KIHEI, Maui — Maui County is seeking up to $214,000 in fines from a California woman who has allegedly refused to stop using her Kihei home as a vacation rental.

Deputy Corporation Counsel Madelyn D'Enbeau called it a "landmark case," because it is the first to go to a hearing before the Board of Variances and Appeals.

The county said it has overwhelming evidence that Stephanie Rager, of San Juan Capistrano, continued to operate and advertise her illegal rental even after she received multiple warnings and a cease-and-desist order a year ago.

The county says she charges several thousand dollars a week for her four-bedroom, 1,895-square-foot home named Hale Mikoi in the Keonekai Heights subdivision.

Rager has said she stopped renting out the home and only lets friends and family use it. Rager and her husband also own a condo on Maui and a house on the Big Island. She accused a zoning inspector of harassment and abusing his authority.

A homeowner can be fined up to $1,000 for the initial violation and an additional $1,000 each day the violation continues, according to the county code.

The county started receiving complaints in February 2007 from neighbors who said they were being disrupted by loud late-night parties and lots of cars, according to records.

In an appeal filed in September 2007, Rager reported that she stopped renting out the home as soon as she was warned on April 12, 2007. She also said she took down the Web site advertising her rental two months before a second warning on June 29, 2007.

Part of the county's evidence against Rager is interviews with renters, including Annette Pablo Chin of Seattle and Darlene Quintos-Cairns of Scottsdale, Ariz.

Pablo Chin said she rented the home for $3,879.16 from Rager for seven nights starting on Aug. 1, 2007. She also reported to investigators that Rager told her that if anyone asked who she was, she was supposed to say she was a friend of Rager's daughter, who apparently lives on Maui.