Free Hawaii 10-Day Notice to Pay Rent or Quit
The statutorily-required nonpayment notice a Hawaii landlord must give before filing for summary possession. Not less than ten calendar days after receipt under Haw. Rev. Stat. sec. 521-68, as amended by Act 278, Session Laws of Hawaii 2025 and effective February 5, 2026. Built for Hawaii landlords.
Free Hawaii 10-Day Notice to Pay Rent or Quit — overview
The ten-calendar-day notice to pay rent or quit is the highest-stakes routine notice in Hawaii landlord practice. A defective notice can restart the clock and cost the landlord weeks or months of lost rent, although Haw. Rev. Stat. sec. 521-68(e) now lets a court permit the landlord to cure a defect it finds unintentional or immaterial rather than dismissing. Common-mistake exposure includes overstated demands, accepting partial payment, using the repealed five-business-day period, omitting one of the eight statutory notice items, and failing to send the notice to a state-funded mediation center. The form on this page handles all the mechanics; the page walks through the statutory framework, the common mistakes, and Hawaii-specific rules.
Notice Period
10 days
Days Type
Calendar
Statute
Haw. Rev. Stat. sec. 521-68
Updated
2026
On this page
A Hawaii notice to pay rent or quit is the statutorily-mandated written notice a landlord must give a tenant who has failed to pay rent when due. It is governed by Haw. Rev. Stat. sec. 521-68, which Act 278, Session Laws of Hawaii 2025 rewrote effective February 5, 2026. The notice must now allow not less than ten calendar days after receipt, must contain eight prescribed items, and must be copied to a state-funded mediation center. Many templates and guides still show a five-day period; that reflects the repealed text. The form on this page produces a notice built to the current section; the rest of this guide walks through the statutory framework, the day-count mechanics, the delivery rules, and the mistakes that undermine notices.
What this notice does
The ten-calendar-day Notice to Pay Rent or Quit is the procedural mechanism a Hawaii landlord uses to demand past-due rent before filing a summary possession action under chapter 666. Without a properly drafted and properly delivered notice, and without the mediation-center copy that Haw. Rev. Stat. sec. 521-68(c) requires, the summary possession action is exposed.
The notice does three things in one document. First, it demands the past-due rent. The amount must be precise to the cent. Late fees, utilities, repair charges, and other non-rent items cannot be included in the demand. A notice that overstates the amount owed is a defect that can void the entire eviction action.
Second, it gives the tenant not less than ten calendar days after receipt to pay. The statute measures the period from receipt, not from the date the notice was written, and it defines receipt for the two indirect delivery routes: a posted notice is received on the date of posting, and a mailed notice is received two business days after the postmark.
Third, it documents the procedural foundation for the eviction lawsuit. The signed notice and proof of service are exhibits to the eviction complaint. The eviction action depends on the notice; defective notices defeat the action entirely.
The cost of getting this notice wrong is significant. A defective notice can force the landlord to start over — new notice, new ten-day period, a fresh mediation-center referral, new filing fees, additional weeks of lost rent — although subsection (e) allows a court to let the landlord cure a defect it finds unintentional or immaterial. The form on this page handles the mechanics correctly.
Hawaii legal framework
The pay-or-quit notice in Hawaii is governed by Haw. Rev. Stat. sec. 521-68 in the Residential Landlord-Tenant Code. The section reads, in its operative sentence, that the landlord may “notify the tenant in writing that unless payment is made within a time mentioned in the notice, not less than ten calendar days after receipt thereof, the rental agreement will be terminated.” The period runs as calendar days.
Two printed versions, one in force. capitol.hawaii.gov publishes section 521-68 twice, with bracketed effectivity notes. The first block — five business days, no prescribed notice contents, no mediation — is marked “Section effective until February 4, 2026.” The second block, headed “Landlord’s remedies for failure by tenant to pay rent; prelitigation mediation,” is marked “Section effective February 5, 2026” and is the law today. Act 278, Session Laws of Hawaii 2025 made the change and set a repeal-and-reenactment date of February 4, 2028 for the mediation machinery, expressly exempting the subsection (a) ten-day amendment from that condition.
