{"id":1126,"date":"2026-06-09T11:35:54","date_gmt":"2026-06-09T11:35:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/hawaiimovinginsider.com\/?p=1126"},"modified":"2026-06-09T11:35:54","modified_gmt":"2026-06-09T11:35:54","slug":"3m-in-illegal-rental-fines-uncollected-a-year-after-foreclosure-threat","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/hawaiimovinginsider.com\/?p=1126","title":{"rendered":"$3M in illegal rental fines uncollected a year after foreclosure threat"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n
\n

HONOLULU (HawaiiNewsNow) – A year after the Honolulu City Council approved foreclosure on a short-term rental owner, the case remains unresolved \u2014 and nearly $3 million in fines remains uncollected.<\/p>\n

Read more HMSA delays primary care payment shift, extends transition to 2027<\/a><\/p>\n

The lack of action has critics saying the city is sending a message that building and zoning violations are not being taken seriously.<\/p>\n

A house in Alewa Heights was to be the example for the city\u2019s get-tough attitude toward illegal short-term rentals. But a year after the council approved foreclosure, the city still has not gone to court.<\/p>\n

Homeowner Anson Lee, a California resident, said, \u201cIt\u2019s been very stressful. We worry almost every day what the city\u2019s going to do. Is it really, is this true that they really can foreclose my mom\u2019s house and take it away?\u201d<\/p>\n

<\/div>\n

Learn more:<\/b><\/p>\n

Complaints and violations tied to an illegal rental<\/h1>\n

Lee ran the house on Aulii Street as a short-term vacation rental, drawing many complaints from neighbors and multiple violations from the city threatening $10,000 a day in fines from back in 2021.<\/p>\n

He said he did not know about the city\u2019s notices by certified mail until he got an email from the city\u2019s collection agency in April 2024 demanding $2.5 million, and still rising.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe house is worth a little bit over a million, but I\u2019m getting like $3 million in fines,\u201d Lee said.<\/p>\n

Lee said that is when he stopped the vacation rental business. But the city said it still got neighbor complaints and started building a foreclosure case, which was approved by the council in May 2025 as part of a get-tougher policy.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is actually a good example of what can happen if you\u2019re not going to follow the law,\u201d city Department of Planning and Permitting director Dawn Takeuchi Apuna said in May 2025.<\/p>\n

Apuna said the fines, liens and foreclosure threats have accomplished the main goal of ending illegal behavior.<\/p>\n

<\/div>\n

But Honolulu City Council member Tyler Dos Santos-Tam said in the long run, threats will not work without faster action.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe fact that it\u2019s taken a year I think sends the wrong message. The city needs to be as aggressive as possible,\u201d Dos Santos-Tam said.<\/p>\n

Read more Work begins on Daniel K. Inouye Highway after traffic emergency zone declared<\/a><\/p>\n

City says $200 million in fines uncollected<\/h1>\n

Being aggressive could also pay off. The city estimates there are more than $200 million in fines for all sorts of zoning and building violations that have not been collected.<\/p>\n

It has been making progress. After collecting just over $500,000 in 2021, the city collected well over $2 million in 2024 and 2025, and is on pace to reach $3 million after collecting well over $1.5 million in the first third of this year.<\/p>\n

<\/div>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re looking to actually capture close to 100% of those fines,\u201d Apuna said in May 2025.<\/p>\n

In a review of data from the building department, the vast majority of violations are corrected before fines are needed. But the ones that are not addressed are highly visible, like an overgrow property in Kaneohe with $11,000 in unpaid taxes and over $30,000 in fines.<\/p>\n

State Rep. Scot Matayoshi, chair of the House Consumer Protection Committee, said, \u201cIt\u2019s creating health concerns because rats, roaches, other vermin breed in there and then spread out through the neighborhood.\u201d<\/p>\n

Matayoshi proposed letting the attorney general or private attorneys take on city foreclosure cases for part of the collection.<\/p>\n

<\/div>\n

\u201cWhat that would do is the city would still collect 90% of that fine once the property is foreclosed upon, and it would lighten the load significantly from the city on the number of backlog cases that they have,\u201d Matayoshi said.<\/p>\n

Matayoshi has done commercial foreclosure cases as an attorney and said the city would have to prove notice and an exact amount owed to get into court and has to face owners willing to fight to defend their properties and their conduct.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s nothing firm. You know, it\u2019s very confusing. The law, the law is confusing,\u201d Lee said.<\/p>\n

The city said it has the evidence and the law on its side to foreclose but also said it is negotiating with the Lee family attorney for a possible settlement.<\/p>\n

