June 1, 2020 Act with Care

Aloha!

We wanted to take this opportunity to share with you the current situation in Hawaii as it relates to Vacation Rentals.

As of June 1, the state of Hawaii moved into a new phase of recovery from COVID called Act with Care.

This phase allows all accommodations to conduct business. While hotels have always been able to operate in Hawaii throughout the pandemic, as of June 1, there are no State restrictions on legal transient vacation rentals from opening.

There are a few caveats, of course.

1. Until June 16, anyone travelling inter-island is still required to quarantine for 14 days. As host, you are responsible for ensuring your guests abide by the quarantine rules.

2. Travel from outside the state is still restricted as all such travellers are required to quarantine for 14 days. Again, you are responsible for ensuring that they do. The governor has not said when this restriction will be lifted, but we know it will be after July 1. We are expecting the Governor to make an announcement next week.

3. You are responsible for making sure that you comply with safe practices, minimal interaction and social distancing guidelines.

The situation is fluid and rules could change at any time. We are watching for details on the terms and conditions applied when the inter-island quarantine is lifted and when the out of state quarantine is lifted.

The story gets a little trickier when it gets to the counties.

We are confident in saying that the County of Honolulu ( Oahu ) has maintained full restrictions on vacation rentals. (Mayor’s Emergency Order #14)

We believe the counties of Kauai, and Hawaii/Big Island are still imposing restrictions on transient vacation rentals

There is conflicting information about Maui, but we believe it is the Mayor’s intention to continue to block legal transient vacation rentals from resuming operations.

There is a group of RBOAA volunteers meeting virtually on Saturday to discuss next steps, so stay tuned.

Mahalo,

Alicia