Report: 180 Warnings, 80 Violations for Illegal Maui Vacation Rentals

More than 180 notices of warning and 80 notices of violation were issued to illegal vacation rental operators in 2019.

The County of Maui Department of Planning detailed the findings in its Maui County Transient Vacation Rental Enforcement 2019 Summary, saying “significant progress” has been made in curbing illegal vacation rentals in Maui County.

Stiffer fines for operating a bed-and-breakfast home, a transient vacation rental or other transient accommodation without a permit, went into effect on Dec. 22, 2019.after being approved by voters through a 2018 charter amendment. Fines now are $20,000 for an initial fine and $10,000 daily for each day operation persists.

With heftier fines and other enforcement actions, the division anticipates Maui County will see the fewest number of illegal vacation rentals in recent memory in 2020, according to the report.

The report explains the process of sifting through tens of thousands of online vacation rental advertisements on various internet platforms, with the help of customized software from LODGINGRevs, a web-based transient vacation rental monitoring and enforcement company.

The software analyzes advertisements to produce a list of potentially illegal operations. Advertisements are vetted by the department’s Zoning Administration and Enforcement Division. The division identifies whether operations are illegal, or if they are legally permitted or exempt properties.

Known illegal vacation rental properties – those that have been identified, confirmed and tracked – decreased from January 2019 to December 2019. The department continues to track and identify illegal operations.

Bed and Breakfast, Maui. PC: file Maui Now.