๐Ÿ  Hawaii Operations Forms: Notice of Non-Renewal Notice to Enter Tenant Notice to Vacate All Hawaii Forms

Free Hawaii Notice of Non-Renewal

The written notice Hawaii landlords use to end a periodic tenancy or decline to renew a fixed-term lease. HRS ยง 521-71 gives the landlord a forty-five-day period for a month-to-month tenancy โ€” and one hundred twenty days where the landlord contemplates demolition, condominium conversion or a switch to transient vacation rentals. Built for Hawaii landlords.

Hawaii Non-Renewal Notice ยง 521-71 45-Day Notice Free PDF 2026 Edition
Free Hawaii Notice of Non-Renewal โ€” overview
▶ Watch overview

Free Hawaii Notice of Non-Renewal โ€” overview

๐Ÿ“…WRITTEN NOTICE REQUIRED: HRS ยง 521-71(a) requires the landlord to notify the tenant in writing at least forty-five days in advance of the anticipated termination of a month-to-month tenancy. Hawaii’s periods are asymmetric โ€” the tenant’s own period under subsection (b) is twenty-eight days, not forty-five.
โš 120-DAY PERIOD: HRS ยง 521-71(c) requires one hundred twenty days’ notice before terminating a month-to-month tenancy where the landlord contemplates voluntary demolition, conversion to a condominium property regime under chapter 514B, or changing the use of the building to transient vacation rentals. If the notice is revoked or amended and reissued, the period restarts from the reissue date.
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Notice of Non-Renewal is one of the highest-stakes routine documents in Hawaii landlord-tenant practice. A defective notice โ€” wrong period, improper service, missing required information โ€” cannot support an eviction action, forcing the landlord to start over and pushing recovery of possession back by months. Hawaii non-renewal practice has technical requirements: the period depends on the type of tenancy and the landlord’s purpose, not on how long the tenant has lived there; the clock starts at delivery; the notice must be in writing with all required elements; and a landlord who lets a holdover run past sixty days without filing acquires a new month-to-month tenancy by operation of ยง 521-71(e). The form on this page handles the mechanics correctly; the page itself walks through the analysis step by step.

Landlord Period

45 days

Authority

ยง 521-71

Tenant Period

28 days

Demolition / conversion

120 days

By Tenant Screening Background Check Editorial Team
Form TypeRoutine Operations
StateHawaii
Authorityยง 521-71
Updated2026

A Hawaii Notice of Non-Renewal is the written notice a landlord uses to end a periodic tenancy or to communicate that a fixed-term lease will not be renewed at expiration. HRS ยง 521-71 sets the notice-period requirements: at least forty-five days for a landlord ending a month-to-month tenancy, one hundred twenty days where the landlord contemplates demolition, condominium conversion or transient vacation rental conversion, and ten days where the tenancy is less than month-to-month. Getting the notice right is high-stakes work: a defective notice cannot support an eviction action, and the landlord must start over with a corrected notice โ€” pushing recovery of possession back by months. The form on this page handles the mechanics; the rest of this guide walks through the requirements.

Watch: Hawaii Notice of Non-Renewal explained
โ–ถ Watch: Hawaii Notice of Non-Renewal โ€” ยง 521-71 explained
ยง 521-71
Hawaii termination-notice statute
120 days
demolition, condo conversion or TVR conversion
2 min
to fill out and download the PDF

๐Ÿ“… Notice Period Calculator

Enter the date you’ll deliver the notice. The calculator shows the earliest valid termination date under HRS ยง 521-71.

Earliest valid termination date

โ€”

โœŽ Complete Your Hawaii Notice of Non-Renewal

ยง 521-71(a) requires at least forty-five days written notice from the landlord โ€” and ยง 521-71(c) requires one hundred twenty days for demolition, condominium conversion or transient vacation rental conversion. The clock starts at delivery, not at preparation. Pick a termination date that’s at least the required period after the planned delivery date. The termination date should align with the end of a rental period for periodic tenancies.

