A citizen of the United States cannot buy land in most foreign countries without strict residency requirements, lease agreements only or paying a hefty tax on that sale.

On my block in Honolulu, about one third of the houses are owned by foreign entities. Many are left standing empty. Others are vacation rentals.

Wasn’t the original intent of our City Council to reduce the whole-house rentals that are turning our residential neighborhoods into tourist zones? Why then are all short-term rentals since 1989 now illegal?

The spare bedroom Tutu rents out to make ends meet, the add-on for grandpa that is no longer needed, and all the condos mauka of Kuhio Avenue in Waikiki — vacation rentals are the wave of the future all over the world. And as Lee Cataluna said, the tourists want to get away from tourism (“When tourists want to get far from tourism,” Star-Advertiser, May 17). Our government needs to regulate rentals, not demolish an entire industry.

Anne Chung

Kuliouou

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