Outline of the eviction process in Hawaii

Hawaii residential evictions are governed by the Residential Landlord-Tenant Code (Hawaii Revised Statutes chapter 521), which sets the grounds and the pre-suit notices, and by HRS chapter 666, which creates the court action, called summary possession. Every summary possession case is filed in the district court of the circuit where the property sits (HRS § 666-6). A month-to-month tenancy can be ended without a stated reason on 45 days’ written notice.

The big recent change is in nonpayment cases. Since February 5, 2026, under Act 278 of 2025 (SB 825), the old five-business-day rent demand is gone. A landlord must give a ten-calendar-day notice with specific content, send a copy to a state-funded mediation center, and take part in free mediation if the tenant schedules it. The mediation pilot runs through February 4, 2028; the ten-calendar-day period itself is permanent. The earlier temporary Maui measures (the wildfire eviction moratorium and the Act 202 of 2024 mediation program) have ended.

1. Grounds

• Nonpayment of rent (§ 521-68).
• Material noncompliance with the tenant’s maintenance duties in § 521-51. Termination is available only for noncompliance with § 521-51(1), health and safety laws; for other breaches the remedy is to repair and bill the tenant, or sue for damages (§ 521-69).
• Breach of a house rule authorized by § 521-52 that continues or recurs after written notice (§ 521-72).
• Holdover after the term expires or after a proper termination notice (§ 521-71(e)).
• Common nuisance as defined in HRS § 712-1270 (§ 666-3).

Retaliation is the main substantive defense. So long as the tenant keeps tendering the usual rent, you may not sue for possession, raise the rent or cut services after the tenant has complained in good faith to you or a government agency about health or code conditions, or has requested repairs in good faith. Exceptions include waste, nuisance or illegal use, good-faith recovery for your own or your immediate family’s home, substantial remodeling or demolition, and a periodic-tenancy termination notice given before the complaint. A tenant dispossessed in violation recovers damages, costs and attorney’s fees (§ 521-74).

2. Notices, service and counting days

Nonpayment: ten calendar days, with mediation (§ 521-68 as amended by Act 278). Any time after rent is due you may demand payment and notify the tenant in writing that the rental agreement will be terminated unless payment is made within the time stated, which must be not less than ten calendar days after the tenant receives the notice. While the pilot is in effect, in cases the Judiciary describes as evictions for nonpayment of rent alone:

• The notice must identify the landlord or agent, the unit address and the tenants, state the current amount of rent due as of the date of the notice, say that a copy is being given to the mediation center, and carry the required warnings about when a summary possession case may be filed. Use the Judiciary’s fillable notice for your circuit.
• You must give a copy of the notice to the state-funded mediation center for the island. State guidance says to upload it with a Landlord Intake Form at mediationcentersofhawaii.org.
• The tenant has ten calendar days after receipt to schedule mediation. If none is scheduled, you may file once the ten days have run. If a mediation center schedules mediation within the ten days and the tenant participates, you may file only after twenty calendar days from the tenant’s receipt of the notice, even if the session itself falls outside the ten days, unless the tenant fails to appear or cancels. Mediation must take place within thirty days after the center makes contact with both sides. The tenant need not mediate, but if the tenant schedules it, the landlord must participate. The mediation is free, and each side bears its own costs and attorney’s fees, except that you may request your costs and reasonable fees if the tenant misses a scheduled mediation or defaults on a mediated agreement. If mediation does not resolve the matter, you may file without mediating again.

Service of the rent notice. The amended statute allows posting in a conspicuous place on the dwelling unit, with the notice deemed received on the date of posting. A notice sent by U.S. mail, properly addressed and with postage, is deemed received two business days after the postmark date, unless the letter comes back to you as undeliverable (§ 521-68(a); Judiciary Act 278 FAQ). Keep proof of the posting or mailing date.

Material noncompliance with § 521-51: ten days to cure (§ 521-69). Give written notice of the noncompliance and allow a specified time, not less than ten days after receipt, to remedy it. If it is not remedied you may terminate and file for possession where the noncompliance is with § 521-51(1), the duty to comply with building and housing laws materially affecting health and safety. No cure period is required when the noncompliance causes or threatens irremediable damage to any person or property. Posting is allowed for this notice only if the tenant cannot be served.

