An update on our work to support responsible hosting in Maui

In July, Airbnb and Maui County announced the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) to enable the County to better enforce its short-term rental rules. Last week, Airbnb completed its first enforcement action under this new agreement, removing more than 1,300 listings that did not comply with the terms of the MOU.

Under Airbnb and Maui County’s agreement, Airbnb created two new fields that allow Hosts to enter their County-issued Tax Map Key (TMK) number and State-issued Transient Accommodations Tax License (TAT) number on their listing. Hosts listing a bed and breakfast (B&B), short-term rental home or other transient vacation rental for stays of less than 180 days on Airbnb are required to provide their TMK and TAT numbers in order to continue hosting on the platform.

Every month, Airbnb shares a report with the County that includes the URL for each short-term rental listing and the corresponding Host-provided TMK number for each property listed on its platform. The County uses this monthly report to verify the TMK numbers. Hosts that fail to provide a TMK or input an invalid TMK are subject to removal from the platform and are only allowed to relist once they provide the information. New short-term rental listings are required to have both numbers listed before they appear on the site.

“The action that we have taken demonstrates our commitment to working hand-in-hand with the government in support of clear, fair regulations. We look forward to continuing to partner with Maui County to promote the return of responsible and sustainable travel, and to preserve hosting as an important source of income for local residents.”

Toral Patel, Airbnb Public Policy Manager

Airbnb’s partnership with Maui County is part of its ongoing commitment to be a good partner to the communities Hosts and guests call home and is similar to agreements signed with Kauai County, implemented in 2020, and with the City and County of Honolulu, which is awaiting implementation pending county action to stand up a registration system for Hosts. 

Along with promoting responsible hosting in Maui County, Airbnb is playing a role in Hawaii’s recovery from the pandemic, lifting up local Hosts as well as entire local economies. According to a recent report by Airbnb, the typical US Host earned more than $8,000 in from January through September 2021, which represents nearly an extra month and a half of pay for the median US household and is more than most Americans received in government-provided stimulus payments. Women Hosts in the US*, who make up 60 percent of our US Host community, earned more than $4 billion in the first three quarters of 2021. In addition, since 2010, Hosts in Hawaii have earned a total of approximately $2 billion.