Hawaii: Eviction Notice Requirements

Requirements one by one

Governing law

Hawaii's residential eviction-notice rules live in one place: the Residential
Landlord-Tenant Code, Haw. Rev. Stat. chapter 521. Unpaid rent is § 521-68; a
tenant's failure to keep the unit clean and safe (waste, failure to maintain) is
§ 521-69; a breach of the landlord's house rules is § 521-72; ending a periodic
tenancy is § 521-71; and the retaliation ban is § 521-74. If the notice period
runs out and the tenant stays, the landlord files a "summary possession" case in
District Court under a separate chapter, Haw. Rev. Stat. chapter 666 — that
courthouse step is outside this survey.

Notice for unpaid rent

This is the rule that changed most recently, so read it carefully. Effective
February 5, 2026, § 521-68 requires the landlord to demand the rent in writing
and give "not less than ten calendar days after receipt" to pay before the
rental agreement is terminated — up from the old five-business-day notice. Two
timing details are built into the statute: if the notice is posted on the
unit it is "deemed received on the date of the posting," and if it is mailed
it is "deemed to have been received two business days after the date of the
postmark."

The 2026 change did more than lengthen the clock. The landlord must also send a
copy of the same 10-day notice to a state-funded mediation center, and the
notice itself has to carry specific content — the landlord's contact
information, the exact current rent due, and a bold warning explaining the
mediation timeline. If the tenant gets mediation scheduled within the 10 days,
the landlord "shall only file a summary possession proceeding after the
expiration of twenty calendar days from the date of the tenant's receipt" of the
notice, unless the tenant then skips or cancels the mediation. Paying the full
amount within the period stops the termination.

One durability note the statute spells out: the 10-calendar-day period is
permanent — the on-page note says the "amendment to subsection (a) is exempt
from the repeal and reenactment condition" — but the mediation machinery in
subsections (b) through (i) is a pilot that is set to repeal and reenact on
February 4, 2028, so that part of the process may change after then.

Notice for a lease violation

For a non-rent problem you can fix, Hawaii gives at least 10 days, through two
sections depending on the type of breach. If the tenant breaks one of the
landlord's written rules (§ 521-52 rules), § 521-72 requires a written notice
that "shall specify the time, not less than ten days, within which the tenant is
required to remedy the breach," using the statute's own notice form. If the
problem is the tenant's failure to keep the unit clean and safe — waste or a
failure to maintain under § 521-51 — § 521-69 likewise requires written notice
and "a specified time not less than ten days after receipt of the notice... to
remedy the noncompliance." If a house-rule breach continues or comes back after
the deadline, the landlord has a 30-day window to file (§ 521-72(b)).

Unconditional quit (no cure allowed)

Hawaii does not use a single flat "X-day notice to quit" for serious conduct.
Instead, both cure statutes switch off the cure period when the conduct is
dangerous. Under § 521-69, "no allowance of time to remedy noncompliance shall
be required when noncompliance by the tenant causes or threatens to cause
irremediable damage to any person or property." Under § 521-72, no cure time is
required "when the breach by the tenant causes or threatens to cause damage to
any person or constitutes a violation of section 521-51(1) or (6)" — the tenant's
core health-and-safety duties. The landlord still has to give written notice,
but in these situations there is no right to fix the problem and stay.

Ending a month-to-month tenancy

To end a month-to-month tenancy when the tenant has done nothing wrong, the
landlord "may terminate the rental agreement by notifying the tenant, in
writing, at least forty-five days in advance of the anticipated termination"
(§ 521-71(a)). That 45-day floor is longer than the 30 days most states require.
A shorter tenancy — week-to-week or other less-than-monthly arrangement — takes
only 10 days (§ 521-71(d)). And if the landlord is ending the tenancy to
demolish the building, convert it to a condominium, or turn it into transient
vacation rentals, the notice jumps to at least 120 days (§ 521-71(c)).

Just cause to evict required?