What the notice must contain. Subsection (b) prescribes eight items: the name and contact information of the landlord or the landlord’s agent; the address of the dwelling unit; the name and contact information of every tenant on the rental agreement; the current rent due as of the date of the notice after applying all rent paid from all sources; notice that a copy is being provided to a state-funded mediation center; notice that the landlord may file for summary possession if rent is unpaid and mediation is not scheduled within ten calendar days; a bold-type warning in substantially the form the statute sets out; and notice that the landlord will engage in mediation if mediation is scheduled. The Judiciary is directed to publish a form landlords may use.
Delivery requirements. Subsection (a) does not create a ranked ladder of service methods and does not require any attempt at personal service before another route may be used. It provides that notice “may be given to the tenant by posting the same in a conspicuous place on the dwelling unit, and the notice shall be deemed received on the date of the posting,” and that a notice mailed by the United States Postal Service, properly addressed and with appropriate postage, “shall be deemed to have been received two business days after the date of the postmark, unless the letter is returned to the landlord or landlord’s agent as undeliverable.” Personal delivery to the tenant is effective on delivery. Hawaii has no rule adding five days for service by mail.
Pre-litigation mediation. Subsection (c) requires the landlord to provide the ten-calendar-day notice to a state-funded mediation center offering free residential landlord-tenant mediation. If a center schedules mediation within the ten-day window and the tenant participates, the landlord may file for summary possession only after twenty calendar days from the tenant’s receipt of the notice, unless the tenant fails to appear or cancels. Mediation must take place within thirty days of the center contacting both parties, and each side bears its own costs — except that if the tenant defaults on a mediated agreement or fails to attend, the landlord may seek its costs and reasonable attorney’s fees for the pre-litigation mediation.
Demand precision. The notice must demand only past-due rent. Including late fees, utilities, repair charges, or other non-rent items in the demand is a defect that can void the notice. If the lease has a separate late-fee provision, those amounts are pursued separately.
Documentation. Retain the signed notice, the proof of service, and any photographs of posting (if applicable) for at least four years. If the unlawful detainer is filed, the notice and proof become court exhibits. If the tenant pays before the deadline, the documentation supports the cure record.
Federal anti-discrimination overlay. The federal Fair Housing Act (42 U.S.C. sec. 3601 et seq.) and Hawaii fair housing law prohibit eviction decisions based on race, religion, national origin, familial status, disability, or other protected characteristics. Pretextual rent demands targeting protected-class tenants give rise to fair-housing claims with statutory damages and attorney’s fees.
Anti-retaliation. Haw. Rev. Stat. sec. 521-74 bars a landlord from recovering possession, causing the tenant to quit involuntarily, demanding a rent increase, or decreasing services after the tenant has complained in good faith to the department of health, the landlord, a building department, the office of consumer protection or another agency, after an agency has filed a notice or complaint, or after the tenant has requested repairs in good faith under section 521-63 or 521-64. Subsection (b) lists the seven situations in which the landlord may still recover possession, and subsection (c) gives a dispossessed tenant damages, costs and reasonable attorney’s fees. The statute does not set a look-back presumption period.
Counting the ten-day period
The notice period in Hawaii runs as calendar days and is measured from receipt. Saturdays, Sundays and holidays are counted. Ten calendar days is a floor, not a fixed figure: the statute says the notice must state a time “not less than ten calendar days after receipt,” so a landlord may state a longer period and is bound by whatever period the notice states.
When receipt occurs. The statute fixes receipt for the two indirect routes. A notice posted in a conspicuous place on the dwelling unit is received on the date of posting. A notice mailed through the United States Postal Service, properly addressed and with appropriate postage, is received two business days after the postmark, unless it comes back undeliverable. Business days matter only for that two-day mailing rule; the ten-day period itself is calendar days.
Worked example. A notice posted on the unit on a Tuesday is received that Tuesday, and the ten calendar days run from there. The same notice mailed on a Tuesday is received the following Thursday (two business days after the postmark), and the ten calendar days run from that Thursday.
