Hawaii Residential Lease Agreement

• Max 1 month's rent, plus a pet deposit of up to one more month where a pet is allowed. Within 14 days after the rental agreement ends the landlord must return the deposit or send written notice of deductions with evidence such as estimates, invoices or receipts, or lose the right to keep any of it (Haw. Rev. Stat. § 521-44).

Reviewed 5 Oct 2026 · Haw. Rev. Stat. § 521-44

Reviewed 5 Oct 2026 · Haw. Rev. Stat. § 521-44

• Landlord: written notice at least 45 days in advance; tenant: at least 28 days (521-71(a)).
• Tenant may vacate at any time within the last 45 days between notice and termination date, paying prorated rent (521-71(a)).

Quoted from the source: “the landlord may terminate the rental agreement by notifying the tenant, in writing, at least forty-five days in advance”

Exceptions:

• Landlord must give at least 120 days' notice where termination is for voluntary demolition, conversion to condominium/cooperative, or change to transient vacation rental use (521-71(c)).
• Notices intended to evade landlord obligations under 521-21(d)-(e) are void (521-71(f)).

Reviewed 27 Sep 2026 · HRS § 521-71(a), (c)

• Tenancies less than month-to-month (e.g., week-to-week): either party may terminate by written notice at least ten days before the anticipated termination (521-71(d)).

Quoted from the source: “the landlord or the tenant may terminate the rental agreement by notifying the other at least ten days before the anticipated termination”

Reviewed 27 Sep 2026 · HRS § 521-71(d)

• No separate notice: if the tenant remains after the termination date without consent, landlord may recover up to twice the monthly rent (computed daily) and may bring summary possession at any time during the first sixty days of holdover (521-71(e)).

Quoted from the source: “may bring a summary proceeding for recovery of the possession of the dwelling unit at any time during the first sixty days of holdover”

Reviewed 27 Sep 2026 · HRS § 521-71(e)

• HRS ch. 521 permits no-cause termination of month-to-month tenancies on 45 days' notice; no statewide good-cause requirement found.

Quoted from the source: “the landlord may terminate the rental agreement by notifying the tenant, in writing, at least forty-five days in advance”

Reviewed 27 Sep 2026 · HRS § 521-71

• Written demand giving not less than ten calendar days after RECEIPT to pay; landlord must also provide the notice to a state-funded mediation center (HRS 521-68(a), (c)).
• If the tenant schedules mediation within the 10 days, landlord may file summary possession only after 20 calendar days from the tenant's receipt of the notice.
• If mediation is not scheduled within 10 calendar days, landlord may file after the 10-day period expires.
• Notice must contain the 8 items in 521-68(b) including the bold-type mediation warning; court may allow cure of a defect it finds unintentional or immaterial.

Quoted from the source: “unless payment is made within a time mentioned in the notice, not less than ten calendar days after receipt thereof”

Reviewed 27 Sep 2026 · HRS § 521-68(a)-(c) (as amended by Act 278, SLH 2025 / SB825 CD1, § 2)

• Material noncompliance with tenant duties under HRS 521-51 (waste, failure to maintain, unlawful use): written notice specifying a time not less than ten days after receipt to remedy; landlord may then terminate/sue for possession (521-69(a)).
• Breach of a landlord rule authorized under HRS 521-52: written notice in the statutory form specifying not less than ten days to remedy; landlord may bring summary possession within thirty days after a continued or recurring breach (521-72).

Quoted from the source: “allowing a specified time not less than ten days after receipt of the notice, for the tenant to remedy”

Exceptions:

• No time to remedy is required where noncompliance causes or threatens irremediable damage to any person or property (521-69) or, for rule breaches, damage to any person (521-72).

Reviewed 27 Sep 2026 · HRS § 521-69(a); HRS § 521-72

• Tenant noncompliance with 521-51 that causes or threatens to cause irremediable damage to any person or property: no allowance of time to remedy required (521-69(a)).
• Breach of a 521-52 rule that causes or threatens damage to any person: no allowance of time to remedy required (521-72).

Quoted from the source: “No allowance of time to remedy noncompliance shall be required when noncompliance by the tenant causes or threatens to cause irremediable damage”

Reviewed 27 Sep 2026 · HRS § 521-69(a); HRS § 521-72

Reviewed 21 Oct 2026 · Haw. Rev. Stat. § 521-53

• For the 521-68 nonpayment notice, ch. 521 contemplates posting on the premises (deemed received on the date of posting) or U.S. mail (deemed received two business days after postmark unless returned undeliverable); the period runs from receipt (HRS 521-68(b)). Other ch. 521 notices require only that they be 'in writing' with no prescribed method.

Quoted from the source: “the notice shall be deemed to have been received two business days after the date of the postmark, unless the letter is returned”

Reviewed 27 Sep 2026 · HRS § 521-68(b) (as amended by Act 278, SLH 2025)

• Mandatory CONTENTS (no mandatory form): HRS 521-68(b) requires the 10-calendar-day nonpayment notice to state landlord/agent name and contact info, unit address, tenant names/contact info, current rent due, that a copy goes to a mediation center, that landlord may file if rent unpaid and mediation not scheduled within 10 calendar days, a bold-type mediation warning, and that landlord must participate if mediation is scheduled. The Judiciary publishes per-circuit sample forms (e.g., 'Ten Calendar Day Notice of Termination for Failure to Pay Rent, HRS 521-68(a)-(b)', form RG-AC-508 02/2026) at.

Quoted from the source: “If mediation is not scheduled within ten calendar days after receipt of this notice, regardless of whether the scheduled mediation session occurs”

Reviewed 27 Sep 2026 · HRS § 521-68(b); HRS § 521-72 (prescribed rule-breach notice form)