1 ยท Notice Dates

2 ยท Tenant & Property

3 ยท Landlord Contact

๐Ÿ“‹ Before You Serve โ€” Pre-Send Checklist

You’ve verified which HRS ยง 521-71 period applies โ€” forty-five days for an ordinary month-to-month termination, one hundred twenty days for demolition, condominium conversion or transient vacation rental conversion, ten days if the tenancy is less than month-to-month
You have NOT shortened or lengthened the period based on how long the tenant has lived there โ€” Hawaii does not tier the period by length of occupancy
The termination date is a specific calendar date at least the required period after delivery
The termination date aligns with the end of a rental period (for periodic tenancies)
All adult tenants named on the lease are named on the notice
The lease does not require longer notice than the statutory minimum (if it does, give the longer period)
The notice does not follow a good-faith tenant complaint or repair request within the meaning of HRS ยง 521-74, or one of the seven exceptions in ยง 521-74(b) applies
You’ll deliver the written notice by a means reasonably calculated to inform the tenant in ordinary course under HRS ยง 521-9(c) โ€” personal delivery is the most defensible
You’ll document the service date, time, method, and circumstances for the file
You’ll retain copies of the notice, proof of service, and the lease for evidence in any later proceeding

What a Notice of Non-Renewal does

A Hawaii Notice of Non-Renewal is the document that ends a residential tenancy without alleging tenant fault. It is the formal communication that the tenancy will not continue past the date specified in the notice. Two distinct scenarios trigger its use: (1) ending a periodic (month-to-month) tenancy, and (2) declining to renew a fixed-term lease at expiration.

The notice is procedurally similar to other Hawaii eviction-related notices, but substantively different. A pay-rent-or-quit notice alleges nonpayment. A cure-or-quit notice alleges a curable lease breach. A notice of non-renewal does not necessarily allege any wrongdoing โ€” it simply ends the tenancy at the end of the notice period.

What the notice accomplishes practically: it establishes the date on which the tenant’s legal right to occupy the premises ends. After that date, if the tenant has not vacated, the landlord may bring a summary possession proceeding under HRS chapter 666 โ€” Hawaii’s procedure is summary possession, not unlawful detainer. HRS ยง 521-71(e) puts a clock on that step: the tenant who holds over may be liable for up to twice the monthly rent prorated daily, the landlord may bring summary possession at any time during the first sixty days of holdover, and if the landlord does not file within those sixty days a month-to-month tenancy at the previous rent prevails from the end of the sixtieth day.

The form on this page produces a Notice of Non-Renewal that satisfies HRS ยง 521-71 and complies with Hawaii’s notice-period requirements. The mechanical accuracy of the document is critical: a notice that gets the period wrong, omits required information, or fails proper service is unenforceable, and the landlord must start over.

Hawaii non-renewal of a residential tenancy operates under several layered sources of law. Three primary frameworks apply to most non-renewal notices in this state.

1. HRS ยง 521-71 โ€” the notice-period statute. This is the primary statute setting the required advance notice for terminating a residential periodic tenancy. The notice period is 45 days written notice. The period runs from the date of delivery to the termination date stated in the notice, not from the date the notice was prepared.

2. HRS ยง 521-9 โ€” how notice is given. Chapter 521 does not contain a service-of-notice ladder for termination notices. Section 521-71 requires only that the landlord “notify the tenant, in writing.” Section 521-9(c) supplies the general standard: “A person notifies or gives a notice or notification to another by taking such steps as may be reasonably required to inform the other in ordinary course whether or not the other actually comes to know of it,” and a person receives a notice when it comes to that person’s attention or is delivered at the place held out for receipt of such communications. Note what this is not: Hawaii does not require personal service to be attempted first, does not recognise a substituted-service tier for this notice, does not require a mailing to accompany a posting, and adds no days for service by mail. Templates carrying that three-step ladder are reproducing California practice. HRS ยง 521-68 is the nonpayment section โ€” it governs the pay-or-quit notice, not a termination notice.

