Honolulu can fine Airbnb, Vrbo for illegal vacation rentals. It never has

The Hawaiʻi Appleseed Center for Law & Justice applauded Honolulu for holding rental companies accountable.

“Rather than stand watch outside a suspected illegal STR (short-term rental) and wait for a guest to walk through the front door, officials can simply scroll through online listings, identify unregistered units, and issue citations directly to the corporate entities promoting them,” Appleseed’s spokesperson Will Caron wrote in a 2019 press release.

But Appleseed’s opinion has changed. Arjuna Heim, who became the organization’s director of housing policy after the council passed the short-term rental law, said she doesn’t think the city has the wherewithal to go after behemoths like Airbnb.

“It’s hard for a small state like Hawaiʻi—let alone a single county—to fight a hosting platform that has really smart lawyers and is international,” she said.