Over 4,000 Maui Short-Term Rentals in Limbo as County Weighs Next Steps

A new bill will phase out roughly 7,000 vacation rentals, but a proposal to exempt as many as 4,500 stalled in the county council.

1 minute read

January 4, 2026, 10:00 AM PST

By Diana Ionescu @aworkoffiction


Aerial of beachside condos in Maui, Hawaii.

Wiltse Photography / Shutterstock

Thousands of Maui vacation rentals are in legal limbo after the County Council voted to phase roughly 7,000 short-term rentals out over the next five years, but failed to pass a second bill that was expected to exempt as many as 4,500 of them by rezoning them for hotel use.

As Erin Nolan explains in Honolulu City Beat, the properties that would be exempt under the bill are those deemed “too costly for local residents, too prone to sea level rise or otherwise just best suited to remain short-term rentals.” 

The council did not approve the rezoning legislation in its last meeting, and a lawsuit over the new law could further complicate matters. “The proposed legislation that council members discussed on Monday would reduce the number of properties affected by Bill 9 from about 7,000 — including 6,208 that were listed as short-term rentals as of May 2024 — to about 1,700, according to the Department of Finance.”

Tuesday, December 23, 2025 in Honolulu Civil Beat

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