Room Rental

[1@3_aBc]

I had rented a house out in another state for a period back in the '70s.
It had been less than a comfortable relationship, expenses ended up higher than costs.
I swore that I would never rent a house out again, and haven't, ... so far.

I am giving consideration to renting a room with general living conditions access to my home to an individual while still living in it myself.
The situation would be similar to being a roommate paying rent, but still as a lodger.

A quick perusal of the  state's Landlord - Tenant laws seems to leave the rental of a room with access to other areas such as kitchen, living room, bathrooms, and so on, unaddressed.

I need to learn how the Hawaiian Landlord - Tenant laws, and any other regulations, affect the rental of living quarters and general access within one's home.

Directions to applicable laws, enforcement, and/or experiences with this situation would be appreciated.

[terracore]

Does the eviction moratorium apply to room rentals? Under the current law a tenant can move in and immediately stop paying rent without repercussions.

[1@3_aBc]

Done a little looking. Not completely sure of the rules. I believe the situation would classify them as lodgers.  The moratorium may apply, at least in part. I would never do a rental anyway as long as there was a moratorium in place to affect it.
I am not looking for an easy way to screw someone.
What I am looking for is an easy way to keep someone from screwing me. I have used them as both a tenant and a landlord. They're aimed at protecting tenants not landlords. As long as that is the situation, I will never do another rental. I don't have to, but would consider doing it as long as I'm protected  from a bad tenant.

[eightfingers2.0]

If you don’t know the rules, you should not be a landlord.

You said, “I will never do another rental.”. You may have given yourself some very good advice.

[Carey]

First check with your homeowners insurance....even having a family member staying at your house as a guest can affect your insurance!
2. Hawaii landlord code is in effect for any arrangement that is made other than an agreed upon short term rental (& you MUST pay the state GET & TAT taxes)
3. read the landlord tenant code & get to know it.... even letting someone stay for "work trade" activates the code (& you are on the hook for GET & possibly TAT taxes if under the time frame, even if no monies change hands)
4. getting out of this living arrangement if it goes sour here is tough, due to tenants rights here... be aware that many landlords just end up paying to get rid of a problem tenant... & problem tenants seem to know that they can get paid to leave... so landlords here seem to know that this is not a great way to count on offsetting expenses...for long term investment it is not horrible...but short term offset, you could actually loose out on the deal... this is the main reason why there are fewer rentals here & many folks just do not rent out shorter term investment properties...
ETA: & once you read the codes, you will realize that "dwelling" can be the rental of just a room...
https://cca.hawaii.gov/hfic/files/2013/0...ndbook.pdf

[terracore]

If this article is still accurate, to evict a person in Hawaii County requires flying deputies in from Maui. The cost of an eviction is $10,000-$12,000.

For these reasons, many landlords offer their tenants money to move out. Pretty much 'the game' is to get a rental, stop paying rent, live rent free until the landlord wants to evict you, then take up to a $10k bribe to get out without trashing the place any further.

And people wonder why there "aren't enough rentals"... This was before the eviction moratorium.

https://www.westhawaiitoday.com/2017/10/...o-the-job/

A friend of mine owned a rental house in Minneapolis, which has similar renter rights laws as here. His tenant stopped paying rent and when he tried evicting her she started suing him in small claims court. She was filing bogus lawsuits every couple of weeks. She was also trying to get on Judge Judy. He wound up paying her $10k to leave the house and stop the bogus lawsuits. It cost him another $20k to to fix all the damage she caused. He wound up selling the house at a loss to get out of the endless cycle of landlord abuse.

[kalakoa]

people wonder why there "aren't enough rentals"

We're supposed to believe it's because of the illegal AirBNBs, which clearly need stricter regulation.

[terracore]

Here's another one... a different friend of mine rented out a house NO PETS ALLOWED. The tenant immediately snuck several large dogs inside and in an effort to conceal the indiscretion, allowed them to piss and defecate all over the inside of the house.

She had to rip up the flooring down to the joists and replace everything. Was over $20k then (would be $60k today). When I see renters with pets on online forums whining about how nobody will rent to them, I suggest that while I'm sure THEIR pets are angels, all the -$60k tenants that came before them ruined it for pet owners everywhere.

One of the good things about short-term rentals is that almost nobody brings animals with them. And with short-term rentals come short-term damage. I would never consider owning a long-term rental in Hawaii.

[My 2 cents]

I'll throw this into the mix:

If you plan to rent out a room in the house you are living in, if things go sour you could find yourself quickly evicted from your own house and having to find other accommodations for yourself while you spend thousands trying to evict your tenant who will be occupying your house rent free for however long it takes to get him out.

Hawaii laws do not favor the landlord.

[kalianna]

How can you be evicted from your own house?