We verified that they identified themselves by their advertised names and confirmed that they performed massage services.īusinesses Aren’t Allowed to Use Fake NamesĬhristine Rutkowski, executive officer for the Board of Massage Therapy, says that a business must have a vocational license under the same name that it advertises with. We called each establishment to make sure that these were real businesses, not out-of-date listings on Google. Some, like Mai Thai Massage (advertised below) were licensed.īut in a single afternoon, we found several other establishments that didn’t have licenses: Pearl City Relaxation, Rosemarri, Rappongi Relaxation, Pine Tree Spa, Tokyo Relaxation, VIP Relaxation, King Spa and Oriental Relaxation. Searching the Internet, Civil Beat found the eight businesses that appear to be operating without a license. Uchida told Civil Beat if the office receives multiple reports regarding the same, or similar location, the office will periodically initiate stings, occasionally with the help of police. If the business challenges the citation, it goes to an administrative hearing, where the court can issue a judgment compelling the business to register or pay fines. The fee is up to $1000 for the second and $5000 for three or more offenses. Hawaii Revised Statute 436B-26.5 says that penalties for first violations must not exceed $500. If cited, businesses are supposed to close until they get a license.
If the office can prove that the business is operating illegally, it then issues citations or judgments. Once a complaint is received, an investigator gathers information on the alleged unlicensed activity. “We get reports, usually from other licensees but also from consumers that suggest that there might be some activity that requires a license,” said Uchida. In fiscal year 2010, the detection and enforcement wing of the DCCA issued 25 citations and six judgments against businesses that operated without a license. If they fail to do so, they are operating without a license.īut the law isn’t enforced unless a complaint is filed against a business, said Jo Ann Uchida, a complaints and enforcement officer with the DCCA. The exceptions include sole proprietors, charitable organizations and unincorporated associations.īut even if they qualify for an exception, every massage establishment, business or sole proprietor has to get a vocational license with the Board of Massage Therapy, a separate arm of the DCCA.
Under Hawaii law, local businesses must register with the DCCA’s Business Registration Division.
The Google results, on the other hand, were not so positive.Ī cursory search performed over a few hours turned up eight businesses that were not listed in the Professional and Vocational Licensing registry. Those parlors included: Siam Thai Massage, Massage Thailand, China Mary Rose, Ohana Massage, Thai Hawaiian Massage, Stay in Touch and Therapeutic Massage Center, all of which were licensed through 2012. In our investigation, we went through the phone book and performed Google searches for “Massage Honolulu,” “Full body massage Honolulu,” “Oriental massage Honolulu,” to find establishments.Ī search of the Hawaii Department of Commerce and Consumer Affairs’s website showed that all of the massage parlors we found in the phone book were registered and up-to-date.