Hawaii Landlord-Tenant Laws: The Complete 2026 Overview

Hawaii caps the security deposit at one month’s rent under section 521-44, and a landlord who allows a pet may collect an additional pet deposit of up to one further month’s rent. A landlord may also collect one month of prepaid rent, which is counted separately from the deposit. The return rule is strict: within fourteen days after the tenant surrenders the unit, the landlord must return the balance together with a written itemized statement of every deduction. Deductions are limited to unpaid rent and damage beyond normal wear and tear. Failing to provide the itemized statement forfeits the right to withhold any portion, and a landlord who withholds wrongfully owes twice the amount kept plus damages. Hawaii does not require interest on the deposit. Providing a written forwarding address is strongly recommended and often operates as a practical condition for a smooth refund.

Read the full Hawaii security deposit laws guide for permitted deductions, the wear-and-tear line, and the fourteen-day timeline.

Hawaii is not a just-cause state for most tenancies – a landlord may decline to renew for almost any lawful reason – but every eviction must go through the courts. To evict for nonpayment of rent, the landlord first serves a written notice giving the tenant five days to pay or vacate under section 521-68. If the tenant neither pays nor leaves, the landlord files a summary-possession action in the District Court of the circuit where the property sits, and the tenant typically has a short window to respond before the hearing. Only a sheriff or constable acting on a court-issued writ of possession may physically remove a tenant. Self-help evictions – changing the locks, removing doors, or shutting off utilities – are illegal in Hawaii and expose the landlord to statutory penalties, including liability of up to two months’ rent for an unlawful lockout.

Read the full Hawaii eviction notice laws guide for the filing steps, the hearing timeline, and the writ process.

Unlike states that leave entry to a vague reasonableness standard, Hawaii sets a number. Under section 521-53, a landlord must give the tenant at least two days’ notice before entering an occupied unit, and the entry must take place at reasonable times. The customary practice is to deliver that notice in writing and to schedule visits during ordinary daytime hours. Permitted reasons include inspection, necessary or agreed repairs, decorations or improvements, and showing the unit to prospective tenants, buyers, or contractors. Genuine emergencies – fire, flooding, a gas leak, or another imminent threat to the property or its occupants – allow immediate entry without notice. A landlord who repeatedly enters without proper notice, or who uses access to harass the tenant, can face damages and, in serious cases, give the tenant grounds to terminate. Spelling the entry procedure out in the lease is the surest way to avoid a dispute.

Read the full Hawaii landlord entry laws guide for the permitted-entry reasons and how to write a compliant notice.

Hawaii has no rent control. There is no statewide cap on how much a landlord may raise the rent, and state law leaves no room for city or county rent regulation. What Hawaii does require is notice. During a fixed-term lease the rent is locked at the agreed figure, and it generally cannot be raised mid-lease unless the lease itself allows it. For a month-to-month tenancy, a landlord must give at least forty-five days’ written notice before an increase takes effect – the same long lead time Hawaii attaches to a landlord’s termination notice. The notice period runs from the day the notice is delivered, so counting matters. The limits that do apply are anti-retaliation and anti-discrimination: a landlord may not raise the rent to punish a tenant for a good-faith code complaint or for exercising a legal right, and may not raise it on a discriminatory basis under fair housing law.

Read the full Hawaii rent increase laws guide for the notice mechanics and the retaliation window.

Hawaii is one of the states that puts a hard number on late fees. Section 521-21 caps a residential late fee at eight percent of the amount of rent due, and the fee must be stated in the written rental agreement to be enforceable. A fee above eight percent, or one that appears nowhere in the lease, is not collectible. Hawaii sets no statutory grace period, so any grace window is purely contractual – most leases allow three to five days before the fee attaches. A returned-check fee is enforceable only when the lease provides for it and stays reasonable, commonly around thirty dollars. Because the cap is a percentage rather than a flat amount, the enforceable fee scales with the rent, and a landlord who charges a single flat late fee should confirm it never exceeds eight percent of the rent for any given month.

Read the full Hawaii late fee laws guide for the eight-percent test and grace-period practice.