3. Implied covenant of quiet enjoyment. Independent of any specific statute, every Hawaii residential lease carries an implied covenant that the tenant will have peaceful, exclusive possession of the premises for the duration of the tenancy. A non-renewal notice that is part of a pattern of harassment, retaliation, or discrimination breaches this covenant and exposes the landlord to claims for damages, attorney’s fees, and equitable relief.

Anti-retaliation protections. HRS ยง 521-74(a) bars a landlord from maintaining an action to recover possession, otherwise 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 ยง 521-63 or ยง 521-64. The section does not create a timed presumption of retaliation and does not shift a burden of proof by its terms. Instead ยง 521-74(b) lists seven express situations in which the landlord may still recover possession โ€” including good-faith recovery for the landlord’s own or an immediate family member’s abode, substantial alteration, remodelling or demolition, and a notice to terminate a periodic tenancy that was given before the tenant’s complaint. A tenant dispossessed in violation of the section recovers damages, the cost of suit and reasonable attorney’s fees under subsection (c).

Anti-discrimination protections โ€” federal Fair Housing Act and Hawaii fair housing law. A non-renewal notice that targets a tenant based on a protected class (race, color, religion, national origin, sex, familial status, disability, and source of income in some jurisdictions) violates fair housing law regardless of whether the technical notice-period requirements are met. Disparate-impact analysis can also reach facially neutral policies that disproportionately affect a protected class.

Notice period under ยง 521-71

HRS ยง 521-71 sets the notice periods for terminating a periodic tenancy in Hawaii, and they are asymmetric. Subsection (a): when the tenancy is month-to-month, the landlord terminates by notifying the tenant in writing at least forty-five days in advance. Subsection (b): the tenant terminates the same tenancy on twenty-eight days. Subsection (c) imposes one hundred twenty days where the landlord contemplates voluntary demolition, conversion to a condominium property regime under chapter 514B, or changing the use of the building to transient vacation rentals. Subsection (d): where the tenancy is less than month-to-month, either party gives ten days. Nothing in the section varies the period by how long the tenant has lived in the unit.

The tenant’s right to leave early within the landlord’s period. Under subsection (a), once the landlord has given the forty-five-day notice the tenant may vacate at any time within the last forty-five days of the period, provided the tenant tells the landlord the vacate date and pays prorated rent for the period of occupation. The same right applies within the one-hundred-twenty-day period under subsection (c).

Reissued 120-day notices restart the clock. Subsection (c) provides that if a notice is revoked or amended and reissued, the notice period begins again from the date it was reissued or amended, and any notice provided, revoked, or amended and reissued must be in writing.

Notices given to evade ยง 521-21(d) or (e) are void. Subsection (f) voids any notice of termination initiated for the purpose of evading the landlord’s obligations under ยง 521-21(d) or (e) โ€” the forty-five-day and fifteen-day written notice requirements for rent increases.

TenancyRequired noticeSource
Month-to-month โ€” landlord terminatingAt least 45 days written noticeHRS ยง 521-71(a)
Month-to-month โ€” tenant terminatingAt least 28 days written noticeHRS ยง 521-71(b)
Month-to-month โ€” demolition, condominium conversion under ch. 514B, or change of use to transient vacation rentalsAt least 120 days written notice; period restarts if the notice is revoked or amended and reissuedHRS ยง 521-71(c)
Tenancy less than month-to-monthAt least 10 days, either partyHRS ยง 521-71(d)
Holdover after terminationUp to twice the monthly rent, prorated daily; landlord must file summary possession within the first 60 days of holdover or a month-to-month tenancy prevailsHRS ยง 521-71(e)

The clock starts at delivery. The notice period runs from the date the tenant has actual or presumed notice โ€” typically the date of personal delivery, or the date the substituted service or posting and mailing combination is complete. The notice must specify a termination date that falls at or after the end of the required period. A notice that calculates the date wrong (for example, counting from the date of preparation rather than the date of service) is defective and unenforceable.

