Maui County, HI Short-Term Rentals: Short-Term Rental Permits (2026)

Maui County Code Section 19.65.030(H) limits any single applicant to one short-term rental home permit, and Section 19.65.030(O) requires the dwelling to have been constructed at least fifteen years before the application date and owned by the applicant for at least fifteen years before applying, closing off newly built or recently purchased homes from entering the program. Permits are issued through the Department of Planning under the application procedure in Section 19.65.050, which requires proof of a transient accommodations tax license, a general excise tax license, a certified home inspection report, and certification that the property was not used for short-term rentals before permitting except as separately disclosed and taxed.

Section 19.65.030(R) layers a numeric ceiling on top of the individual requirements: total permits are capped by community plan area, for example 15 in Hana, 46 in Kihei-Makena, 50 in West Maui, and zero on Molokai, and the council must review those caps once approved permits reach 90 percent of the ceiling. Permits run three years initially and can be renewed by the director for up to five years on Maui, or one year on Molokai, under Section 19.65.070. Operating without a valid permit is a separate prohibition under Section 19.65.080(E) that bars the property owner from applying for five years, and supplying false or misleading information during the application bars reapplication for two years under Section 19.65.060(D).