The owner of a Honolulu vacation rental property who owes nearly $1 million to the city was remorseful Wednesday when the City Council ruled to foreclose on his property.
The Council approved on Wednesday a resolution authorizing the City and County of Honolulu Corporation Counsel to begin a foreclosure action against the trust of Diana Tsui Hung Lee after trustees repeatedly operated an ‘Ālewa Heights property as an unpermitted short-term rental.
Honolulu Department of Planning and Permitting issued the trust five citations in 2021 for advertising and operating the property as, variously, an unpermitted short-term rental, transient vacation rental, bed and breakfast, with each citation carrying a fine of $10,000 per day of violation.
According to the Council resolution, those fines have yet to be paid. And Anson Lee, representative of the trust, told the Council Wednesday that it’s unlikely they ever will.
“I don’t have a million dollars,” Lee said. “I don’t. I’m not rich.”
Councilman Tyler Dos Santos-Tam, who represents ‘Ālewa Heights, told Aloha State Daily that the fines on the property totaled more than $953,000.
“But the home also has higher liens on it,” Santos-Tam said. “There are more fines, but some of those are still appealable.”
A 2025 real property tax assessment by the city pegged the property’s value at just over $1 million.
“The reason I did AirBNB is for my two sons who’re going to college,” Lee told the Council. “But the college has already been paid off and they’ve already graduated … But it’s really no reason for me to break the law, and I’m paying the price for it. It’s not worth it.”
Santos-Tam told ASD that the house has been the subject of numerous neighborhood complaints for years, with violations dating back to 2019.
“There are the same issues with illegal vacation rentals in ‘Ālewa Heights as anywhere: lack of parking, people coming and going at all hours, fights,” Santos-Tam said. “There’s a sense that the neighborhood is not for neighbors anymore.”
Council members thanked Lee for attending Wednesday’s meeting in person — Lee said he lives in California — but noted that the situation could have been avoided.
“[DPP] sent [notices of violations] for the last two years,” said ‘Ewa Beach Councilwoman Ariana Tupola. “They’ve tried to notify you multiple times.”
Council Chair Tommy Waters said he hopes this case will serve as a warning to other illegal short-term rental operators about the consequences of attempting to circumvent the law.
Santos-Tam told ASD that there are other illegal vacation rentals around the island that have repeatedly incurred fines and liens but continue to operate. In one case, he said, the owner paid off the lien and subsequently received another citation from DPP for operating an illegal rental.
“It’s clear that for some owners, these liens and fines are just the cost of doing business,” Santos-Tam said.
This is the first time the City has initiated a foreclosure action against a non-complying owner, Santos-Tam said, and the process will take some time. He said there will still be an opportunity for the owner to “tell his side of the story,” and other council members said Wednesday that Lee could feasibly still work with DPP to keep the property.
The resolution also generated support from residents around the island lamenting illegal short-term rentals in their communities.
“As a North Shore resident, I see the consequences of weak enforcement daily,” read a letter by one Shane Sochocki. “Listings flagged months ago are still active. Properties with [notices of violations] … continue to operate under a thin pretense of ‘30-day minimums,’ even as rental cars and guests cycle in and out like clockwork. Calendars are full. Reviews are fresh. The public is watching, and what they see is a system that bends for those willing to test its limits.”
Aloha State Daily reached out to DPP for comment.
