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December 26, 2025

Maui's mayor signs law to phase out short-term vacation rentals to ease housing crunch

  • Critics say the law will hurt the island's tourism economy, while supporters said housing was needed for survivors of the 2023 wildfire.
    • By ERIN NOLAN
    Honolulu Civil Beat

    iStock image [enlarge]
    Supporters see the bill as an opportunity to reclaim housing for fire survivors and other longtime Maui residents who have been increasingly priced off of the island.

    In May 2024, Maui Mayor Richard Bissen took his self-described “bold step” to phase out 7,000 short-term vacation rentals by Jan. 1, 2026, leaning on a newly passed state law that gave the county clearer authority to do so as the island confronted a long-term housing crisis that was only exacerbated a year earlier by the devastating wildfires.


     
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