+ timeshare and bed-and-breakfast units) ↩