The twenty-day branch. If a mediation center schedules mediation before the ten calendar days expire and the tenant participates, the landlord may not file for summary possession until twenty calendar days after receipt — and that is true whether or not the mediation session itself has happened within the ten days. If the tenant fails to appear or cancels, the twenty-day extension does not apply.
Cushion as best practice. Giving a few extra days beyond the ten-day statutory floor is good practice; the extra days work in the tenant’s favor and protect against any miscount of the receipt date.
Pay-or-quit notice form
Complete the form below to generate a Hawaii notice to pay rent or quit built to the current text of Haw. Rev. Stat. sec. 521-68. The form computes the ten-calendar-day deadline from the receipt date implied by your delivery method and prints the eight statutory notice items, including the bold-type mediation warning.
1. Notice and service dates
2. Property and tenant
3. Landlord / agent
4. Past-due rent
Delivery rules
Hawaii’s nonpayment notice statute states its own delivery rules, and they are simpler than the ranked ladder used in some mainland states. Haw. Rev. Stat. sec. 521-68(a) names posting and mailing expressly and fixes a deemed-receipt date for each. It does not require the landlord to attempt personal delivery first, does not require a copy to be mailed after posting, and contains no rule adding days for service by mail.
Personal delivery
The cleanest route. The notice is handed directly to the tenant and receipt is the delivery date. Best practice: have a witness present, document the time and date, and record the delivery immediately.
Posting on the dwelling unit
The statute allows the notice to be given “by posting the same in a conspicuous place on the dwelling unit,” and provides that “the notice shall be deemed received on the date of the posting.” No accompanying mailing is required to make the posting effective. Photographs of the posting with a date stamp are the practical proof.
U.S. mail
A notice mailed by the United States Postal Service, properly addressed and with appropriate postage, is “deemed to have been received two business days after the date of the postmark, unless the letter is returned to the landlord or landlord’s agent as undeliverable.” Retain the postmarked proof of mailing. The ten calendar days then run from that deemed-receipt date — Hawaii does not add five days for mail.
The mediation-center copy
Separate from delivery to the tenant, subsection (c) obliges the landlord to provide the same ten-calendar-day notice to a state-funded mediation center offering free residential landlord-tenant mediation. Subsection (d) then requires the summary possession complaint to include the center’s verification, or the landlord’s affirmation of how the notice was provided to the center. On request, the center must supply copies of those verification documents.
Proof of delivery
Chapter 521 does not prescribe a proof-of-service form for the nonpayment notice, but the landlord carries the burden of showing receipt. Record who delivered the notice, when, where and by what route, and keep the postmarked mailing receipt or the date-stamped photograph of the posting. The record of delivery and the mediation-center verification are both filed with the summary possession complaint.
Documentation retention
Retain the signed original notice, the proof of service, and any photographs of posting (if applicable) for at least four years. If the eviction is filed, the notice and proof become court exhibits.
Common mistakes that void the notice
Overstating the amount demanded
The number-one defect. Including late fees, utilities, repair charges, or any non-rent items in the demand voids the notice. The demand must be for past-due rent only, precise to the cent.
Using the repealed five-day period
The single most common Hawaii error in circulation. Every template, ranker and AI answer written before February 2026 states five business days, because that is what section 521-68 said until February 4, 2026. Act 278, Session Laws of Hawaii 2025 replaced it with not less than ten calendar days, effective February 5, 2026. A notice giving five days does not comply.
Omitting one of the eight statutory notice items
Subsection (b) is a checklist, and the bold-type mediation warning in item (7) must appear in substantially the statutory form. Subsection (e) softens the consequence — a court that finds a defect unintentional or immaterial may allow the landlord to cure it rather than dismissing — but a missing warning is not a defect worth testing.
Never sending the notice to a mediation center
Subsection (c) makes the mediation-center copy mandatory, and subsection (d) makes the center’s verification (or the landlord’s affirmation) a required attachment to the summary possession complaint. A complaint filed without it is incomplete on its face.
Miscounting from the wrong date
The ten calendar days run from receipt, not from the date the notice was signed. Posting is received the day it is posted; mail is received two business days after the postmark. Counting from the signature date shortens the tenant’s period.
