A lot of us are familiar with vacation rental and timeshare websites- owners post their properties online, users take a look, and rent what they pick out. This is all about to change in Hawaii, where vacation rentals are big business.

State Legislature has recently passed two controversial bills, SB 2089 and HB 1706, that require non-resident property owners to hire local property managers to oversee vacation rentals and collect the payments. This adding of a middle man would cause non-resident homeowners to take a big hit, and landlords aren’t happy. Still, proponents of the bills contend that the new laws would force non-residents to pay the proper taxes. Critics say this wouldn’t solve Hawaii’s tax problem, and is going negatively impact the real estate market.

Vacation rental sites like Rentini are worried that the new bills will affect the future of their business in Hawaii. Houses will have to be taken off private rental sites, and referred to bulk local property management companies.

Homeowners have threatened to either sell, or raise rental costs to cover the new losses – both of which would negatively affect the real estate market.

On March 6, SB 2089 passed the Third Reading by the Committee, and is scheduled to be heard on Monday, March 12th.