By Sydney Sullivan

The Hawaii legislature in 2018 started off wanting to make it a “Felony” if you rented a room in your home short term without the required licensing. Most folks are all for the necessary permit and, of course, paying the taxes. But making a vacation rental violation a felony – well, that went a bit too far.

Sometimes it feels like state and federal legislators don’t have a clue about what real-life Americans face every day. Legislators have always had a paycheck, even during the 2008 meltdown. While many folks were losing their homes, banks offered sweet refinance and payoff deals to legislators all over the country. Average homeowners couldn’t get a refinance or modification from 2008 through 2012 because the banks told them to miss 3 payments to qualify for HAMP and then denied homeowners the opportunity to reinstate their loan – because they were unknowingly in DEFAULT. Continue reading →