How much can a Hawaii landlord charge for a security deposit?

One month's rent, plus a separate pet-animal deposit of up to a further one month's rent. HRS 521-44(b) sets the ordinary cap at one month's rent and then permits an additional agreed amount for damage caused by a pet animal allowed to reside in the premises, itself capped at one month's rent. That extra amount may not be required from a tenant with no pet animal, or for an assistance animal that is a reasonable accommodation under HRS 515-3.

Can a Hawaii landlord collect first month, last month and a deposit?

No. HRS 521-44(b) provides that the landlord may not require or receive from or on behalf of a tenant at the beginning of a rental agreement any money other than the first month's rent and the security deposit. Last month's rent collected up front is not permitted. The deposit may only be treated as the last month's rent by written mutual agreement where the tenant gives forty-five days notice of vacating.

How long does a Hawaii landlord have to return the security deposit?

Fourteen days after termination of the rental agreement, under HRS 521-44(c). The deadline does more than time the refund: if the landlord proposes to keep any part of the deposit and does not furnish written notice with the particulars, the grounds, and written evidence of cost within those fourteen days, the landlord is not entitled to retain any part of it and must return the whole amount.

What happens if a Hawaii landlord wrongfully keeps a deposit?

Under HRS 521-44(h) the small claims division may award the tenant three times the amount wrongfully and wilfully retained plus the cost of suit. Where the retention was wrongful but not wilful, the court awards the amount retained plus costs. In that action neither the landlord nor the tenant may be represented by an attorney, including a salaried employee of either party, and the action must be brought within one year of termination.

How much notice ends a Hawaii month-to-month tenancy?

The two sides are different, and this is the figure most templates get wrong. Under HRS 521-71(a) the landlord must give at least forty-five days written notice. Under HRS 521-71(b) the tenant need give only twenty-eight days written notice and is responsible for rent through the twenty-eighth day. A landlord contemplating demolition, condominium conversion or a change of use to transient vacation rentals must give one hundred twenty days under HRS 521-71(c).

How much notice must a Hawaii landlord give before entering?

At least two days, and entry only during reasonable hours, under HRS 521-53(b). Both halves are statutory. Under HRS 521-53(c) the landlord has no other right of entry at all except by court order, unless the tenant appears to have abandoned the premises or during an extended absence under HRS 521-70(b).

Which disclosures does a Hawaii lease require?

Manager and owner identification under HRS 521-43(a); the landlord's general excise tax number under HRS 521-43(h); an on-island agent where the owner lives out of state or on another island, designated on the written agreement itself, under HRS 521-43(f); and a copy of the written rental agreement under HRS 521-43(d). HRS 521-42 separately requires a written inventory of condition before initial occupancy. Federal law adds lead-based paint for pre-1978 housing.

Does Hawaii require a flood zone disclosure in a lease?

No. HRS 521-43 is the disclosure section of the Hawaii Residential Landlord-Tenant Code and its eight subsections cover identification, a copy of the agreement, rent receipts, the on-island agent, posting in multi-unit buildings, and the general excise tax number. None of them mentions flooding, and no other section of chapter 521 creates a flood-zone disclosure for a residential lease.

Why does a Hawaii lease need a written move-in inventory?

Because HRS 521-42 makes it a landlord duty. Before the date of initial occupancy the landlord must inventory the premises and make a written record of the condition and of any furnishings or appliances provided, signed in duplicate with a copy to each tenant. The executed inventory is presumed correct. If the landlord fails to make it, the condition at the end of the tenancy is rebuttably presumed to be the same as at move-in, which defeats most damage deductions.

Can a Hawaii lease make the tenant pay the landlord's attorney fees?

Within limits, yes. HRS 521-35(a) permits a rental agreement to provide for the tenant's payment of the costs of a suit for unpaid rent and reasonable attorney's fees not in excess of twenty-five per cent of the unpaid rent, after default and referral to an attorney who is not a salaried employee of the landlord. HRS 521-35(b) separately permits an award to the prevailing party in all other matters. A provision in violation of the section is unenforceable.

Can a Hawaii tenant sublet without the landlord's permission?

By default, yes. HRS 521-37(a) provides that unless otherwise agreed in a written rental agreement, the tenant may sublet the dwelling unit or assign the rental agreement without the landlord's consent. HRS 521-37(c) then allows a written agreement to make that right subject to consent. The default runs the opposite way to most states, so a landlord who wants a consent requirement has to write one in.

What is the late fee limit in Hawaii?

