Honolulu County, HI Short-Term Rentals: Host Platform Liability (2026)

Article 2A of the Land Use Ordinance puts direct legal duties on hosting platforms, not just individual hosts. 10 makes it unlawful for a platform to provide and collect a fee for booking services connected to any bed and breakfast home or transient vacation unit in the city that is not lawfully registered, permitted, or otherwise allowed, and requires the platform to exercise reasonable care to confirm registration before booking; it also bars platforms from collecting fees for ancillary services like cleaning, concierge, catering, or property management tied to an unregistered unit, and requires listings for hotel or timeshare units to include the property's tax map key number.

20 separately requires any platform providing STR booking services in the city to register with the department, pay a $100 registration fee, and agree in writing to obtain owner consent for disclosures and to report required data. 30 obligates registered platforms to report monthly, in the format the director specifies, the responsible person, address, transient accommodations tax ID, length of stay, and price paid for every city listing booked that month; the director can share that data with state and city officials to enforce tax and land use laws. 150-2(e)(2)(D) and (E) for the underlying STR violation.