Two US regulation stories landed on the same day today, and they share the same lesson: a vote on STR rules is rarely the end of the process. Maui's December 2025 phase-out — framed at the time as the largest STR ban in US history — now has a formal exemption track running alongside it, individual application by individual application. Charleston's Planning Commission deferred before a vote was even taken.
Supply & Regulation
Maui's phase-out has a new exit: up to 4,500 condos can now apply for hotel district rezoning
Hawaii / United States
Maui County's Bill 9, signed in December 2025, put roughly 6,100 condominium units on a phase-out track. Units in West Maui are to stop operating as vacation rentals by January 1, 2029; South Maui by January 1, 2031. The bill targeted so-called Minatoya List properties — condos in apartment-zoned districts grandfathered for vacation rental use since a 2001 county legal interpretation — as a way to restore long-term housing supply after the August 2023 Lahaina wildfire eliminated around 5,500 homes.[1]
On June 19, the Maui County Council voted 7-2 to pass Bill 88, creating two new hotel zoning district classifications, H-3 and H-4, that as many as 4,500 of those condos can apply for. Properties that successfully rezone into a hotel district would be exempted from Bill 9's phase-out timeline and allowed to continue transient rental use. The path is not automatic: each application requires review by the appropriate county planning commission and a final Council decision. No properties are automatically reclassified.[2]
Mayor Richard Bissen, who proposed the original Bill 9 ban, testified in favor of Bill 88. "At its core, Bill 9 and the legislation before you today is about restoring balance to our community by addressing the urgent need for housing while recognizing the realities of Maui County's economy and long-term future," he said. "Bill 88 is a step in that direction, creating a structured framework with safeguards in place for properties that may seek consideration for continued visitor accommodation use through future land use actions."[2]
Lahaina Strong, which organized around the original phase-out, opposed the measure. Jordan Ruidas told the Council that the group visited every Minatoya List property and found only about 10 operate with traditional hotel staffing and amenities. "There's no shortage of short-term rentals in Maui County, but there is, however, a profound shortage of housing for local residents," she said. "We have fought for this for nearly three years, and we will continue to hold the line."[2]
Condo owners pushed back. "We're not oligarchs. We're not billionaire hotel owners. We are the people, and we're not hurting Maui County at all," said Kathy Fleming, a Minatoya List condo owner.[2]
At least two lawsuits challenging Bill 9 as an unconstitutional taking of property rights remain pending in state court. Bill 88 advocates say the new rezoning pathway may reduce the litigation risk — a formal path to continued use is legally different from an outright ban — though the lawsuits have not been withdrawn.
So what: Bill 9 is no longer a clean binary outcome. It's a rolling rezoning process where the final STR count in Maui's market depends on how many condo associations and individual owners choose to apply, what each planning commission recommends, and what the Council decides, property by property. "6,100 units eliminated" is now an upper bound, not a forecast. Operators and investors tracking Hawaiian supply should price in a wide range of outcomes, not the headline number.
Charleston's first STR ordinance update since 2018 didn't survive its first public hearing
United States / South Carolina
Charleston's Planning Commission deferred action July 15 on proposed changes to the city's short-term rental rules after dozens of property owners packed the public hearing to oppose an 8-person occupancy cap — the first major proposed overhaul since 2018.[3]
The city's goal was to replace the current rule, which limits STRs to a maximum of four unrelated adults, with a capacity-based system set by the Fire Marshal using bedroom count. Both the city and operators acknowledge the four-unrelated-adults standard is nearly impossible to enforce. "The problem is we can't enforce it well as hosts. You can't ask for their blood or their, you know, give me your birth certificates," said Charles Waring, a local STR owner.[3]
The proposed overhaul included a hard ceiling: no STR could host more than eight guests, regardless of home size. About 600 licensed STRs operate in Charleston's overlay district; the city said only 29 of them currently accommodate more than eight guests — less than 5% of the licensed inventory. That math did not reassure the operators most exposed.