Eight per cent of the amount of rent due, under HRS 521-21(f), and only where the rental agreement provides for a late charge. Hawaii also sets rent-increase notice separately at forty-five consecutive days for a month-to-month tenancy and fifteen consecutive days where the tenancy is less than month to month, under HRS 521-21(d) and (e).

What happens if a Hawaii tenant holds over?

Under HRS 521-71(e) the tenant may be liable for a sum not to exceed twice the monthly rent under the previous agreement, computed and prorated on a daily basis, for each day of holdover. The landlord may bring summary possession at any time during the first sixty days. If the landlord fails to commence within those sixty days, and there is no rental agreement, a month-to-month tenancy at the previous rent prevails from the end of the first sixty days.

Which lease clauses are void in Hawaii?

A waiver of Code rights or remedies under HRS 521-31; a clause exempting or limiting the landlord's liability, or requiring the tenant to indemnify the landlord, under HRS 521-33; an authorization to confess judgment under HRS 521-34; an attorney fee provision violating the twenty-five per cent limit under HRS 521-35(c); a clause allowing eviction of a valid medical cannabis certificate holder under HRS 521-39; and any agreement exempting the landlord from liability for abuse of access under HRS 521-73(d).

When can a Hawaii tenant break a lease early without penalty?

HRS 521-80 lets a victim of domestic violence, or a tenant whose immediate family member residing in the unit is a victim, terminate a lease of one year or less on at least fourteen days written notice with qualifying documentation, where the violence occurred in the ninety days before the notice. HRS 521-83 lets a servicemember tenant ordered into on-post quarters terminate on thirty days notice for a lease of one year or less, or fifteen days for a month-to-month tenancy. HRS 521-62, 521-63 and 521-65 add habitability and casualty routes.

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Free Hawaii Residential Lease Agreement

Hawaii residential lease agreement walk-through

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A configurable Hawaii residential lease agreement that generates a signable multi-page PDF. Built to the Hawaii Residential Landlord-Tenant Code — the one-month deposit cap with its separate pet deposit, the 14-day return, and the 45-day landlord / 28-day tenant termination notice.

Hawaii HRS Chapter 521 45 / 28 Day Notice Free PDF 2026 Edition

Updated Q3 2026 By Tenant Screening Background Check Editorial Team Scope Hawaii ~14 min read

A Hawaii residential lease agreement is the written contract governed by the Hawaii Residential Landlord-Tenant Code at HRS chapter 521. Hawaii is not a uniform-act state: chapter 521 is its own 1972 code, and four of its rules are reported wrongly almost everywhere. Termination notice is asymmetric — forty-five days from the landlord under HRS 521-71(a), twenty-eight days from the tenant under HRS 521-71(b). The security deposit is capped at one month’s rent under HRS 521-44(b), but a separate pet-animal deposit of up to another month sits on top of it, and nothing else at all may be collected at the start of the tenancy. The fourteen-day deadline in HRS 521-44(c) is not just a refund clock: miss the written notice and the landlord forfeits the whole deposit. And since 5 February 2026 the nonpayment notice under HRS 521-68 has been ten calendar days with mandatory pre-litigation mediation, not the five business days every competing template still publishes.

Hawaii Lease Rules at a Glance

Security Deposit Cap

1 Month + Pet

Deposit Return

14 Days

Entry Notice

2 Days

Month-to-Month Notice

45 / 28 Days

The Hawaii figure nearly every template gets wrong: month-to-month termination notice is not a single number. HRS 521-71(a) requires forty-five days from the landlord; HRS 521-71(b) requires only twenty-eight days from the tenant. Two subsections, two periods, and they are not interchangeable. Separately, HRS 521-21(f) caps a late charge at 8% of the rent due and HRS 521-21(d) requires forty-five consecutive days notice of a rent increase.

Four Hawaii Rules That Catch Landlords Out

First, the nonpayment notice is ten calendar days now, not five. Act 278 of the 2025 session laws rewrote HRS 521-68 with effect from 5 February 2026: the written demand must allow not less than ten calendar days, must carry eight specified items of content and a bold-typeface warning, and a copy must go to a state-funded mediation center. Second, “first, last and a deposit” is unlawful. HRS 521-44(b) bars taking any money at the beginning of a tenancy other than the first month’s rent and the security deposit. Third, a late deposit notice forfeits the deposit entirely. Under HRS 521-44(c) a landlord who fails to furnish the written notice, the grounds and the cost evidence within fourteen days is not entitled to retain any part of it. Fourth, the written move-in inventory is a statutory duty. HRS 521-42 requires it before initial occupancy, and skipping it rebuttably presumes the unit ended the tenancy in the condition it started.

