This could be important news for Maui property owners.

Saying he did not want to continue a climate of “permissiveness,” Planning Director Jeffrey Hunt revealed Tuesday his intention to crack down on illegal transient vacation rental operators. “We’re gearing up to initiate enforcement on our own. We’re not going to wait for a complaint,” Hunt said during a County Council Planning Committee meeting. “We enforce the laws that exist today. If you don’t have a permit, you don’t operate.”

How big an issue is this?

A 2005 county-sponsored study estimated there are as many as 800 illegal transient vacation rentals in Maui County.

So how are they going to proceed?

In the interest of fairness and in light of the low number of inspectors, Hunt and his staff have established a priority list on its crackdowns.. First, inspectors will go after vacation rental operators who have “scoffed at the law” and have never filed any permit applications to become legal.. The next priority for enforcement will be operators who never received amnesty from the county. The third priority for enforcement will be for those who did receive amnesty – they will have until Jan. 1 to cease their operations or be subject to enforcement.

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