Adding a mail extension Hawaii does not have
Some multi-state templates add five days when a notice is mailed. That figure comes from California civil procedure and has no counterpart in Hawaii. The only mail adjustment in section 521-68 is the two-business-day deemed-receipt rule, and it is built into the count rather than added on top of it.
Overstating the amount demanded
Item (4) of subsection (b) requires “the current amount of the rent due as of the date of the notice, after applying all rent paid from all sources.” Rent paid on the tenant’s behalf by a rental-assistance program counts and must be credited before the demand figure is stated.
Accepting partial payment after delivery
Accepting part of the rent demanded after delivering the notice may waive the demand and require a fresh notice for the remaining balance. Best practice: do not accept any payment during the notice period unless it is the full demanded amount.
Filing before the period has run
Filing before the ten calendar days expire — or before twenty calendar days where mediation was scheduled and the tenant participated — exposes the case. Wait until the stated period has fully expired.
Inconsistent landlord/agent identification
The notice must identify the landlord (or authorized agent) consistently with the lease and the eviction caption. A notice signed by “John Smith” when the lease lists “Smith Properties LLC” creates a chain-of-title defect.
Wrong tenant names
The notice must name all tenants on the lease. Omitting a co-tenant means the eviction cannot proceed against that co-tenant. List every adult tenant exactly as they appear on the lease.
Assuming a county rule changes the period
Hawaii has no residential rent control and no county rent board. Section 521-68 sets the nonpayment notice period statewide, and the counties do not lengthen or shorten it. Check instead whether chapter 521 applies at all — section 521-7 excludes, among others, university-controlled housing, transient day-to-day hotel occupancy, Hawaii Public Housing Authority property, and leases of improved residential land for fifteen years or more.
Tenant rights and remedies
Hawaii tenants served with a pay-or-quit notice have significant statutory and common-law rights. Understanding these helps landlords appreciate why procedural precision matters.
Right to cure by paying in full
If the tenant pays the full amount demanded within the period stated in the notice — not less than ten calendar days after receipt — the default is cured and the tenancy continues.
Right to free mediation
Section 521-68(c) entitles the tenant to have a state-funded mediation center contact both sides and schedule free mediation, offered both in person and remotely. If the tenant participates, the landlord cannot file for summary possession until twenty calendar days after the tenant received the notice. Each side bears its own costs unless the tenant defaults on a mediated agreement or fails to attend.
Right to challenge an overstated demand
Subsection (b)(4) requires the notice to state the current rent due after applying all rent paid from all sources. Note that section 521-21(f) separately caps a late charge at eight per cent of the rent due, so a late fee is both a distinct charge and a capped one.
Right to anti-retaliation protection
Haw. Rev. Stat. sec. 521-74 prohibits retaliatory eviction and retaliatory rent increases after a good-faith complaint to the department of health, the landlord, a building department, the office of consumer protection or another agency, after an agency files a notice or complaint, or after a good-faith repair request under section 521-63 or 521-64. A tenant dispossessed in violation of the section recovers damages, costs and reasonable attorney’s fees under subsection (c). The section states seven exceptions in subsection (b) rather than a timed presumption.
Right to fair housing protection
The federal Fair Housing Act (42 U.S.C. sec. 3601 et seq.) and Hawaii fair housing law prohibit eviction decisions based on race, religion, national origin, familial status, disability, or other protected characteristics. Pretextual rent demands targeting protected-class tenants give rise to fair-housing claims with statutory damages and attorney’s fees.
Right to challenge defective notice
Defects in the notice — overstated amount, miscounted period, improper service, missing required disclosures — can be raised as affirmative defenses to the eviction. Hawaii courts dismiss eviction actions based on defective notices, restarting the clock for the landlord.
Right to repair-and-deduct where the landlord will not act
Haw. Rev. Stat. sec. 521-64 gives the tenant a repair-and-deduct remedy: the landlord must commence repairs within seven calendar days of an agency health or safety notification, within three business days of notice of a defect in electrical, plumbing or other facilities needed for sanitary and habitable conditions, and within twelve business days for other material noncompliance. If the landlord does not, the tenant may have the work done and deduct up to one thousand dollars or one month’s rent, whichever is greater, capped at three months’ rent in any six-month period.