How to Fill Out This Hawaii Lease Agreement

The Seven-Step Hawaii Sequence

1. Name the parties, the manager, and any on-island agent

HRS 521-43(a) requires the written name and address of each person authorized to manage the premises and of an owner, or someone authorized to act for the owner, for service of process and for receiving and receipting for rents, notices and demands. If the owner lives out of state or on a different island from the unit, HRS 521-43(f) requires an agent residing on the same island to be designated on the written agreement itself.

2. Describe the premises and choose the term

Enter the address, the island, and the property type. Property type matters because HRS 521-42(a)(5) and (6) — rubbish receptacles with frequent removal, and the supplying of running water as reasonably required — are expressly excepted for a single family residence and apply in full everywhere else.

3. Set rent, the due day, and any late charge

HRS 521-21(f) caps a late charge at 8% of the amount of rent due, and only where the rental agreement provides for one. Hawaii supplies no statutory grace period, so the lease creates one or there is none. HRS 521-44(e) separately bars a landlord from requiring postdated checks.

4. Enter the general excise tax number

HRS 521-43(h) requires landlords to provide their general excise tax number to all tenants, so the tenant can file for a low-income tax credit. It is the only lease disclosure of its kind in the United States, and no imported template carries the field.

5. Set the deposit and any separate pet deposit

The ordinary deposit is capped at one month’s rent. A pet-animal deposit is a separate agreed amount, itself capped at one month’s rent, that may not be charged to a tenant with no pet animal or for an assistance animal. Nothing else may be collected at the start of the tenancy beyond the first month’s rent.

6. Check the disclosures Hawaii requires

Manager and owner identification, the general excise tax number, the on-island agent where it applies, a copy of the written agreement, and the written move-in inventory. Federal lead paint applies to pre-1978 housing. Hawaii mandates nothing else, and a disclosure failure not cured within ten days of demand costs one hundred dollars plus reasonable fees under HRS 521-67.

7. Generate, sign, and complete the inventory

Download the multi-page PDF and sign. No witnesses and no notary are required. But HRS 521-43(d) requires the landlord to furnish the tenant a copy of the written agreement, and HRS 521-42 requires the inventory of condition, signed in duplicate, before the date of initial occupancy — not at some convenient point afterwards.

Build Your Hawaii Residential Lease Agreement

Complete the fields below to generate a Hawaii residential lease agreement as a signable multi-page PDF. Every field you fill is written into the document, including the island, the utility allocations and each disclosure you check, and the generated lease cites the controlling section of HRS chapter 521 at each point. Before handing over keys, run proper tenant screening — the lease governs the relationship, screening decides whether you want it. Pair the signed lease with a Hawaii move-in / move-out checklist, which is how the statutory inventory under HRS 521-42 actually gets made.

Hawaii Residential Lease Agreement Builder

1. Parties

Landlord (owner) full legal name

Landlord phone

Owner address for service of process, rents, notices and demands (HRS 521-43(a))

Person authorized to MANAGE the premises

Manager address

An owner living out of state, or on a different island from the unit, must designate an agent residing on the same island as the unit — and the designation must appear on the written rental agreement itself (HRS 521-43(f)). No other state has this requirement.

On-island agent name (if the owner is off-island or out of state)

On-island agent address

Tenant 1 full legal name

Tenant 2 full legal name (if any)

Additional tenants (comma-separated)

Authorized occupants who are not tenants (minors, etc.)

2. Premises

Rental property address (street, unit, city, ZIP)

Island (drives the HRS 521-43(f) on-island agent rule)

Property type (drives HRS 521-42(a)(5) and (6))

Year built (pre-1978 triggers federal lead disclosure)

Bedrooms / bathrooms

3. Term

Lease type

Term length in months (if other)

Lease start date

Lease end date (if fixed)

4. Rent

Monthly rent (dollars)

Rent due day of month

Late charge — capped at 8% of the rent due (HRS 521-21(f))

Grace period in days (Hawaii sets none by statute)

Acceptable payment methods (comma-separated) — postdated checks may NOT be required (HRS 521-44(e))

Landlord general excise tax number — must be given to every tenant (HRS 521-43(h))

5. Security Deposit — one month, plus a separate pet deposit

HRS 521-44(b) caps the ordinary deposit at one month’s rent and then allows a separate agreed pet-animal deposit of up to a further one month’s rent. The pet amount may not be charged to a tenant with no pet animal, or for an assistance animal that is a reasonable accommodation under HRS 515-3. The same subsection bars taking any money at the start of the tenancy other than