Length of occupancy does not change the period. Some states tier the landlord’s notice period by how long the tenant has lived in the unit โ€” California, for example, moves from thirty days to sixty days at the one-year mark and measures it by cumulative occupancy. Hawaii does not. Section 521-71(a) states one figure, forty-five days, for every month-to-month tenancy regardless of tenancy length. A template that asks you to compute cumulative occupancy for a Hawaii notice is applying another state’s rule. What does change the period in Hawaii is the landlord’s purpose (the one-hundred-twenty-day demolition, condominium conversion and transient-vacation-rental branch in subsection (c)) and the length of the rental period itself (ten days where the tenancy is less than month-to-month).

Fixed-term leases โ€” non-renewal vs. termination. A fixed-term lease typically expires by its own terms on the last day of the term. If the lease itself requires the landlord to give advance notice of non-renewal, failing to give that notice may convert the tenancy to month-to-month on the same terms. Check the lease before assuming the fixed term simply expires.

The notice cannot be shortened by lease provision. HRS ยง 521-31(a) provides that, except as otherwise provided in chapter 521, a tenant or landlord may not waive or agree to forego rights or remedies under the chapter, so a lease term authorising less than the ยง 521-71 period does not bind the tenant. The tenant can agree to leave sooner once the notice has issued, but cannot prospectively waive the minimum.

The notice can be lengthened by lease provision. A lease that requires the landlord to give 90 days notice of non-renewal is enforceable โ€” the landlord must give the longer period the lease specifies. Longer-notice lease provisions are common in larger rental developments and corporate-owned properties.

How the written notice is delivered

This is the part of Hawaii non-renewal practice most often stated wrongly, because a California service passage travels with these templates. Chapter 521 prescribes no delivery method for a termination notice. HRS ยง 521-71 requires the landlord to “notify the tenant, in writing” and stops there. The general standard in HRS ยง 521-9(c) fills the gap: a person gives notice “by taking such steps as may be reasonably required to inform the other in ordinary course whether or not the other actually comes to know of it,” and a person receives a notice when it comes to the person’s attention or is delivered at the place held out for receipt of such communications.

Four things follow, and each is the opposite of what the imported California block says. There is no requirement to attempt personal delivery first. There is no substituted-service tier for this notice. There is no requirement that a mailing accompany a posting. And there is no rule adding five days for service by mail โ€” that figure is California Code of Civil Procedure ยง 1013 and has no Hawaii counterpart. The only deemed-receipt rules in chapter 521 sit in ยง 521-68 and apply to the nonpayment notice, not to a termination notice.

What that leaves is a burden of proof rather than a checklist: the landlord must be able to show it took steps reasonably calculated to inform the tenant. The table below ranks the practical options by how well they discharge that burden.

MethodProcedureEffective date
Personal deliveryHand the written notice directly to the tenant. Best evidence; no dispute about when the tenant was informed.Strongest
Mail, with proof of mailingChapter 521 does not forbid mail for a termination notice, and ยง 521-9(c) does not require any particular carrier. Use a method that generates a dated receipt and allow time for delivery when choosing the termination date. Hawaii does not add five days for mail โ€” but the notice has to actually inform the tenant in ordinary course, so send it early.Good, with proof
Posting on the unitChapter 521 authorises posting expressly only for the ยง 521-68 nonpayment notice. For a termination notice, posting alone is a weaker showing under ยง 521-9(c) unless it is paired with another route. Photograph the posting in place.Weakest alone; pair it
Oral noticeDoes not satisfy ยง 521-71, which requires the notice to be in writing, however clearly it was given.Insufficient
Email or textChapter 521 neither authorises nor forbids electronic delivery of a termination notice. Treat it as a supplement to a paper notice, not a substitute, unless the tenant has clearly held that channel out as the place for receipt of such communications under ยง 521-9(c)(2).Supplement only

Personal delivery is the cleanest and most defensible. Whenever practical, deliver the notice personally to the tenant. Document the date, time, and circumstances of delivery โ€” ideally with a witness or photo. Personal delivery starts the notice clock immediately, eliminating any dispute about when the period began.

