"This really applies to hosted TVRs, so if you are an unhosted TVR, this doesn't apply to you, you're already in the system because unhosted TVRs were regulated through Bill 108 back in 2018." County Councilwoman Ashley Kierkiewicz said that to explain a registration law, and in one sentence she gave away the whole story. Hawai'i County has been running two separate tracks on short-term rentals since 2018, and most of the anxiety floating around Kailua-Kona right now is aimed at the wrong one.
If you're looking at a Kailua-Kona condo with an eye toward rental income, you've probably heard about the registration deadline. What you may not have heard is that registering with the county and being legally allowed to operate as a vacation rental are two different questions, decided by two different laws, on two different timelines. One of those timelines keeps slipping. The other hasn't moved since 2018, and it's the one that actually decides whether your unit can rent short term at all.
What the Registration Law Actually Checks
Ordinance 25-50, known around the county as Bill 47, requires every transient vacation rental on the island, hosted or unhosted, to register with the Planning Department, pay a fee (currently $250 for a hosted rental and $500 for an unhosted one), and provide a tax map key, contact information, and proof of basic safety compliance. Operate without registering and the county can fine you $1,000 to $10,000.
That's the part that gets the headlines. What it doesn't do is decide whether your unit is zoned for short-term use in the first place. Kierkiewicz has said as much publicly: the registration process "does not involve permits, operational rules, or changes to zoning." It's a paperwork and tax-compliance layer sitting on top of a zoning question the county already answered years ago, for better or worse, on a parcel-by-parcel basis.
The Deadline That Keeps Slipping
Here's how that paperwork layer has behaved since it became law.
| When | What happened |
|---|---|
| June 23, 2025 | Mayor Kimo Alameda signs Bill 47 into law as Ordinance 25-50, with an effective date of December 20, 2025 |
| September 2025 | County officials tell the council the Planning Department isn't ready to process registrations; a March 2026 effective date is floated |
| Late 2025 | The council instead passes Bill 98, formally pushing the effective date to July 1, 2026 |
| By mid-2026 | Real estate professionals tracking the ordinance report a further slip, with the county now pointing operators toward a September 1, 2026 registration date |
Four moves in about a year, and as of this writing, the effective date has still not held for a full compliance cycle. That pattern is worth sitting with before you treat any single date as the finish line. A property that looks compliant today because "the deadline hasn't hit yet" tells you nothing about whether it's allowed to be a short-term rental once every deadline finally does hold.
The Rule That Hasn't Moved Since 2018
While the registration date keeps sliding, the underlying zoning framework has been sitting still. Ordinance 2018-114, known as Bill 108, is what actually defines where a short-term vacation rental can legally exist on the Big Island. It permits new STVRs in resort, hotel, general commercial, village commercial, and certain multi-family zones. It does not permit them in most single-family residential or agricultural zones, full stop, unless the property already held a nonconforming use before the ordinance passed and secured a Nonconforming Use Certificate, or NUC, to keep operating outside a permitted zone. NUCs have to be renewed with the county on an ongoing basis. Let one lapse and the right to operate can lapse with it, no matter how current the owner's Bill 47 registration is.
This is the question a Bill 47 registration number can't answer for you. A unit can be fully registered, fee paid, tax IDs current, and still sit on a parcel where short-term use was never permitted, or on an NUC that hasn't been kept up. Registration confirms paperwork. It does not confirm the underlying right to rent.
Same Street, Different Zoning
The zoning line in Kailua-Kona isn't abstract. County zoning records show it running down the middle of actual streets. Along Ali'i Drive, condominium buildings on the ocean side commonly sit in a zoning designation that supports short-term rental use, while buildings directly across the street, sometimes close enough to share a parking lot entrance, fall into a residential designation that doesn't. Price, finish quality, and view have nothing to do with which side of that line a building falls on. Only the zoning map does. If you're comparing two similarly priced condos and one advertises rental income history, ask which side of the zoning line it sits on before you assume the other one can match it.
