Hawaii's Residential Landlord-Tenant Code (HRS Chapter 521) has been remarkably stable since 1972, but 2026 broke the streak: as of February 5, nonpayment evictions require a 10-calendar-day notice and, if the tenant asks, a trip to mediation before you can file. Deposits, late fees, and entry still run on hard statutory numbers that trip up mainland owners constantly. Here is the whole rulebook, current for 2026.

The 60-second Hawaii compliance check

  • Security deposit: max one month's rent, plus an optional pet deposit of up to one more month for non-service animals (HRS § 521-44).
  • Deposit return: 14 days after the tenancy ends, with itemization and receipts, or you forfeit the entire deposit (HRS § 521-44).
  • Late fees: capped at 8 percent of the amount due (HRS § 521-21(f)).
  • Rent increase on month-to-month: 45 consecutive days' written notice (HRS § 521-21(d)).
  • Entry: at least 2 days' notice, reasonable hours (HRS § 521-53).
  • Month-to-month termination: 45 days from the landlord, 28 from the tenant (HRS § 521-71).
  • Nonpayment: written demand with at least 10 calendar days to pay, plus the new mediation pathway (HRS § 521-68, as amended by Act 278 of 2025).
  • Repair-and-deduct: tenants may spend up to $500 on neglected minor repairs, more for health and safety items, and take it out of rent (HRS § 521-64).

Deposits: one month, 14 days, zero forgiveness

You may collect first month's rent plus a security deposit of no more than one month's rent, and the deposit cannot double as the last month's rent at the tenant's option (HRS § 521-44). If you allow a pet, you may add a separate pet deposit of up to one month's rent, but not for service or assistance animals. On a $2,500 rental with a dog, that means $2,500 rent, $2,500 deposit, and up to $2,500 pet deposit at move-in, and nothing more.

The return deadline is the strictest big number in the chapter: within 14 days of the tenancy ending, return the deposit or send the balance with a written itemization of what you kept and why, including receipts or estimates for repairs and cleaning. Miss the 14 days or skip the paperwork and the statute strips your right to keep any of it, full stop. Small claims court handles these fights daily, and the missing-itemization landlord loses. Rentari's move-out checklist pins the 14-day clock to each tenancy so the deadline cannot sneak past.

For scale: California only reached a one-month deposit cap in July 2024; Hawaii has been there for decades.

Rent, late fees, and the 8 percent ceiling

Hawaii has no rent control and no cap on the size of an increase, statewide or county. What it regulates is timing and fees. A month-to-month rent increase needs written notice 45 consecutive days before it takes effect (HRS § 521-21(d)); week-to-week tenancies need 15 days. Fixed-term leases hold their rent until renewal unless the lease says otherwise.

Late fees are capped at 8 percent of the amount due (HRS § 521-21(f)). If $2,000 in rent goes unpaid, the most you can charge is $160, and a lease clause demanding more is unenforceable for the excess. There is no statutory grace period, so the fee can attach the day after the due date if the lease says so.

Getting into the unit: 2 days, reasonable hours

Non-emergency entry takes at least 2 days' notice and must happen at reasonable hours (HRS § 521-53). The tenant can consent to less, and emergencies need no notice. A tenant who unreasonably refuses lawful access can be liable for your resulting damages, and repeated unlawful entries by the landlord run the other way, including possible termination by the tenant. During a properly noticed sale period, showing rules loosen slightly, but the 2-day baseline is the habit to build.

Evicting in Hawaii: the 2026 sequence

Hawaii evictions (summary possession) run through district court, and the front end changed on February 5, 2026 under Act 278 (2025), which grew out of the state's successful pandemic-era mediation experiment:

  • Nonpayment. Serve a written demand giving at least 10 calendar days to pay before you can terminate and file (HRS § 521-68). Until February 5, 2026 this was 5 business days, so every old notice template in circulation is now wrong. The notice must also go to the county mediation center.
  • The mediation pilot. If the tenant schedules mediation within the 10-day window, you cannot file until 20 days after the tenant received the notice. If the tenant never schedules or skips the session, you may file on day 11 and can recover fees tied to the missed mediation. The pilot runs through February 4, 2028; the 10-day notice itself is permanent.
  • Lease and rule violations. Written notice with at least 10 days to cure; an uncured or recurring breach within 30 days supports a possession case (HRS § 521-72).
  • Holdovers and terminations. Month-to-month tenancies end on 45 days' landlord notice (HRS § 521-71); a tenant who holds over past a valid termination can owe double the prorated rent for the holdover period.