Do not import the three-tier ladder. If a form or guide tells you a Hawaii non-renewal notice must be attempted personally first, then by substituted service on a person of suitable age with a copy mailed, then by posting with a copy mailed, “in priority order,” it is describing California Code of Civil Procedure ยง 1162 and not Hawaii law. Chapter 521 contains no such sequence for a termination notice, and following it is harmless but the accompanying claims โ€” that mailing alone is insufficient, and that five days must be added for mail โ€” are simply wrong for Hawaii and will cause you to build the wrong termination date.

Where posting is authorised by statute. The one place chapter 521 expressly authorises posting is the nonpayment notice under ยง 521-68, which since 5 February 2026 provides that a notice posted in a conspicuous place on the dwelling unit is deemed received on the date of posting, and a notice mailed with appropriate postage is deemed received two business days after the postmark. Those deemed-receipt rules belong to the pay-or-quit notice; do not carry them across to a ยง 521-71 termination notice.

Document delivery rigorously. Whatever method is used, the landlord should document the date, time, method, and circumstances of delivery. The landlord’s defense in any later challenge to the notice โ€” including in a summary possession proceeding under chapter 666 โ€” depends almost entirely on this documentation. Keep delivery documentation in the property file for the duration of the tenancy plus the applicable statute of limitations.

Required information for the notice

HRS ยง 521-71 does not specify a precise content requirement for non-renewal notices, but settled Hawaii practice and case law establish a minimum set of elements the notice must contain.

ElementWhy it’s required
Date of the noticeEstablishes the timeline; required for proof of service
Names of all tenantsThe notice must run against every adult tenant on the lease (or all named occupants if no formal lease)
Property addressIdentifies the specific premises being terminated
Termination dateMust be at least the required period after delivery; specific calendar date
Statutory authorityReference to HRS ยง 521-71 establishes the legal basis
Landlord name and contactRequired for any tenant response or follow-up
SignatureMust be signed by the landlord or authorized agent
Method of serviceNotice itself doesn’t require this, but proof of service should be prepared and retained

Termination date must be calculated correctly. The date stated in the notice as the termination date must be at least the statutory required number of days after the date of delivery. A notice that says “tenancy terminates X days from the date of this notice” without identifying a specific calendar date creates ambiguity and is on weaker enforcement ground. Pick a specific calendar date and verify the math.

The landlord’s identity must be unambiguous. If a property-management company is serving the notice on behalf of an owner, the notice should make that relationship clear. A notice signed in an ambiguous capacity invites disputes about authority.

Documentation supports the notice. Beyond the notice itself, the landlord should retain a copy of the lease (showing the tenancy duration and terms), a record of delivery (proof of service), and any communications with the tenant about the non-renewal. These documents become evidence if the tenant disputes the notice.

Common mistakes that void the notice

Calculating the notice period from the wrong date

The notice period runs from the date of delivery, not from the date the notice was prepared, signed, or dated. A notice signed on March 1, served on March 15, with a termination date that does not account for the service date as the start of the clock is defective. The miscalculation is one of the most common reasons notices fail in unlawful detainer or eviction proceedings.

Using another state’s tiered period

Hawaii states one landlord figure for a month-to-month tenancy: forty-five days. There is no thirty-day/sixty-day split at the one-year mark and no cumulative-occupancy computation. Applying a tiered rule produces a notice that is either unnecessarily long or fatally short.

Missing the 120-day branch

The most expensive Hawaii-specific error on this form. If the landlord contemplates voluntary demolition, conversion to a condominium property regime under chapter 514B, or changing the use of the building to transient vacation rentals, ยง 521-71(c) requires one hundred twenty days, not forty-five. Serving forty-five days for a conversion is not a technicality โ€” it is the wrong statute.

Confusing the tenant’s period with the landlord’s

Hawaii’s periods are asymmetric. The tenant ends a month-to-month tenancy on twenty-eight days under ยง 521-71(b); the landlord needs forty-five under ยง 521-71(a). Guides and page titles that show a single “28-day” figure for both directions have flattened the asymmetry.

Oral notice

Section 521-71 requires written notification. An oral notice, however clear and however plainly acknowledged, does not start the period.

