Kokua Line is receiving many questions about Oahu’s new law regulating short-term rentals. Here are answers to some questions we’ve received from multiple readers, provided by Curtis Lum, a spokesman for the city Department of Planning and Permitting.
Readers can find answers to different questions on a DPP web page devoted to the issue, 808ne.ws/strleg; once there, click on FAQs. As it explains, rentals of less than 30 days are allowed only in hotel/resort zones or when the unit has a nonconforming use certificate (NUC).
Question: Does the NUC transfer to the new owner when a property is sold? I have an NUC on my short-term rental, so we are legal. But I am wondering about the resale value of the unit. My understanding is that the NUC goes with the property if I sell it. Is that correct?
Answer: “Yes, the NUC stays with the property. But if the new owner decides not to renew by the deadline, the NUC dies and cannot be renewed. NUCs are renewed every even-numbered year.”
This answer also is relevant to numerous other readers who mistakenly insisted that NUCs were nontransferable. As Lum explained, the new owner can use the NUC as long as they keep it current; renewal is not automatic.
The new law will allow a limited number of new bed-and-breakfast homes in nonresort areas under a new registration process, which is expected to begin by October 2020 and will require annual renewal. The DPP’s FAQ says registration numbers “are not transferable to another property, nor transferable to another homeowner.” To be clear: An NUC is not the same as a registration number.
Q: I inherited a condo that has always been a vacation rental. It has a property manager. I assumed it was permitted. Now the property manager is telling me it doesn’t have an NUC. Can an NUC be obtained retroactively for a short-term rental that has been rented out on a short-term basis continuously since before the NUCs were first issued in the 1980s?
A: “No, NUCs are no longer being issued.”
Q: Does the number of B&Bs allowed under Ordinance 19-18 include the 38 that already have NUCs?
A: “No, they do not count toward the limit. Also, NUCs would not be counted in the 1,000-foot restriction in Ordinance 19-18.”
By that, Lum means that existing, permitted B&Bs don’t have to be at least a thousand feet apart, as will be required for new B&Bs approved under the law.
We also have received numerous “auwes” on this subject. While many urged the city to reconsider and permit more short-term vacation rentals in buildings where they already predominate (some unlawfully), others called on property owners to convert illegal short-term rentals into legal, long-term housing for permanent residents. As one renter said, “This law could help people who live here and can’t afford the high cost of housing. … But so far all I hear is landlords looking for loopholes.”
E kala mai
My apologies to the car owner I shocked by trying to open their trunk, intending to unload my groceries. I was so embarrassed. I just yelled, “Wrong car!” and walked away. Their car looked so much like mine.
— Sheepish shopper
Mahalo
I reported a longtime leak along Kupuna Loop near the entrance to the Kunia Park and Ride in upper Waipahu to the Board of Water Supply (contactus@hbws.org) and the next day got a phone call asking for more detail, and the day after that the leak was turned off. This was great work to save Hawaii’s precious water, and I want others to know that if they see water being wasted, BWS will take action and save the water. Mahalo nui loa! — Anita Manning
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