Rule violations: ten days (§ 521-72). The notice must name the rule and specify a time, not less than ten days, to remedy the breach, in substantially the form set out in the statute. If the breach continues or recurs after that date, you must bring the summary proceeding within thirty days after the continued or recurring breach. No cure time is required where the breach causes or threatens damage to any person or violates § 521-51(1) or (6).

No-cause termination (§ 521-71).

• Month-to-month: at least 45 days’ written notice from the landlord. A tenant ends the tenancy with 28 days’ written notice.
• Month-to-month where you contemplate voluntary demolition, conversion to a condominium, or a change to transient vacation rentals: at least 120 days’ written notice.
• Less than month-to-month: at least ten days’ notice.
• A termination notice given to evade the rent-increase notice rules of § 521-21(d) or (e) is void (§ 521-71(f)).

Common nuisance (§ 666-3). First a written warning to abate the nuisance within twenty-four hours; if it remains, a second written notice giving five days to vacate.

Counting days. Under District Court Rules of Civil Procedure (DCRCP) Rule 6(a), which applies to periods set by statute, the day of the triggering event is not counted, and a period that would end on a Saturday, Sunday or holiday runs to the end of the next day that is not one. When the period is less than seven days, such as the five-day minimum return day under DCRCP Rule 12(a), intermediate Saturdays, Sundays and holidays are also excluded. File only after the last full day has passed.

Federally backed or subsidized properties may also be subject to the federal CARES Act 30-day notice to vacate for nonpayment; confirm before relying on a shorter notice.

3. Filing

File the complaint for summary possession in the district court of the circuit where the premises are located (§ 666-6). You may join claims for rent and damages regardless of amount, including rent accruing up to judgment (§ 666-7). In a nonpayment case filed during the pilot, the complaint must include either a document from the mediation center verifying that it received a copy of the ten-calendar-day notice, or the landlord’s declaration that a copy was provided. Filing fees and whether a corporation or LLC may appear without an attorney were not verified for this guide; confirm both with the court.

4. Service and the hearing

The summons is served as provided by court rule (§ 666-8). Under DCRCP Rule 4(c), that includes the sheriff, the police, a court-appointed server, or any non-party who is at least 18.

In summary possession cases the defendant must appear or answer by a return day that is the next court session no less than five days after the date of service when service is made in the circuit where the case was filed, and not less than seven days when service is made in another circuit (DCRCP Rule 12(a); § 666-9).

Rent trust fund. When payment of rent is in dispute, at either side’s request the court must order the tenant to deposit disputed rent into court as it comes due, unless the tenant shows it was already paid or a written agreement allowed withholding. If the tenant does not make the deposit, the landlord gets judgment for possession and the writ issues (§§ 521-78, 666-21).

5. Judgment, paying to stay, and appeal

If you prove the right to possession, you get judgment for possession and costs, and execution issues accordingly (§ 666-11). A holdover tenant may also be liable for up to twice the monthly rent, prorated daily, for each day of holdover. File within the first sixty days of holdover: if you do not, and there is no new agreement, a month-to-month tenancy at the old rent arises at the end of those sixty days (§ 521-71(e)).

Pay and stay. In a nonpayment case, issuance of the writ is stayed if, before the writ is actually issued, the tenant pays the rent due, interest at eight percent a year, all costs and charges of the proceedings, and the plaintiff’s expenses including a reasonable attorney’s fee (§ 666-14).

Appeal. A notice of appeal must be filed within 30 days after entry of the judgment or appealable order (Hawaii Rules of Appellate Procedure Rule 4(a)(1)). A motion for a stay of the judgment pending appeal, or for approval of a supersedeas bond, is ordinarily made first in the district court (HRAP Rule 8(a)). An appeal does not by itself stop the writ. Under DCRCP Rule 62(a), the issuance and execution of a writ of possession is not stayed during the ten days after a judgment for possession unless a stay is obtained under Rule 62(i), which points to the § 666-14 pay-and-stay rule above. A supersedeas bond on appeal under Rule 62(d) is “subject to the exceptions contained in subdivision (a),” so posting a bond alone does not stop the writ.