Adding a mail extension Hawaii does not have

Multi-state templates often add five days when a termination notice is mailed. That is California Code of Civil Procedure ยง 1013 and has no Hawaii counterpart. Send the notice early enough to inform the tenant in ordinary course, but do not build the termination date on a five-day rule that does not exist here.

Issuing a non-renewal after a protected complaint

HRS ยง 521-74(a) bars recovering possession after a good-faith complaint to an agency or the landlord, after an agency notice or complaint, or after a good-faith repair request under ยง 521-63 or ยง 521-64. The section works through the seven exceptions in subsection (b) rather than through a timed presumption โ€” note in particular ยง 521-74(b)(7), which preserves a notice to terminate a periodic tenancy that was given before the tenant’s complaint. A tenant dispossessed in violation recovers damages, costs and reasonable attorney’s fees.

Letting the holdover run past sixty days

Under ยง 521-71(e) the landlord may bring summary possession at any time during the first sixty days of a holdover. If the landlord does not, a month-to-month tenancy at the previous rent prevails from the end of the sixtieth day, and the landlord has to start again with a fresh forty-five-day notice.

Targeting a tenant in a protected class

Even where the technical notice-period requirements are met, a non-renewal that targets a tenant based on race, religion, national origin, familial status (including pregnancy or having children), disability, source of income, or other protected characteristics under federal and Hawaii fair housing law is illegal. Disparate-impact analysis can also reach facially neutral patterns. A pattern of non-renewals concentrated in one demographic exposes the landlord to fair housing claims.

Failing to identify all tenants on the notice

Every adult tenant named on the lease should be named on the non-renewal notice. A notice that omits one of the named tenants is on weaker ground and may not support an eviction action against the omitted tenant. Some courts also require service on each named tenant individually.

Wrong termination date for the rental period

Section 521-71 does not in terms require the termination date to fall at the end of a rental period, but aligning it there avoids arguments about prorated rent and about the tenant’s subsection (a) right to vacate early within the last forty-five days. The safer practice is to align termination with the end of a rental period.

Not retaining a copy of the notice and proof of service

The notice and proof of service are the landlord’s primary evidence in any later eviction proceeding. Failing to retain copies leaves the landlord without the foundation to prove proper notice was given. Maintain the notice, proof of service, and any related communications in the property file.

Tenant remedies for defective notice

A Hawaii tenant who receives a defective non-renewal notice โ€” wrong period, improper service, missing required information, or retaliatory or discriminatory motive โ€” has multiple potential remedies. Understanding these helps landlords appreciate why getting the notice right matters.

Affirmative defense in eviction proceedings

The most common scenario: the landlord serves a defective notice, the tenant does not vacate by the termination date, the landlord files an eviction action, and the tenant raises the defective notice as an affirmative defense. If the defense succeeds, the action is dismissed and the landlord must serve a corrected notice and start over. The tenant typically remains in possession during the do-over and may be entitled to attorney’s fees if the lease has a fees clause.

Anti-retaliation damages

If the non-renewal was retaliatory under HRS ยง 521-74, subsection (c) entitles a tenant from whom possession has been recovered, or who has otherwise been involuntarily dispossessed in violation of the section, to “recover the damages sustained by the tenant and the cost of suit, including reasonable attorney’s fees.” The section does not add a separate statutory penalty and does not create a timed presumption; the landlord’s answer to a ยง 521-74 claim runs through the seven exceptions in subsection (b).

Fair housing claims โ€” federal FHA and Hawaii fair housing law

A non-renewal that targets a tenant based on a protected class violates state and federal fair housing law independent of any notice-period issue. Remedies include actual damages, statutory penalties, attorney’s fees, and injunctive relief. HUD accepts complaints; private actions are also available.

Constructive eviction and quiet-enjoyment claims

A non-renewal that is part of a pattern of harassment โ€” repeated baseless notices, threats, illegal entry, utility shutoffs โ€” supports a constructive-eviction claim and a breach of the implied covenant of quiet enjoyment. These claims provide damages independent of the notice itself and can be raised in any eviction action or in a separate civil action.

