I recently inquired about renting a house in Oahu for 14 nights. I was advised by the owner that they are only permitted to rent for 30 days or more and that there are very few legal less-than-30 day-rentals in Oahu, since no new permits have been given since 1989. The home owner seemed very frustrated by the situation.

We recently got back from Napa, where we had been looking for vacation rentals, and were told of a similar situation there. Apparently a few permits have been issued for vacation rentals, but they have now been frozen because of residents' protests. There are only 49 legal vacation rentals in Napa -- those owners call themselves the "49ers".

I do understand that if you are a homeowner in a residential area, it could be objectionable to have transients coming and going a couple of days at a time, possibly being inconsiderate of neighbors, etc. The other side of the coin in Napa is that the fund-stressed city likes the 12% tax on those rentals that they take a big chunk of.

Also, of course, some people started renovating houses or apartments for rental purposes before the freeze went into effect, and they are now suffering financially.

- Roz

That's interesting. We go to Maui quite a bit, and have always rented a vacation rental. Usually cottages that are in residential neighborhoods on the owner's own property. I just rented one last week for February, but this one is a condo.

I'd imagine that there's quite a bit of illegal vacation renting in these places. So I'd be very careful when making reservations.

I'm on the other end of the picture here in NYC, since I'm on the board of my condominium. We have one unit owner who has been renting out his apartment to transients and we are about to take legal action against him. It's against the bylaws of the condominium -- you can imagine, in a New York building, it's just not cool be running a virtual hotel. There is also legal precedent, at least here, to go so far as to evict the owner for illegally renting. Of course, the violation I'm talking about is of the provisions of the governing documents of the condominium. Whether it is legal otherwise is probably a matter of zoning regulations -- which I don't know that much about.

It's a tough issue...

I can see both sides of the issue. A neighbourhood cannot really bond and become a community, if the residents are “transient”. And a condo board certainly has the ability to create all sorts or rules about resident’s permitted actions. Buyers should know this when they purchase a condo.

What puzzles me in the Hawaii situation is how a 30 day resident is any less transient than a 7 or 14 day resident. I guess it is set up this way so as to allow the normal residential rental market to function.

No one wants a neighbour who behaves badly (excess noise, damaging property). I don’t want that kind of neighbour even if I am only there for 7 nights. I have also had “bad” neighbours, who own and have lived in their home for many years.

Wouldn’t it make more sense to license vacation rentals, and therefore have leverage to enforce a set of rules? Pay taxes, and maintain the property or you loose your permit. I think it is naïve to legislate a tourist attractive, beachfront property as restricted to only long-term residents, especially when the playing field is not level and there are some who can rent short term and some who can’t.

I think its just plain ridiculous that you have restrictions on this to begin with!

Doesn't it cost a pretty penney to even buy something in Hawaii? Its a holiday island to being with right? You should be able to rent out your home especially...I can see how condo's might be an issue...living in the same building and all but a single dwelling home?

Thank god they don't do this in Europe...all of us apartment renters would be staying in hotels.

This post reminded me that another weird restriction in Hawaii is that most B&B's are not allowed to serve cooked food--so no hot breakfasts! They can only serve cereal, pastries etc, unless they have a restaurant license (which of course is expensive and difficult to get, so almost none have them.) It makes staying at a B&B most disappointing if you are used to those lavish cooked B&B breakfasts that you get most places in the USA (not so much in Europe!)

As David noted, this has become a problem in New York City as well. The comfort and security of the full-time residents of a multi-unit dwelling as balanced against the urge for a little extra cash from a very short-term rental.

So it depends, as do many things, on whose ox is being gored.

Our city hall is currently battling over similar restrictions in Santa Fe. We have the same rule, nothing shorter than 30 days, but people have been breaking the rule for years. We have many vacation rental agencies here too who break the rules.

We have a few vacation rentals in our neighborhood. A friend of mine lived beside one and had to put up with all night parties on weekends all summer long.

The vacation rental business in the US is different from that in Europe. You hardly ever seen one week minimums here and the prices are higher - many times people rent them for a weekend and have a bunch of people and have a big party (sort of like the Slow Bowl ). You don't seem to get that in European vacation rentals.

Maybe having the one week minimum makes a difference? You get a different type of traveler?

quote:

There is also legal precedent, at least here, to go so far as to evict the owner for illegally renting.

Oops. Correction: I think the legal precedent would make it possible to evict the transients, not the owners, although by the time the court would act, they would be gone.

I think that Pauline might be onto something. The US, historically, has just not been much of a Slow Travel place -- it's been more hotel-based and has had less options for vacation rentals. If it, however, is becoming more of one, that might spur the eventual changes in regulations. Interesting...

This is an interesting question. Geography really does make a difference. Weekly rentals are very common up here in the North Carolina mountains. In the off-season, even shorter stays are not uncommon.

I don't think there are any state or local laws here which require minimum rentals. I tried to find the answer on line, but without any success. There are so many vacation homes in this area that are not owner occupied for most of the year (if at all), that this is not surprising.

Many people build or buy homes with the intention of renting them, and they would probably be very happy to find someone who would stay for as long as a month. I believe kaydee and her friends rented a very nice place near Blowing Rock a few months back for only a long weekend (although that was in the off-season, if there really is one here).

Ann

Along the shore, we have huge vacation rental activity. The population of the island where my parents lives jumps from around 10K to 100K in July and August - but all one week minimums. In many of the adult and golf course communities in Florida, the owners look for minium three month rentals in season (Dec - April or so). I think it does make a difference (the length of the rental).

But back to the original post - I'm glad this was brought up because we're looking for a one week rental on Maui for next June. Funny, when I asked one agency I was dealing with about this (after having several correspondences), I never heard back. A property we're looking at now, puts their license/permit number on the website - you can bet I'll be checking these out from now on.

Only one property owner has mentioned it out of about a 15 inquiries. I also just came across this interesting note (loophole?)in the "small print" on a property's website:

Short term Rental Rates. Your contract will be for at least 1 month to comply with State law, although you will be only charged for the time you stay, with the rest of the period blacked out to rentals.

Its the behaviour that is the problem, not the length of stay. There is an assumption, I think, that a shorter term increases liklihood of disruptive behaviour. Not necessarily true - my husband just got back from a golf/poker/beer party weekend at a friends cottage - friend owns the cottage. Not that they were disruptive, I am sure

In Santa Fe the issue is more that out of town owners by houses in our nice neighborhoods, then turn them into vacation rentals, so you have a neighborhood with not many full time residents. This is less likely now that real estate prices are falling and there is not so much speculation.

We have rented in Hawaii for years, sometimes for a month, sometimes for less, and have never come across that 30 day restriction. But I only know about it in Santa Fe because I read the local paper.

I think it is different in areas where there have been cottages for decades - renting a cottage in the summer has been going on a long time in the US. But staying in a vacation rental in a city/town is a new idea, I think.