HomeMy WebLinkAboutCOM 0739.058 2016-2018Aloha,
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The following is a rather lengthy summary of my thoughts and opinion on Hawaii Short Term Vacation
Rentals.
1)There is nothing wrong with short term vacation rentals except when they are un -hosted. All vacation
rentals located in residential neighborhoods should be hosted, no un -hosted rentals in residential
neighborhoods at all.
2)AII vacation rentals should be managed by a Hawaii licensed bonded property manager. The reason is
that this would give employment to Hawaii businesses and would force more vacation rentals to be
responsible and abide by Hawaii Tax laws, TAT, GET and income. Property managers should be bonded
because Hawaii would be forcing these vacation renters to use local property managers. Several yei s
ago, Property Networks was a supposedly reliable property manager, but instead absconded with Z'0. _2�.,?
owner's money, only to be caught later and told to repay them. I know of one owner years later tl9't;
has received about $10.00 of thousands of dollars lost. ~
Fifteen years ago, my wife and I bought into a lovely neighborhood in the Sunset district. For yeaE5 we
enjoyed the peace and quiet even though some of the neighbors had small children while others "vJbrke
on their homes remodeling them or would have parties. By eight P.M. all was quiet. It would beuiet
up to between 8 and 9 A.M. We got to know our neighbors and get along fine with them. Some our_;. -
neighbors have vacation rentals in their residence. Again, this is no problem as the vacationing guests
make very little or no noise when coming or going. There is also no problem with traffic or parking due
to these vacation rentals.
One year ago, January, the people behind us and over one lot sold their house. They even came and
asked us if we would trim our tall trees so that they had a better view from their place to entice a
potential buyer: This we did to accommodate them. Unbeknownst to us that this would be bought by
an off -island person for vacation rentals. Ordinarily, this would probably not be a problem, but as it
turns out, this is not only a vacation rental, this is more like a hotel where they advertise that they have
room for 18 people. On their web site they state 5 bedrooms but sleeps 22 people. This of course
brings in huge crowds or multiple families. They keep the rent low so the house is occupied nearly full
time. One reason that the rate is low is it appears that there is no tax number on their website, so their
guests get a very cheap rate of $299.00 per night.
Hawaii County and State like to see lots of tourists because it brings in more revenue. Surprise, surprise,
these people own 6 homes here in Kailua Kona and the County and State get zero tax money. It appears
that they take their profits to purchase additional homes, again with no thought of paying TAT, GET or
income tax to Hawaii.
A complaint was sent to the owners regarding late night noise. On their web site they state quiet hours
from 9 P.M. to 9 A.M. With no one around to enforce this and vacation people love to party wildly, this
is ignored. The police have been called, but many times they are short handed and cannot come by.
Even when they come by, the partiers quiet down for about 30 minutes and then they are back at it
again while the police are unable to constantly enforce the rules. These people love to congregate on
the back lanai sending the noise straight to our house.
Kids start screaming and jumping into the pool between 6 and 6:30 A.M. and spend the day frolicking in
the pool until somewhere around dinner time. Around 8-9 P.M. the adults start into their partying. As
the night wears on and the alcohol has been flowing for hours it gets louder and louder and everything
is loud and funny until around 2:30 A.M. It seems with large groups that they sleep and party in shifts so
this goes on and on. You never have this problem in hotels, time shares, condo complexes or hosted
vacation rentals. Don't these people ever sleep? Apparently not until they return home.
Having talked with some of our neighbors, they have to keep their window shut. There are vacation
rentals each side of this house, but they are not occupied nearly as much as this particular house.
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Probably, because their rates are the same as the hotel house, but only accommodate 4 or 5 guests, plus
these other vacation rentals are disciplined in an occupied residence.
Large groups and multiple families love this hotel vacation house because of the low rate. They have
great reviews:
"We had 3 sets of adult couples and 4 tall teen boys (ages 13-18). Never felt crowded."
"We had a big group, so the teenagers stayed downstairs in the two-bedroom ohana, while the younger
kids loved sleeping together in the bunkroom."
"The home was very spacious and for 8 adults staying for 5 nights."
On March 4, 2018, Chris Fulien wrote a letter to the West Hawaii Today newspaper editor. He wrote
"The owner of the vacation rental home next door does not live here, has never lived here, and has zero
interest in this neighborhood, its residents, Kona, or the Big Island. We have reached out to the owner
on several occasions to open a dialog. He has never replied.
The "property manager" of this home is not on site. He also has zero interest in our neighborhood. We
know this because when we called to inform him of.excessively loud and drunken renters, we were told
that we should simply pack up and leave our home for the day.
This is totally unacceptable. Mr. Fulien was in the neighborhood long before the vacation rental, but he
is told that the vacation people have more rights than he does. Yet another reason why un -hosted
vacation rental should not be allowed!
In another West Hawaii Today newspaper article, Heather Bandt who built a home in Kona and rents it
to vacationing visitors 8 months of the year while she is gone. She said that she could not afford the
mortgage if she did not rent it out. I'm curious, why then did she build it in the first place if she knew
that she could not afford it? Also, she said that it is has sentimental value. If it is so sentimental, why is
she gone from it 8 months a year? Wow, she is away from her sentimental home more than she is in it.
So much for sentimentality! I guess somewhere else is where her true heart is and her hidden agenda is
to have a place to hang her hat 4 months a year while raking in the dough the rest of the time.
In another West Hawaii Today newspaper article, Richard Standke, lives in LA and owns five vacation
rental houses in Leleiwi and two others in Hawaiian Beaches. This is quite the investment for Richard.
Now you see it, many mainland people have more money than most locals.and they are slowly taking
over our island. This is more like a business venture for them and should be regulated same as any
other business in Hawaii. I hope that they pay all of thE! required taxes, GET, TAT and income. This is
why these people should have to have a housing permit or business license as they are in the business of
making money here with no regard to our neighborhoods.
Then there is the argument that vacation rental owners provide jobs to cleaners. Problem is, they are
only part time jobs while a hotel employs several cleaning personnel full time. Vacation rental owners
give jobs to pool and yard people. These people would employ them regardless whether their place was
a vacation rental or not because the pool always needs to be cleaned and the yard requires care all year.
Hotels also have grounds and pool people that they employ on a permanent basis. Many vacation rental
owners manage their own rentals while not giving local agents their business. Hotels employ full time
managers, usually 3 shifts. Hotels also employ full time personnel to assist in registering. Most hotels
have concierges for assisting with Big Island activities. Hotels employ bell hops to help with luggage. I
doubt that there is even one vacation rental home in all of Hawaii that has someone to help with
luggage. When you are locked out of your hotel room or have a problem with your room, there is
always someone there to help in a hotel. A vacation rental visitor has to call their on -island person to
take care of their problem which is not usually attended to immediately. Mr. Fulien said that he has
tried to contact the next-door vacation rental owner and property manager to no avail. I'll bet if their
renter had a problem, they could contact the owner or manager and they would respond with a sweet
positive attitude quickly.
The hotel industry probably employs more full-time staff than all of the vacation rental homes
combined. This of course does not include time share and vacation rentals in condos as they employ
cleaning and management people also.
Do we want our island to become what Maui and Oahu have become, overrun? No!
Aloha and Thank you for your consideration, time and effort in this dire situation.
Howard Page
77-6455 Leilani Street
Kailua Kona, 96740