Bottom line for landlords: the cost of getting a non-renewal notice right is small; the cost of getting it wrong can be substantial. A defective notice typically delays recovery of possession by several months (during the redo plus any eviction proceeding), exposes the landlord to attorney’s fees, and may trigger fair-housing or retaliation claims if the defects suggest bad faith. The form on this page handles the mechanics; the analysis above is the legal context.

Related Resources

Get the full Hawaii landlord-tenant picture

Notice of Non-Renewal is one of the highest-stakes routine documents in Hawaii landlord-tenant practice. Our Hawaii habitability law guide and tenant-rights guide cover the broader framework โ€” implied warranty of habitability, repair-and-deduct remedies, retaliation protections, and the operational rhythm of Hawaii residential tenancy.

Read Hawaii habitability laws

Hawaii statute reference table

StatuteSubjectKey requirement
HRS ยง 521-71(a)Landlord terminating month-to-monthAt least 45 days written notice; tenant may vacate within the last 45 days on notice and prorated rent
HRS ยง 521-71(b)Tenant terminating month-to-monthAt least 28 days written notice; rent payable through the 28th day
HRS ยง 521-71(c)Demolition, condominium conversion, transient vacation rental conversionAt least 120 days written notice; period restarts on revocation or reissue
HRS ยง 521-71(d)Tenancy less than month-to-monthAt least 10 days, either party
HRS ยง 521-71(e)HoldoverUp to twice the monthly rent prorated daily; summary possession within the first 60 days or a month-to-month tenancy prevails
HRS ยง 521-71(f)EvasionA termination notice given to evade ยง 521-21(d) or (e) is void
HRS ยง 521-9How notice is givenSteps reasonably required to inform the other in ordinary course; chapter 521 prescribes no service ladder for a termination notice
HRS ยง 521-74Retaliatory evictions and rent increases prohibitedProhibits recovering possession after protected tenant conduct, subject to seven exceptions; damages, costs and reasonable attorney’s fees
HRS ยง 521-31Waiver; agreement to forego rightsExcept as otherwise provided in ch. 521, neither tenant nor landlord may waive or agree to forego rights or remedies under the chapter
HRS ยง 521-38Notice of conversion to a condominium property regimeAt least 120 days’ notice in advance of termination of the rental agreement
HRS ch. 666Summary possessionHawaii recovers possession by summary possession, not unlawful detainer
42 U.S.C. ยง 3601 et seq.Fair Housing Act โ€” federalFederal-level fair housing protections; HUD enforcement

Section text verified against the Hawaii Revised Statutes as published by the Hawaii State Legislature at capitol.hawaii.gov. Hawaii has no residential rent control and no county rent board; ยง 521-71 sets these periods statewide.