Self-help eviction does not exist here: no lock changes, no utility shutoffs, no hauling belongings to the curb. Only a court judgment and writ get possession back, and the geography means process moves at island speed; budget 4 to 8 weeks for an uncontested case, longer on neighbor islands with packed court calendars.

Habitability, repairs, and the paperwork Hawaii demands

The $500 repair-and-deduct lever

Landlords must keep units fit for habitation, meet building and housing codes, and maintain the systems they supply (HRS § 521-42). Hawaii gives tenants an unusually concrete remedy when repairs stall: after written notice of a defect, you have 12 business days to start the fix. If you do not, the tenant may hire it done and deduct up to $500 from rent for a minor defect, or up to $1,000 or one month's rent, whichever is greater, for health and safety items, capped at three months' rent in any 6-month stretch (HRS § 521-64). Receipts are required, but the deduction is self-executing; you find out when the rent arrives short and legal.

Disclosures and the absentee-owner rule

Every tenant must get, in writing, the name and address of the owner and anyone authorized to act for the property (HRS § 521-43). The rule with teeth for off-island investors: an owner who lives out of state, or on a different island from the unit, must designate an agent on the same island in the written rental agreement. Failing a proper disclosure after demand costs $100 plus attorney fees (HRS § 521-67). Add the federal lead-based paint disclosure for pre-1978 buildings, which is a lot of Hawaii's housing stock. There is no statutory mold, flood, or bedbug disclosure, though the general habitability duty covers the conditions themselves.

What changed recently, and what did not

Act 278 (2025), signed July 2, 2025 and effective February 5, 2026, is the first structural change to Hawaii's eviction process in years: the permanent move from a 5-business-day to a 10-calendar-day nonpayment notice, plus the two-year early-mediation pilot described above, expiring February 4, 2028 unless renewed. Nothing else in the 2024 to 2026 sessions moved the core numbers: deposits, late fees, entry, and termination notices all stand as they have for years. Maui's post-wildfire emergency housing rules were time-limited proclamations, not permanent code changes.

The full chapter text is at HRS Chapter 521, and our Hawaii quick-reference page keeps the headline numbers handy, with state-specific notices in the forms library. For mainland comparisons, Oregon runs statewide rent caps Hawaii never adopted, while Alaska allows deposits twice as large.

Hawaii landlord FAQ

Do I have to mediate before evicting for nonpayment?

Only if the tenant schedules it. Your 10-day notice goes to the tenant and the county mediation center; if the tenant books a session within 10 days, wait 20 days from their receipt of the notice before filing. If they do not schedule or fail to show, file on day 11 (HRS § 521-68, Act 278).

Can I charge a pet deposit on top of the one-month cap?

Yes, up to one additional month's rent for a pet, agreed in the rental agreement, but never for a service or assistance animal (HRS § 521-44). Pet rent is separate and uncapped, though the 8 percent late-fee ceiling still applies to unpaid amounts.

Is a 5-business-day nonpayment notice still valid?

Not for notices served on or after February 5, 2026. Act 278 replaced the 5-business-day demand with 10 calendar days, and a short notice is grounds to dismiss the case. Update the template before the next late month.

How much notice for a rent increase on a month-to-month tenant?

Forty-five consecutive days, in writing, before the increase takes effect (HRS § 521-21(d)). Pair it with the 45-day termination rule: a tenant who declines the increase still gets the full 45 days.

What if my tenant deducted repair costs from rent?

Check the § 521-64 boxes before reacting: did they give written notice, did you let 12 business days pass without starting repairs, did they provide receipts, and is the amount within the $500 or health-and-safety limits? If yes on all counts, the deduction is lawful and the rent is not short.

General information only, not legal advice. Hawaii's statutes and court practices change, and county-level details differ; verify current requirements against HRS Chapter 521 or with a Hawaii landlord-tenant attorney before relying on them.