Under the Residential Landlord-Tenant Code, a Hawaii landlord must keep the dwelling in a condition that is fit to live in, complying with applicable housing and health codes and keeping common areas safe and sanitary (section 521-42). The tenant triggers the repair duty by giving written notice – certified mail with return receipt is best. If the landlord fails to act, section 521-64 lets the tenant arrange the repair and deduct the cost from rent, capped at the greater of five hundred dollars or one month’s rent, after a waiting period that is short for essential services such as electricity or plumbing and longer for other defects, generally about twelve business days. The total a tenant may deduct in any six-month period is limited to three months’ rent. For a serious, uncured defect the tenant may terminate the tenancy after proper written notice and a cure window. Retaliation against a tenant who asserts these rights is barred under section 521-74.

Read the full Hawaii habitability laws guide for the repair-request procedure and the repair-and-deduct steps.

Hawaii recognizes several protected reasons a tenant may end a fixed-term lease early without owing the balance. A victim of domestic violence may terminate under section 521-80: for a lease of one year or less, where a qualifying act occurred within the prior ninety days, the tenant gives at least fourteen days’ written notice of a termination date no more than one hundred four days after the most recent act, and ends the tenancy without penalty or future-rent liability. Active-duty servicemembers may terminate under the federal Servicemembers Civil Relief Act, with the lease ending thirty days after the next rent due date following notice. A tenant may also terminate when the landlord fails to repair a serious habitability defect after proper notice. For a tenant who simply leaves without a statutory ground, Hawaii is a duty-to-mitigate state under section 521-70 – the landlord must make a reasonable effort to re-rent, so the departing tenant owes only the gap until a new tenant is found, not the entire remaining term.

Read the full Hawaii breaking lease laws guide for each statutory ground and the notice-and-proof steps.

Ending a Hawaii tenancy depends on its type. A month-to-month tenancy is terminated by written notice under section 521-71 – at least forty-five days from the landlord, or at least twenty-eight days from the tenant. The period runs from the day the notice is delivered, not from when it is written or mailed, so certified mail or personal delivery with a signed receipt is the safe practice. A fixed-term lease generally runs to its end date and cannot be cut short without a statutory ground or a mutual written agreement; for non-renewal, honor any notice clause in the lease and give at least forty-five days where a period applies. Hawaii does not require just cause to decline to renew, but fair housing and anti-retaliation rules still apply. A tenant who stays past the end date becomes a holdover, exposed to use-and-occupancy at market rent and possible penalty rent, and the landlord must pursue possession through a summary-possession suit rather than self-help.

Read the full Hawaii lease termination laws guide for notice by tenancy type and holdover liability.

For an actual pet, Hawaii lets a landlord collect a separate refundable pet deposit of up to one month’s rent under section 521-44 – on top of the standard one-month security deposit – if the lease allows a pet. Assistance animals are treated completely differently. Under the federal Fair Housing Act, a service animal or emotional support animal is not a pet, so a landlord may not charge any pet deposit, fee, or rent, and may not apply a breed or weight restriction or a no-pet policy to it. When the disability or the animal’s role is not obvious, the landlord may request reliable documentation from a licensed professional, but may not demand a diagnosis, medical records, or any certification or registration. The tenant remains liable for any actual damage the animal causes. Misrepresenting a pet as a service animal is unlawful under Hawaii Revised Statutes section 347-2.6, which carries an escalating civil fine of one hundred dollars for a first offense, two hundred fifty dollars for a second, and five hundred dollars for a third or later offense.

Read the full Hawaii pet and ESA laws guide for accommodation requests and documentation limits.

Hawaii leaves most of tenant screening to the landlord, so the binding rules are largely federal. With the applicant’s written authorization, a landlord may pull a consumer report covering credit, rental history, income, and criminal records – the Fair Credit Reporting Act requires a permissible purpose and consent first, and standard consumer reports look back seven years for most adverse information. Hawaii does not set a statutory dollar cap on application or screening fees, but a fee should be reasonable, tied to the actual cost of screening, and charged consistently to every applicant. If a denial, a higher deposit, or a co-signer requirement rests in any part on a consumer report, the FCRA requires an adverse action notice identifying the reporting agency and telling the applicant how to dispute the file. A willful FCRA violation can expose the user to damages of up to one thousand dollars plus actual and punitive damages and attorney’s fees. Hawaii’s fair housing law, Chapter 515, bars discrimination in the terms and conditions of a rental.

Read the full Hawaii tenant screening laws guide for the FCRA steps and the fair-housing baseline.