"This eight-person cap in many instances will reduce the occupancy upwards of 25% or more, which is kind of devastating if you own a small business to lose that much of it," said Stephen Ramos, an architect and STR owner who testified against it.[3]
Waring framed it as a retirement-income question. "I'm at retirement age. So, what that does to us is that creates a hardship and then we don't have time to recover."[3]
Stephen Ramos said he remains optimistic about a negotiated outcome: "I think they're certainly one."[3]
The city said the changes are designed to protect neighborhood quality while giving property owners clearer guidance. With the commission deferring, the proposal now goes back to city staff for revision. The planning commission will need to make a formal recommendation before the proposal can advance to City Council for its first reading.
So what: The 29 operators who currently host more than 8 guests in Charleston are inside a slow-moving process with an unclear endpoint — commission revision, then a recommendation, then two City Council readings, minimum. For the other 571 licensed operators in the overlay district, the immediate practical effect is nothing. But the takeaway is structural: the first attempt in eight years to update the rules couldn't survive a single public hearing. Any future revision has to be built around a proposal that the 29-property tail doesn't blow up again.
GCC / Proptech
Keyper raised $11 million to let UAE tenants pay monthly while landlords still get paid upfront
UAE / GCC
Keyper, a Dubai-based proptech startup founded in 2022, closed an $11 million Series A this month led by Speedinvest, with participation from NeoVentures (the venture arm of Mashreq bank), Middle East Venture Partners, the Dubai Future District Fund, Property Finder, Arab National Bank, Ellington Properties, and Dar Ventures. The round follows a $30 million Sukuk financing agreement with Franklin Templeton announced earlier this year.[4]
The business targets a structural friction in the UAE residential rental market: most leases require payment in one, two, or four annual cheques, which prices out tenants who cannot front large lump sums but could afford the monthly equivalent. Keyper pays landlords upfront and collects from tenants in monthly installments, using the spread plus a financing fee to cover the gap.
Since launching, Keyper has financed more than $44 million in rent value — including $19 million in 2026 year-to-date alone. The platform supports more than 10,500 properties with a combined value exceeding $6 billion, serves 4,000 landlords, and has passed 100,000 app downloads.[4]
"The UAE residential rental market remains one of the most underserved in the world when it comes to digital infrastructure," said Omar Abu Innab, co-founder and CEO.[4]
The investor list is notable: Property Finder (the UAE's dominant residential listings portal), Arab National Bank, and the Dubai Future District Fund are not passive bets on a startup. They represent the infrastructure layer of the UAE property market making a direct investment in changing how rent flows through it.
So what: For the short-term rental market, the relevance is indirect but real. If monthly-payment infrastructure scales across UAE residential stock, it changes who can comfortably hold a long-term lease — which shapes how much residential-grade property stays in the holiday-home market versus migrating to conventional tenancy. That's a supply dynamic, not a fintech niche, and the investors here are the institutions that would know.
Also worth watching
World Cup Final — Spain vs Argentina at MetLife Stadium, July 19. CoStar projects New York RevPAR up 16% year-over-year for June and July, driven by 14% ADR growth.[5] NYC hotel occupancy climbed above 90% during key match days, a sharp reversal from the 28% booking pace flagged in early June. The last-minute demand surge the tournament confirmed throughout is now fully in the numbers.
La Mesa, California took its first formal step toward STR regulation. At a July 14 City Council meeting, staff were directed to spend six months studying the issue and developing a regulatory policy — the city's first move toward any STR rules.[6]
Hawaii County's Big Island STR registration bill has a new deadline. The Planning Commission deferred a vote; both the Leeward and Windward Planning Commissions must submit recommendations to the County Council by August 8, 2026.[7]
Wimberley, Texas is scheduled to hold its City Council public hearing on proposed STR zoning changes tonight. Follows a Planning and Zoning Commission session July 9 on the same amendments.[8]
A regulation that passes a vote is not finished. In Maui, the December 2025 bill that targeted 6,100 condos now has a formal rezoning track running alongside it, application by application. In Charleston, the first attempt to update rules put in place in 2018 couldn't survive its first public hearing. Both show the same thing: the vote is where the negotiation starts, not where it ends.