Read more 4th of July fireworks show to light up Waikiki for America\u2019s 250th anniversary<\/a><\/p>\n<\/section>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The lack of action has critics saying the city is sending a message that building and zoning violations are not being taken seriously.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1125,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1126","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"yoast_head":"\n$3M in illegal rental fines uncollected a year after foreclosure threat - Hawaii Moving Insider<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/hawaiimovinginsider.com\/?p=1126\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"$3M in illegal rental fines uncollected a year after foreclosure threat - Hawaii Moving Insider\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The lack of action has critics saying the city is sending a message that building and zoning violations are not being taken seriously.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/hawaiimovinginsider.com\/?p=1126\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Hawaii Moving Insider\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-06-09T11:35:54+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/hawaiimovinginsider.com\\\/?p=1126#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/hawaiimovinginsider.com\\\/?p=1126\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"admin\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/hawaiimovinginsider.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/590d72f16cb0f571fd45812a3c7ea1d0\"},\"headline\":\"$3M in illegal rental fines uncollected a year after foreclosure threat\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-06-09T11:35:54+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/hawaiimovinginsider.com\\\/?p=1126\"},\"wordCount\":722,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/hawaiimovinginsider.com\\\/?p=1126#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/hawaiimovinginsider.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/a207d4ac6dbdbf47c7ad69dfa6ba1a54.avif\",\"articleSection\":[\"News\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/hawaiimovinginsider.com\\\/?p=1126#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/hawaiimovinginsider.com\\\/?p=1126\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/hawaiimovinginsider.com\\\/?p=1126\",\"name\":\"$3M in illegal rental fines uncollected a year after foreclosure threat - Hawaii Moving Insider\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/hawaiimovinginsider.com\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/hawaiimovinginsider.com\\\/?p=1126#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/hawaiimovinginsider.com\\\/?p=1126#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/hawaiimovinginsider.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/a207d4ac6dbdbf47c7ad69dfa6ba1a54.avif\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-06-09T11:35:54+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/hawaiimovinginsider.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/590d72f16cb0f571fd45812a3c7ea1d0\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/hawaiimovinginsider.com\\\/?p=1126#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/hawaiimovinginsider.com\\\/?p=1126\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/hawaiimovinginsider.com\\\/?p=1126#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/hawaiimovinginsider.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/a207d4ac6dbdbf47c7ad69dfa6ba1a54.avif\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/hawaiimovinginsider.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/a207d4ac6dbdbf47c7ad69dfa6ba1a54.avif\",\"width\":1200,\"height\":600},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/hawaiimovinginsider.com\\\/?p=1126#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/hawaiimovinginsider.com\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"$3M in illegal rental fines uncollected a year after foreclosure threat\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/hawaiimovinginsider.com\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/hawaiimovinginsider.com\\\/\",\"name\":\"Hawaii Moving Insider\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/hawaiimovinginsider.com\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/hawaiimovinginsider.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/590d72f16cb0f571fd45812a3c7ea1d0\",\"name\":\"admin\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"admin\"},\"sameAs\":[\"http:\\\/\\\/hawaiimovinginsider.com\"],\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/hawaiimovinginsider.com\\\/?author=1\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"$3M in illegal rental fines uncollected a year after foreclosure threat - Hawaii Moving Insider","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/hawaiimovinginsider.com\/?p=1126","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"$3M in illegal rental fines uncollected a year after foreclosure threat - Hawaii Moving Insider","og_description":"The lack of action has critics saying the city is sending a message that building and zoning violations are not being taken seriously.","og_url":"https:\/\/hawaiimovinginsider.com\/?p=1126","og_site_name":"Hawaii Moving Insider","article_published_time":"2026-06-09T11:35:54+00:00","author":"admin","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"admin","Est. reading time":"4 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/hawaiimovinginsider.com\/?p=1126#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/hawaiimovinginsider.com\/?p=1126"},"author":{"name":"admin","@id":"https:\/\/hawaiimovinginsider.com\/#\/schema\/person\/590d72f16cb0f571fd45812a3c7ea1d0"},"headline":"$3M in illegal rental fines uncollected a year after foreclosure threat","datePublished":"2026-06-09T11:35:54+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/hawaiimovinginsider.com\/?p=1126"},"wordCount":722,"commentCount":0,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/hawaiimovinginsider.com\/?p=1126#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/hawaiimovinginsider.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/a207d4ac6dbdbf47c7ad69dfa6ba1a54.avif","articleSection":["News"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/hawaiimovinginsider.com\/?p=1126#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/hawaiimovinginsider.com\/?p=1126","url":"https:\/\/hawaiimovinginsider.com\/?p=1126","name":"$3M in illegal rental fines uncollected a year after foreclosure threat - Hawaii Moving Insider","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/hawaiimovinginsider.com\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/hawaiimovinginsider.com\/?p=1126#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/hawaiimovinginsider.com\/?p=1126#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/hawaiimovinginsider.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/a207d4ac6dbdbf47c7ad69dfa6ba1a54.avif","datePublished":"2026-06-09T11:35:54+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/hawaiimovinginsider.com\/#\/schema\/person\/590d72f16cb0f571fd45812a3c7ea1d0"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/hawaiimovinginsider.com\/?p=1126#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/hawaiimovinginsider.com\/?p=1126"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/hawaiimovinginsider.com\/?p=1126#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/hawaiimovinginsider.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/a207d4ac6dbdbf47c7ad69dfa6ba1a54.avif","contentUrl":"https:\/\/hawaiimovinginsider.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/a207d4ac6dbdbf47c7ad69dfa6ba1a54.avif","width":1200,"height":600},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/hawaiimovinginsider.com\/?p=1126#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/hawaiimovinginsider.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"$3M in illegal rental fines uncollected a year after foreclosure threat"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/hawaiimovinginsider.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/hawaiimovinginsider.com\/","name":"Hawaii Moving Insider","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/hawaiimovinginsider.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/hawaiimovinginsider.com\/#\/schema\/person\/590d72f16cb0f571fd45812a3c7ea1d0","name":"admin","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"admin"},"sameAs":["http:\/\/hawaiimovinginsider.com"],"url":"https:\/\/hawaiimovinginsider.com\/?author=1"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/hawaiimovinginsider.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1126","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/hawaiimovinginsider.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/hawaiimovinginsider.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hawaiimovinginsider.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hawaiimovinginsider.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1126"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/hawaiimovinginsider.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1126\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hawaiimovinginsider.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/1125"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/hawaiimovinginsider.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1126"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hawaiimovinginsider.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1126"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hawaiimovinginsider.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1126"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}