Owner Education / Compliance
Hawaii Landlord Tenant Law
The money limits, access rules, repair clocks and notice periods that govern every residential tenancy in the state — updated for the change that landed in February 2026.
Key Takeaways
- What you may collect is capped and closed. First month's rent, one month's deposit, and a pet deposit where there is a pet — and under HRS 521-44(b), nothing else at the start of the agreement.
- Repairs run on three separate clocks — 3 business days, 7 calendar days, 12 business days — and missing one lets the tenant repair and deduct up to $1,000 or a month's rent.
- The nonpayment notice changed on 5 February 2026: 10 calendar days with prescribed contents and a mandatory copy to a mediation center, replacing the old five-business-day demand.
- Most costly mistakes are paperwork, not conduct: an unlawful fee, a wrong notice period, a missed deposit deadline, or a disclosure never made.
Every residential tenancy in Hawaii is governed by the Residential Landlord-Tenant Code, HRS chapter 521. It is the rulebook: it sets what money you may take, when you may enter, how quickly you must repair, how much notice ends a tenancy, and what an eviction requires.
When in doubt, read the code rather than advice written for the mainland — and check its date. What follows are the provisions that decide most disputes.
Recently Changed
The nonpayment notice was rewritten in February 2026
Act 278 of the 2025 session replaced HRS 521-68 with effect from 5 February 2026. If you hold a lease template or a notice form written before then, it is out of date in the one place you can least afford it.
The old five-day notice is gone
Nonpayment now requires a written notice allowing not less than ten calendar days after receipt. It must carry eight prescribed items, including a warning in bold typeface in substantially the form the statute sets out. A copy must go to a state-funded mediation center, and if mediation is scheduled and the tenant participates, you may only file for summary possession after twenty calendar days from receipt. Receipt is the date of posting if posted on the unit, or two business days after the postmark if mailed.
The Judiciary publishes a form carrying the required contents. Our Hawaii eviction process guide works through the sequence in full.
Money
What you can and cannot collect
At signing you may take the first month's rent and a security deposit of up to one month's rent. Where the tenant actually has a pet you may take a separate pet deposit of up to one further month's rent — never for an assistance animal that is a reasonable accommodation, because an assistance animal is not a pet.
HRS 521-44(b) then closes the door: the landlord may not require or receive any money other than the first month's rent and that deposit at the beginning of the agreement. Cleaning fees, administrative fees and last month's rent up front are therefore not available by default, and prepaid rent only works on the specific written terms the statute allows.
Returning the deposit. Within 14 days of the tenancy ending you must return the deposit or send written notice with the particulars and grounds for any retention, supported by estimates, invoices or receipts. Miss that window and you are not entitled to retain any of it. In small claims, a court finding the retention wrongful shall award the tenant that amount and the cost of suit; where it finds the retention wrongful and wilful it may award three times the amount. Note that in those actions neither side may be represented by an attorney. Our security deposit guide covers the section in full.
Rent, late fees and increases. Where the rental agreement provides for a late charge, HRS 521-21(f) caps it at eight per cent of the rent due, and there is no statutory grace period. Rent increases need written notice of 45 consecutive days for a month-to-month tenancy and 15 consecutive days where the tenancy is shorter. In a fixed-term lease the rent stays fixed unless the agreement says otherwise. Our guide to how much a landlord can raise rent in Hawaii works through counting the notice period, the retaliation limits and what happens if a notice is short.
Screening fees. Hawaii permits an application screening fee, but only to cover the actual cost of obtaining applicant information such as credit, criminal and tenant reports. No padding. Keep receipts, itemise on request, refund unused amounts within 30 days, and charge only adults or emancipated minors at the time the application is processed.
Habitability
Repairs run on three clocks
HRS 521-42 obliges you to keep the premises habitable and to maintain landlord-supplied electrical, plumbing and other facilities and appliances in working order. HRS 521-64 then puts deadlines on it — each measured to when repairs must commence, not finish:
- 3 business days — electrical, plumbing or other facilities including major appliances the landlord supplied, where the repair is necessary for sanitary and habitable conditions. Oral or written notice starts this one.
- 7 calendar days — where the Department of Health or another state or county agency notifies you in writing of a health or safety violation.
- 12 business days — any other defective condition in material noncompliance with HRS 521-42(a) or the rental agreement, on written notice from the tenant.
If you cannot start in time for reasons beyond your control, you must tell the tenant why and set a reasonable tentative start date. Miss a deadline without that and the tenant may have the work done and deduct their actual expenditure on production of receipts, up to $1,000 or one month's rent, whichever is greater, subject to a cap of three months' rent across any six-month period. The tenant must have listed the conditions they knew of in the initial notice.
Hawaii has no general right to withhold rent.
A tenant who stops paying and produces no receipts is in breach, not in remedy. The lawful routes are repair-and-deduct or court. Where an eviction is filed and rent is disputed, the district court can order the tenant to pay ongoing rent into a rent trust fund, and failure to deposit can produce immediate judgment for possession. There is also a separate right under HRS 521-63: where a condition deprives the tenant of a substantial part of the benefit of their bargain and is not remedied within one week of written notice, the tenant may terminate — with no notice required at all if the unit is uninhabitable or poses an imminent threat.
Retaliation is off limits. Where a tenant complains in good faith to you, to the Department of Health or to the Office of Consumer Protection, or requests repairs under the code, you cannot respond by evicting, raising the rent or cutting services. Courts treat this seriously.
