Owning a Hawai’i vacation rental presents an incredible opportunity to extend hospitality and share Aloha with visitors. To help protect your property, prevent complaints, and - most importantly - ensure your guests have an amazing Hawai’i vacation, it’s imperative to have clear rental policies and practices in place.
As Hawaii’s local leader in property management, we share some of our most critical practices and policies, and how we assist homeowners to mitigate the stress of maintaining vacation rentals. Keep reading to learn more!
Hawai'i Life Rental Policies and Practices Explained
1. Reservations
Hawai’i Life’s professional reservations team is ready to assist you with all reservations, providing convenient online booking services for guests and conducting extensive guest screening.Guests must sign the Vacation Rental Contract to confirm their reservation. Once signed, they will automatically receive a copy of the signed contract and their initial deposit will be charged. Guests’ reservations will not be confirmed until they sign the contract.
In order for guests to hold their rental reservation, an initial deposit is due with booking. The deposit will be charged to their credit card, along with a Travel Insurance fee if they choose to purchase this. We all know life can throw surprises our way, which is why we strongly suggest that your guests purchase the Cancel For Any Reason Travel Insurance to protect a portion of their travel costs. If they purchase Travel Insurance and need to cancel within 60 days of arrival, you can rest easy knowing that Hawai’i Life will refund their security deposit and departure cleaning fees. If the travel insurance fee is not purchased and a cancellation is made more than 60 days before the arrival date, the initial deposit is non-refundable. For any date changes or cancellations within 60 days of arrival, rent and taxes will be forfeited.
To ensure your property is well taken care of, guests are required to pay a security deposit along with damage insurance, which will be refunded 14 to 30 days after your guests depart if damages are not found. If there are damages or missing items, Hawai'i Life may deduct the corresponding amount from guests’ security deposit.
2. Taxes
As a Hawai’i rental property owner, there are specific state tax laws that you must understand and adhere to. Hawai’i Life is here to help you make these processes streamlined and easy. If you rent out a home in Hawai’i you must pay Hawai’i income tax and the general excise tax (GET). Renting out the home for less than 180 consecutive days? That’s considered a short-term rental and is subject to an additional transient accommodation tax (TAT). For more information on registering and forms, click here.
As a vacation rental homeowner, the GET and TAT are expenses that you incur by engaging in business, so you can charge your tenant accordingly for the taxes that you pay. Wondering how much? At Hawai’i Life, we can suggest appropriate nightly rental amounts to cover your cost of business, so feel free to contact us anytime.
Remember, as a vacation rental homeowner you must apply for a tax license, and you are required to file and remit general excise tax either monthly, quarterly, or semi-annually. If this sounds like a hassle, don’t worry! As your local property management team, we offer to file the GE and TA taxes for you, as well as assist with required licensure.
3. Conservation
Respecting and caring for the land, or malama 'aina, is important for homeowners and guests alike, so we remind guests to be energy conscious. This can be as simple as turning off lights, fans, air conditioners, and electrical appliances when not in use, and using dishwashers and laundry facilities with consideration. The state of Hawai’i has banned single-use plastic bags, so it’s good practice to offer guests a green alternative to disposable plastic. For instance, homeowners can replace plastic soap dispensers in the kitchen and bathrooms with stone or glass dispensers that can be refilled repeatedly. For more eco-friendly practices and environmentally-friendly upgrades, check out some additional tips from Hawai’i Life’s property management team here.
Homeowners who use Hawai’i Life’s property management services can feel good knowing that these services are provided by local businesses. That means that your service providers won’t have to travel as far to reach your property and will in turn make less of an impact on the environment. When it comes to finding local cleaning and maintenance teams, we’ve got you covered! Hawai’i Life leverages our long-standing relationships with vetted local service partners and professional contractors to care for your Hawai’i rental property. Get more details on our property management services here.
Hawai’i Life is committed to caring for our islands by reducing everyone’s impact on the environment. To maintain sustainable practices while offering a luxury experience, Hawai’i Life launched a Conservation and Legacy Lands initiative in 2018. A natural progression of our long-standing commitment to conservation, this effort helps establish a balance between development and conservation throughout the state. To learn more about Hawai’i Life’s commitment to conservation, click here.
4. Animals
Based on Hawai’i Life’s Rental Policies, animals are not allowed on the vacation property. In fact, violators may be evicted immediately, as well as charged an additional fee to clean and sanitize the property. In the case of Registered Service animals with proper documentation, homeowners should be prepared to make an exception. Here’s why...
Visitors with disabilities who require the assistance of service animals are protected under the Federal Fair Housing Act and the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), as well as under Hawai’i State law. According to state and federal laws, service animals include:
Animals that alert their handler to substances that could be dangerous.
Guide dogs that help their blind or visually-impaired owner navigate safely.
Hearing dogs that alert their owners to alarms, doorbells, and other important sounds.
Psychiatric service animals that help their handler manage emotional and mental disabilities, such as interrupting self-harming behaviors or calming their owner during panic attacks.
Animals that alert their owners to an impending seizure and may guard them during a seizure.
Athouth Emotional Support Animals (ESAs), or animals that offer comfort and companionship, often provide a sense of safety to those with emotional or mental conditions, they are not individually trained to perform specific tasks for their handlers. As such, neither federal or Hawai’i laws cover these companion and comfort animals.
While the laws don’t cover ESAs and pets, they do protect visitors traveling with an animal that meets the definition of a service dog and is accompanying the guest for the sole purpose of performing tasks for which the animal has been trained. It is prohibited by Hawai’i law and the ADA for vacation rentals owners to charge additional fees for a service animal. You may, however, be entitled to charge a guest for any damage that their animal causes to your property. You can read more about service animals and rental policies here.
5. Additional Policies
Regarding age limits, guests must be 25 years or older to reserve a Hawai’i Life vacation rental. Guests must also refrain from smoking in any of our rental properties (including the balcony, lanai, lawn, or garage) as all Hawai’i Life properties are smoke-free. If guests wish to smoke, they must do so off property and properly dispose of all smoking materials.
Only guests listed on the reservation are allowed to stay at the property. If guests sublet the rental, overcrowd, or misrepresent the number of guests present, that is grounds for dismissal from the property. Have a guest that wants to use your rental for a party, wedding, reception, or other special event? That will require additional permission from Hawai'i Life.
Concerned about noisy or messy guests? The entire state of Hawai’i has a noise ordinance that begins at 9:30pm, so all guests are asked to keep their volume down at this time. If things get too rowdy, guests will be contacted immediately and are responsible for the cost of any neighborhood warning or fines.
We’re Here to Help!
While welcoming guests into your home as a vacation rental owner might feel overwhelming, it doesn’t have to be. At Hawai’i Life, our policies are in place to ensure you and your property are safe and protected. Our goal is to ensure that every guest who stays in one of our Hawai’i vacation rentals has an extraordinary experience, and every homeowner receives top-notch, no-hassle service.
As a Hawai’i Vacation Rental Homeowner, if you still have questions about these important policies and practices, contact us today by email or phone at Vacations@HawaiiLife.com or 855.447.3685.