Daily Archives: October 17, 2022

Honolulu City Ordinance 22-7 Vacation Rental Rules faces Preliminary Injunction from US District Court

It has been nearly six months since Mayor Rick Blangiardi signed Bill 41 that was adopted by the Honolulu City Council on April 13, 2022.

The Blangiardi Administration is supposed to lay out the new Rules and Regulations from Bill 41, now known as Ordinance 22-7, on October 23, 2022.

This October 13, 2022 Preliminary Injunction, triggered by Hawaii Short-Term Legal Rentals Alliance (HSTLA) lawsuit in April 2022, forces the city to reconsider its core premises.

At the core of the lawsuit is the 30-day being lengthened to 89-day by the city to control illegal vacation rentals. Note, on the other hand, it’s a known fact that many vacation rental operators were using the 30-day “facade”. Operators were renting to different parties within the 30-day frame. An average vacation rental stay is around 8 days.

There are lots of questions and conversations to be had on this. The first three sentences of US District Judge’s Preliminary Injunction below say it all.

Residential property owners on O‘ahu have long been able to lawfully rent
their properties to tenants for a minimum of 30 days. That much is undisputed.

But what about operators who rent to multiple parties during that 30-day duration.You can read the entire Order here.

Despite this Preliminary Injunction, there are still other rules in this new Ordinance 22-7 that the city can enforce. Residents can report violations here.