Access And Notice
Entering the unit, and ending the tenancy
Access. Except in an emergency or where notice is impracticable, HRS 521-53 requires at least two days' notice of your intent to enter, and entry only during reasonable hours. You must not abuse the right of access or use it to harass the tenant. Repeated unreasonable entries give the tenant grounds to terminate or seek an injunction.
Ending a tenancy without cause. Written notice is required, and the period depends on the tenancy:
- 45 days — landlord ending a month-to-month tenancy.
- 28 days — tenant ending a month-to-month tenancy.
- 10 days — either party, where the tenancy is less than month to month.
- 120 days — voluntary demolition, conversion to a condominium property regime, or changing the use of the building to transient vacation rentals.
Holdovers. A tenant remaining after termination without your consent may be liable for up to twice the monthly rent under the previous agreement, prorated daily — but you must bring summary possession within the first 60 days of the holdover.
Lease breaches other than rent. For material noncompliance with the tenant's obligations under HRS 521-51, section 521-69 requires written notice allowing not less than ten days to remedy. For breach of a house rule authorised under HRS 521-52, section 521-72 requires the same minimum ten days in substantially the prescribed form. Neither requires a cure period where the conduct causes or threatens irremediable damage to a person or property.
No self-help, ever. Recovering possession by changing locks, removing belongings or shutting off water or power is prohibited and exposes you to liability. Use the court process.
Fair Housing And Paperwork
Who you may not screen out, and what you must disclose
Hawaii prohibits housing discrimination on the basis of race, color, religion, sex including gender identity and expression, sexual orientation, marital status, familial status, ancestry, disability, age and HIV infection. Source of income, which covers housing vouchers such as Section 8, is separately protected under HRS chapter 515.
Service and assistance animals are a reasonable accommodation rather than pets. You may seek limited verification where the need is not obvious, but you cannot demand medical records and you cannot charge a pet deposit. The practical protection on screening generally is process: write your criteria down before you see applications, apply them identically, and record how each was assessed — the approach set out in our guide to attracting long-term tenants.
Required disclosures and paperwork. Under HRS 521-43 you must disclose in writing, at or before the tenancy begins, the name and address of each person authorised to manage the premises and of each owner or authorised agent for service of process and receiving rents and notices, and keep that information current. You must furnish a copy of a written rental agreement, and provide a rent receipt on request.
If you are not on the island
HRS 521-43(f) requires an owner or landlord residing outside the State, or on a different island from the rental unit, to designate on the written rental agreement an agent residing on the same island as the unit. This is a statutory requirement rather than a convenience, and it is the one owners most often miss when they move away and keep the property. See renting out your Honolulu home.
Medical cannabis. A lease clause evicting a certified patient solely for lawful use is void, unless your lease also permits eviction for tobacco smoking and the cannabis is being smoked. Association documents prohibiting use can be overridden on the same basis.
Quick Answers
Frequently asked questions
What can a Hawaii landlord collect at lease signing?
The first month's rent and a security deposit of up to one month's rent, plus a separate pet deposit of up to one further month's rent where the tenant actually has a pet. HRS 521-44(b) is explicit that the landlord may not require or receive any other money at the beginning of a rental agreement, so cleaning fees, admin fees and last month's rent up front are not available by default. No pet deposit may be charged for an assistance animal that is a reasonable accommodation.
How fast must a Hawaii landlord start repairs?
HRS 521-64 sets three deadlines, all measured to when repairs must commence rather than finish. 3 business days for landlord-supplied electrical, plumbing or other facilities including major appliances, where the repair is needed for sanitary and habitable conditions, and oral notice starts that clock. 12 business days for other conditions in material noncompliance with HRS 521-42(a) or the lease, on written notice. 7 calendar days where a state or county agency gives written notice of a health or safety violation.
Can a tenant just stop paying rent until a repair is done?
No. Hawaii has no general right to withhold rent. The lawful route is repair-and-deduct under HRS 521-64: if the landlord misses the deadline, the tenant may have the work done competently and deduct actual expenditure on production of receipts, up to $1,000 or one month's rent, whichever is greater, capped at three months' rent across any six-month period. If an eviction is filed and rent is disputed, the court can order payments into a rent trust fund.
How much notice is needed to raise the rent or enter the unit?
Rent increases require written notice of 45 consecutive days for a month-to-month tenancy and 15 consecutive days where the tenancy is less than month to month, under HRS 521-21(d) and (e). For entry, HRS 521-53 requires at least two days' notice and entry only at reasonable hours, except in an emergency or where notice is impracticable.
How much notice do I give for nonpayment of rent?
10 calendar days. HRS 521-68 was rewritten effective 5 February 2026, replacing the former five-business-day demand. The notice has eight prescribed contents including a bold-typeface statutory warning, a copy must go to a state-funded mediation center, and if mediation is scheduled and the tenant participates you may only file for summary possession after 20 calendar days from receipt. Guidance still describing a five-day notice is out of date.
How Hawaii Coastal Property Management fits in
Hawaii's code is strict, detailed, and it moves — the nonpayment notice changed this year, and the repair caps changed the year before. We keep lease templates and notice forms current, run the statutory clocks on a calendar rather than from memory, and keep the documentation that decides the argument if one ever arrives.
Island roots, mainland precision.
This article is general information, not legal advice, and the code changes — HRS 521-68 was rewritten with effect from 5 February 2026. Statutory references are to the Hawaii Residential Landlord-Tenant Code, HRS chapter 521. The Office of Consumer Protection's Landlord-Tenant Handbook is the state's own summary; for a specific tenancy or dispute, consult a Hawaii landlord-tenant attorney.
