Hawaii County Now Requires Short-Term Rental Registration: $250–$500 Permits, Grace Period Through Year-End

As of September 1, 2026, every short-term vacation rental on Hawaii Island must register with the county under Ordinance 25-50, whether the host lives on-site or not. Permits cost $250 to $500 and must be renewed annually, and the county has extended hosts a grace period through December 31, 2026, to get compliant. Lawmakers are still debating new rental categories and penalty structures for anyone who misses the deadline.

What Ordinance 25-50 Requires

Since September 1, 2026, anyone operating a transient vacation rental on Hawaii Island, defined as a stay of 180 days or less, must register with the county, whether or not the host lives at the home. Registration runs through an online portal the county set up for the purpose, and permits cost between $250 and $500, renewable every year. The rule covers the entire island, from the resort areas around Kona and the Kohala Coast to the smaller towns along the Hamakua Coast and around Hilo.

A Grace Period Through the End of the Year

Rather than enforce the rule immediately, the county extended a grace period through December 31, 2026, via a separate measure, Bill 175. Councilwoman Heather Kimball, who backed the extension, said the goal was to encourage compliance rather than punish hosts who needed more time to register.

New Categories and Fines Still Being Debated

A companion bill, Bill 147, would formally split registered rentals into two categories: bed and breakfasts, where the owner lives on-site as a primary residence, and short-term vacation rentals, where no one does. The same bill proposes management standards and punitive fines for violations, along with a fund to support enforcement. A related measure to create a separate tax class for bed and breakfasts, Bill 173, failed to pass, and county lawmakers were set to pick the discussion back up in mid-September.

What It Means for Anyone Visiting the Island

For hosts, the message is straightforward: registration is no longer optional, and the fee is modest next to the cost of non-compliance once the grace period ends. For travelers, the rule is part of a broader push across Hawaii’s counties to formalize short-term rentals, giving guests more assurance that the homes they stay in meet local requirements, on an island where tourism and everyday life sit especially close together. Oahu already requires its own rental registration, and Kauai limits short-term rentals to designated visitor zones with their own permits, so Hawaii Island’s new ordinance brings the Big Island closer to the rest of the state’s approach.

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