Your HOA Doesn't Have to Agree With the County
Zoning is the ceiling on what's legally possible. It isn't a floor guaranteeing you can rent. Condo associations write their own rules, and those rules can be stricter than anything the county requires, even inside a zone where the county would otherwise allow short-term use.
Up the coast in Waikoloa Village, associations including Elima Lani Condominium, The Point, Makana Kai at Wehilani, and 17th Fairways Villas prohibit short-term rentals through their own CC&Rs, regardless of what county zoning would technically permit. Kailua-Kona has its own version of this pattern building by building. Before you count on rental income from a specific unit, read the actual CC&Rs and recent board meeting minutes. A perfectly zoned, perfectly registered condo can still be off-limits to short-term guests because the association voted that way.
Why the County Is Paying Attention Now
None of this is happening in a vacuum. The county's own economic impact study counted 8,008 active short-term rental listings on Hawai'i Island as of March 2025, and found that Kailua-Kona alone accounts for about 40 percent of the housing stock being used as vacation rentals. That same study estimated the county is missing roughly $12 million in Transient Accommodations Tax and $1.6 million in General Excise Tax every year because of unreported or uncollected income tied to these rentals.
The stakes cut both directions. The study also found that restricting short-term rentals would cost the island close to a quarter of its visitor spending, and that 54 percent of current owners rely on rental income to cover their own housing costs. That's why the county has leaned toward registration and enforcement rather than an outright phase-out. It also explains why enforcement is only going to get more precise, not less, as the registration system comes online and the county starts cross-referencing its list against active listings on Airbnb and VRBO.
Three Questions Before You Write an Offer
If a Kailua-Kona condo's rental potential is part of why you're buying it, verify these three things separately, because a yes on one doesn't imply a yes on the others.
- Does the county's zoning for this exact parcel, or an active NUC tied to it, actually permit short-term rental use? Ask the Planning Department directly and get it in writing rather than taking the listing's word for it.
- Is the Bill 47 registration current and in the seller's name, not just historically active? A registration that predates the current owner or that's about to lapse under the county's shifting timeline needs a fresh look before closing.
- What do the HOA's CC&Rs and recent minutes actually say about short-term rentals? County approval means nothing if the association has already voted no.
The Bigger Bill Still Moving Through Committee
There's a fourth piece worth watching, even though it isn't law yet. Bill 147 would repeal the existing bed-and-breakfast and STVR code sections entirely and replace them with a single new framework covering both hosted and unhosted rentals, including new occupancy limits, quiet hours moving from 9 p.m. to 10 p.m., and restrictions on what kinds of gatherings a rental property can host. As of the most recent planning commission hearings, the bill had drawn heavy opposition testimony from current operators and was still working through committee review rather than heading to a final council vote. If it passes in anything close to its current form, it would be the first real update to the zoning-and-permitting side of this since Bill 108 in 2018, the side that's actually been holding steady while the registration deadline moved four times. Worth checking its status again before you close, not just before you list.
A Few Quick Questions
If a condo's Bill 47 registration is active, does that mean it's legally zoned for short-term rental? No. Registration under Bill 47 confirms paperwork, taxes, and safety compliance. Whether the parcel is zoned for short-term use, or holds a valid Nonconforming Use Certificate under Bill 108, is a separate question the registration number doesn't answer.
Can an HOA block a short-term rental even if the county zoning allows it? Yes. County zoning sets the outer limit of what's legally possible. A condo association's CC&Rs can be stricter than the county and are enforceable on their own, separate from anything Planning approves.
Buying a Kona condo for its rental potential means checking zoning, registration, and HOA rules as three separate boxes, not one. I've walked buyers through exactly this kind of layered due diligence on Kailua-Kona properties, and I'm glad to do the same for you before you write an offer. Reach out to Tessie Fontes and let's connect, get local guidance or a home valuation before that deadline moves again.