6. The writ and the lockout

The writ of possession issues to the sheriff, a deputy sheriff, a police officer, or an independent civil process server from the Department of Law Enforcement’s list under HRS § 353C-11, commanding that officer to remove all persons from the premises and put the landlord in full possession (§ 666-11). Chapter 666 itself states no number of days between judgment and the writ or between the writ and the removal; timing depends on the court’s order, any stay under the court rules, and the officer’s schedule.

Tenant property. Where a tenant has quit the premises and left behind property you determine in good faith to have value, you may store it at the tenant’s expense, sell it in a commercially reasonable manner, or donate it to a charitable organization. Before selling or donating you must mail notice of the property and your intent to the tenant’s forwarding or designated address, or else the last known address, and wait fifteen days after mailing. A sale also requires advertising in a daily newspaper of general circulation in the circuit for at least three consecutive days. Net proceeds are held in trust for the tenant for thirty days, then forfeited to the landlord. Property of no value may be disposed of (§ 521-56).

Self-help is prohibited. A landlord who removes or excludes a tenant overnight without cause or a court order owes two months’ rent or two months’ free occupancy, plus costs and reasonable attorney’s fees, and the tenant may recover possession or terminate (§ 521-63(c)). You also may not recover possession by wilfully interrupting running water, hot water, electricity, gas or another essential service, except in case of abandonment or surrender. Doing so is an unfair or deceptive practice under HRS § 480-2, with minimum damages of three times the monthly rent or $1,000, whichever is greater (§ 521-74.5).

Recent law changes landlords should know

• Act 278 of 2025 (SB 825), signed July 2, 2025. Section 2, amending § 521-68, took effect February 5, 2026. The Act is repealed on February 4, 2028 and § 521-68 is then reenacted in its earlier form, except that the amendments to subsection (a) (ten calendar days, and receipt rules for posted and mailed notices) are not repealed.
• Maui wildfire measures. According to the state Office of Consumer Protection, the emergency eviction moratorium on Maui island ended February 4, 2025. Act 202 of 2024 (HB 2742), a Maui-only fifteen-day notice and pre-litigation mediation program for tenancies that had been under the moratorium, applied from February 5, 2025 through February 4, 2026. The statewide Act 278 program began the next day.
• A review of bills passed in the 2026 regular session found no act changing these sections, but that review relied on a bill-tracking site rather than the official session laws, so confirm the current text.
• From January 1, 2027, an amendment to Hawaii Rules of Appellate Procedure Rule 4 (order filed in July 2026) treats a mailed notice of appeal as timely if it is postmarked within the 30 days and received within 5 days of the postmark. The 30-day deadline itself is unchanged.

What actually goes wrong

• Serving an old five-business-day notice. Any nonpayment notice today must give at least ten calendar days after receipt.
• Skipping the mediation center. Without the center’s verification or your declaration, a nonpayment complaint is missing a required element.
• Waiting more than thirty days after a recurring rule violation, or more than sixty days into a holdover, before filing.
• Filing on day eleven when the tenant scheduled mediation in time. The wait is twenty calendar days from receipt.
• Changing locks or cutting utilities instead of using the writ.

When to bring in an attorney

Use counsel when the tenant raises retaliation or habitability defenses, when the landlord is a corporation or LLC, for subsidized housing, when a trial is set, and for any appeal or stay motion. The Hawaii attorneys listed below represent landlords.

Sources

• HRS §§ 521-21, 521-51, 521-56, 521-63, 521-68, 521-69, 521-71, 521-72, 521-74, 521-74.5 and 521-78 (2025 code).
• HRS §§ 666-3, 666-6, 666-7, 666-8, 666-9, 666-11, 666-14 and 666-21.
• Act 278, Session Laws of Hawaii 2025 (SB 825 CD1).
• Hawaii State Judiciary, Pre-Filing Eviction Mediation Program (Act 278) page, FAQ of February 20, 2026, and notice forms.
• DCCA Office of Consumer Protection Act 278 FAQs and Act 202 FAQ.
• District Court Rules of Civil Procedure Rules 4(c), 6(a), 12(a) and 62; Hawaii Rules of Appellate Procedure Rules 4(a)(1) and 8(a).

This guide is general information about Hawaii procedure and is not legal advice. Statutes change; confirm the current text and forms before relying on any deadline.