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Fake Vacation Rental Listings: How to Protect Your Hawaii Trip— Ep 143

Episode 143 Published 2 weeks ago
Description

Fake Vacation Rental Listings: How to Protect Your Hawaii Trip

Verification steps and regulatory context current as of recording. Hawaii's short-term rental laws are actively changing island by island — verify current rules and always check GET/TAT numbers directly before booking.

Who this episode is for: Anyone booking a Hawaii vacation rental, especially larger multi-generational bookings, who wants to avoid fake listings and scam activity.

What you'll learn: How Hawaii vacation rental scams typically work, why the current legal confusion around short-term rental rules makes it easier for scammers to hide, how to verify a listing's GET and TAT numbers, and other red flags to watch for.

Places discussed:

  • Maui (phasing out thousands of rentals)
  • Oahu (limiting rentals to resort zoning or grandfathered permits)
  • Kauai (rentals allowed only in specific visitor destination areas)
  • Big Island (new registration system rolled out this past July)

Activities discussed:

  • Booking a vacation rental
  • Verifying a rental's legal registration
  • Booking through Vrbo vs. Airbnb vs. hotels/resorts

Marcie's recommendations:

  • Hawaii state officials have issued a recent warning that fake vacation rental listing scams are increasing, and Hawaii already has one of the highest rental scam rates per capita in the country
  • Scammers commonly take a real listing's photos and repost them elsewhere — social media, a fake website, or even a legitimate platform at a lower price to create urgency
  • Current confusion around changing short-term rental laws across all four islands makes it easier for scam listings to blend in, even for well-intentioned travelers
  • Every legal Hawaii vacation rental should have both a GET number and a TAT number
  • Verify these directly at portal.ehawaii.gov → Business → Tax Services → Tax License Search, rather than trying to check island-by-island systems separately
  • Red flag: being asked to pay outside the official booking platform (wire transfer, gift card, app) due to a supposed website issue
  • Red flag: a price dramatically lower than comparable nearby listings
  • Consider a reverse image search on listing photos to check whether they appear elsewhere under a different property or owner name
  • Never book a Hawaii vacation rental through Craigslist or Facebook Marketplace — there's no regulation or protection there
  • Marcie's personal preference has shifted toward hotels and resorts, less about specific rental problems and more about avoiding pre-trip coordination logistics (check-in, keys, etc.)
  • Vrbo has generally worked well for Marcie's multi-generational family trips; Airbnb has been a more negative personal experience, including issues with their affiliate program

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