Bottom line for landlords. The cost of compliance is small — precise demand, correct period, proper service, no partial payment, accurate notice content. The cost of getting it wrong is a dismissed eviction, additional weeks of lost rent, attorney’s fees, and (in retaliation/fair-housing cases) statutory damages.
Hawaii statute reference table
| Statute / Authority | Subject | Key requirement |
|---|---|---|
| Haw. Rev. Stat. sec. 521-68 (eff. Feb. 5, 2026) | Nonpayment notice; prelitigation mediation | Not less than ten calendar days after receipt; eight prescribed notice items; copy to a state-funded mediation center; twenty calendar days before filing where mediation is scheduled and the tenant participates |
| Act 278, Session Laws of Hawaii 2025 | Amending act | Replaced the five-business-day period with ten calendar days effective February 5, 2026; sets a February 4, 2028 repeal-and-reenactment date for the mediation provisions |
| Haw. Rev. Stat. sec. 521-21(f) | Late charge cap | A late charge may not exceed eight per cent of the rent due |
| Haw. Rev. Stat. sec. 521-74 | Anti-retaliation | Retaliatory eviction and retaliatory rent increases prohibited; damages, costs and attorney’s fees |
| Haw. Rev. Stat. ch. 666 | Summary possession | Hawaii evictions proceed as summary possession, not unlawful detainer |
| Haw. Rev. Stat. sec. 521-7 | Exclusions | Chapter 521 does not reach certain occupancies, including transient hotel stays and Hawaii Public Housing Authority property |
| 42 U.S.C. sec. 3601 et seq. | Federal Fair Housing Act | Federal protection against discriminatory eviction |
Hawaii has no residential rent control and no county rent board; section 521-68 governs the nonpayment notice statewide. Confirm the current text at capitol.hawaii.gov, which prints both the pre- and post-February 2026 versions of the section with bracketed effectivity notes.
Frequently asked questions
How much notice does a Hawaii landlord have to give before evicting for nonpayment?
Can I include late fees in the amount demanded?
What happens if I accept partial payment after serving the ten-day notice?
How is the ten-day notice delivered?
Can the tenant pay after the ten-day period expires but before I file for summary possession?
Do any Hawaii counties impose a different notice period?
How long is the full eviction process if the tenant does not pay?
Related Resources
- Hawaii late fee laws
- Hawaii eviction notice laws
- Hawaii landlord tenant laws
- Hawaii habitability laws
- Hawaii security deposit laws
- Eviction notice laws by state
When to consult an attorney
Most Hawaii pay-or-quit notices are routine when the form is correct and service is proper. Consult a Hawaii landlord-tenant attorney before issuing the notice if: the tenancy may fall outside chapter 521 under section 521-7, the tenant has raised retaliation or fair-housing claims, the tenant has hired counsel, the eviction would involve a child or elderly tenant, or the lease contains an unusual rent or charge structure. A clean compliance package is the foundation; an attorney’s review at the right moment is far cheaper than litigating a defective-notice dismissal.
Read Hawaii eviction notice laws
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Sources cited on this page
- Haw. Rev. Stat. sec. 521-68 (version effective February 5, 2026), capitol.hawaii.gov
- Act 278, Session Laws of Hawaii 2025
- Haw. Rev. Stat. sec. 521-21(f), 521-64, 521-74 and 521-7
- Haw. Rev. Stat. ch. 666 (summary possession)
- 42 U.S.C. sec. 3601 et seq. (federal Fair Housing Act)
This form and the accompanying guidance are provided for general informational purposes only and do not constitute legal advice. Hawaii eviction law is technical and outcomes are heavily fact-dependent. Always verify current requirements against Haw. Rev. Stat. sec. 521-68 as currently in effect at capitol.hawaii.gov, which prints both the pre- and post-February 2026 versions of the section, and with a qualified Hawaii landlord-tenant attorney before relying on this notice in any contested eviction. Review Hawaii eviction notice laws.