Frequently asked questions

How much notice do I have to give to non-renew a Hawaii tenancy?
Quick answer: at least 45 days, or 120 days for demolition or conversion.HRS ยง 521-71(a) gives the landlord ending a month-to-month tenancy at least forty-five days; ยง 521-71(c) requires one hundred twenty days where the landlord contemplates voluntary demolition, conversion to a condominium property regime under chapter 514B, or changing the use of the building to transient vacation rentals; ยง 521-71(d) requires ten days where the tenancy is less than month-to-month. The period runs from delivery, and it is not tiered by how long the tenant has occupied the unit. The tenant’s own period under ยง 521-71(b) is twenty-eight days.
Do I need to give a reason for non-renewing the tenancy?
Generally no. Hawaii has no statewide just-cause eviction requirement and no county just-cause ordinance; the ยง 521-71 notice period is sufficient and no reason need be stated. Two qualifications: a landlord relying on the one-hundred-twenty-day branch in ยง 521-71(c) is by definition acting for one of the three stated purposes, and ยง 521-74 still bars a termination that follows protected tenant conduct unless one of the seven exceptions in subsection (b) applies. Fair housing law applies throughout.
How do I serve the notice?
HRS ยง 521-71 requires the notice to be in writing but prescribes no delivery method, and chapter 521 contains no ranked service ladder for a termination notice. HRS ยง 521-9(c) supplies the standard: take such steps as may be reasonably required to inform the tenant in ordinary course. Personal delivery is the cleanest and most defensible; mail with proof of mailing is acceptable and Hawaii adds no five-day mail extension. HRS ยง 521-68 โ€” the section many templates cite here โ€” is the nonpayment section and governs the pay-or-quit notice instead.
What happens if my fixed-term lease expires?
A fixed-term lease typically expires by its own terms. If the lease itself requires advance notice of non-renewal, failing to give that notice may convert the tenancy to month-to-month on the same terms. Check the lease before assuming the fixed term simply expires.
Can a tenant waive the notice period in advance?
No. HRS ยง 521-31(a) provides that a tenant or landlord may not waive or agree to forego rights or remedies under chapter 521, except as otherwise provided in the chapter. The tenant can agree to leave sooner once the notice has issued (a contemporaneous agreement to vacate in exchange for some consideration), but cannot prospectively waive the ยง 521-71 minimum through a lease.
What if the tenant has been a long-term resident?
It makes no difference to the period. HRS ยง 521-71(a) states forty-five days for every month-to-month tenancy the landlord terminates, whether the tenant has been there four months or fourteen years. Hawaii does not tier the landlord’s notice period by length of occupancy, and there is no cumulative-occupancy computation to perform.
What happens if my notice is defective?
A defective notice (wrong period, improper service, missing required information) generally cannot support an eviction action. If the tenant raises the defect as a defense and the court agrees, the eviction is dismissed and the landlord must serve a corrected notice and start the period over. The tenant typically remains in possession during the redo. Defective notices may also expose the landlord to attorney’s fees.
Can I issue a non-renewal in retaliation for a tenant complaint?
No. HRS ยง 521-74 prohibits non-renewal in retaliation for tenant exercise of protected rights. Issuing a non-renewal that the court finds was retaliatory exposes the landlord to damages, attorney’s fees, and potential statutory penalties.
Does a non-renewal need to be in writing?
Yes. HRS ยง 521-71 requires written notice of termination. Oral notice โ€” even if clearly given and acknowledged by the tenant โ€” does not satisfy the statute and cannot support an eviction action.
What if my lease specifies a different notice period?
A lease that requires more notice than the statute (for example, 90 days where ยง 521-71(a) requires 45) is enforceable โ€” the landlord must give the longer period. A lease that requires less is ineffective under HRS ยง 521-31(a); the statutory minimum still applies.

When to consult an attorney

Most Hawaii non-renewals are routine and never need an attorney. If the tenant has raised retaliation or fair-housing claims, the termination is connected with demolition, a condominium conversion or a switch to transient vacation rentals (which triggers the 120-day period under ยง 521-71(c)), the tenancy may fall outside chapter 521 under ยง 521-7, or you suspect the tenant may contest the notice, consult a Hawaii landlord-tenant attorney before serving. A clean ยง 521-71 procedure with documented service and contemporaneous file records is the foundation of a defensible non-renewal; an attorney’s review at the right moment is far cheaper than defending a defective notice in eviction proceedings.

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Sources cited on this page

  • HRS ch. 521 (the residential landlord-tenant act)
  • HRS ยง521-71 (termination of a periodic tenancy)
  • HRS ยง521-74 (retaliation)
  • 42 U.S.C. § 3601 et seq. (federal Fair Housing Act)
  • 50 U.S.C. § 3901 et seq. (Servicemembers Civil Relief Act)

This form and the accompanying guidance are provided for general informational purposes only and do not constitute legal advice. Hawaii landlord-tenant law has technical requirements that can change with legislation and case law. HRS ยง 521-71 and related provisions vary in interpretation by jurisdiction and over time. Specific situations โ€” long-term tenancies, fixed-term leases with renewal-notice clauses, retaliation and fair-housing defenses, local ordinance overlays โ€” depend on facts that this general guidance cannot fully address. Always verify current requirements with the Hawaii statute book, applicable local ordinances, or a qualified Hawaii landlord-tenant attorney before relying on this notice in any contested or sensitive situation. Review Hawaii eviction notice laws.