No. Hawaii has no statewide "just cause" law: under § 521-71(a) a landlord can
end a month-to-month tenancy for no stated reason as long as the 45-day written
notice is given. (A city or county ordinance could add its own cause
requirement, which is outside this survey's state-law scope.) A just-cause bill
was introduced in the 2025–2026 Legislature but did not pass, so the 45-day
no-cause notice remains the rule.

How the notice must be served

For a nonpayment notice, § 521-68 allows personal delivery, posting in a
conspicuous place on the unit, or U.S. mail — and, as noted above, ties the
"received" date to the method (posting date, or two business days after a
postmark). The nonpayment notice is also only valid if it carries the required
content: the landlord's contact information, the exact amount due, the
mediation-center notice, and the bold warning. For a § 521-69 waste/maintenance
notice, if the tenant "cannot be served with notice as required, notice may be
given the tenant by posting the same in a conspicuous place on the dwelling
unit." A § 521-72 house-rule notice has to be in writing and follow the
statutory form the section sets out.

Tenant's right to cure/reinstate

Paying the rent, or fixing the breach, within the notice period keeps the
tenancy. On a nonpayment notice the tenant has an added tool: requesting free
mediation within the 10 days pauses any court filing (§ 521-68). Separately, the
statute protects a tenant who complains: after a good-faith complaint to a
health, housing, or consumer agency, or a repair request, "no action or
proceeding to recover possession of the dwelling unit may be maintained against
the tenant" (§ 521-74) — the retaliatory-eviction bar, subject to listed
exceptions such as waste or nuisance. Hawaii also gives tenants a
repair-and-deduct remedy for health-and-safety defects — deducting up to "$1,000
or one month's rent, whichever is greater" (§ 521-64) — and its courts recognize
an implied-warranty-of-habitability defense in a nonpayment summary-possession
case.

What trips people up

The nonpayment clock and process changed on February 5, 2026. If you are
working from an older guide, the number is wrong: the notice is now at least 10
calendar days, not the old 5 business days, and the landlord must route a copy
through a state-funded mediation center. If you schedule mediation within the 10
days, the landlord cannot file for 20 calendar days from when you received the
notice. The 10-day period is here to stay, but the mediation-center steps are a
pilot that is scheduled to be revisited in February 2028.

"Received" is not always the day it hits your hand. For the nonpayment
notice, a posted notice counts as received the day it is posted, and a mailed
notice counts as received two business days after the postmark. Those deemed
dates are what start your 10-day (and any 20-day mediation) count — check the
posting or postmark date, not the day you happened to read it.

Serious conduct can skip the cure period entirely. Most lease problems in
Hawaii come with at least 10 days to fix them, but § 521-69 and § 521-72 remove
the cure window when the conduct threatens irremediable damage or endangers a
person. You may not get a second chance in those cases, even though you would
for an ordinary rule breach.

Common questions

My landlord posted a pay-or-quit notice on my door — when does my time start?
On the posting date. Section 521-68 says a posted notice is "deemed received on
the date of the posting," so your at-least-10-calendar-day window runs from that
day. A mailed notice instead counts as received two business days after the
postmark.

Do I have to use the mediation center, and does it buy me time? You are not
forced to, but it can help. If you contact the mediation center and get a
session scheduled within the 10 days, the landlord has to wait 20 calendar days
from your receipt of the notice before filing — and the landlord is required to
participate if you schedule it.

Can my landlord end my month-to-month lease just because they want to?
Yes, on 45 days' written notice. Hawaii has no statewide just-cause law, so a
landlord does not have to give a reason to end a month-to-month tenancy — but
the notice must be at least 45 days, and it cannot be a cover for illegal
retaliation after you complained about conditions.

Can my landlord shut off my water or change the locks to make me leave? No.
Section 521-74.5 bars a landlord from taking possession "by the wilful
interruption or diminution of running water, hot water, or electric, gas, or
other essential service," and treats it as an unfair or deceptive practice with
minimum damages of three times the monthly rent or $1,000. Only a court can
order an eviction.

Statutes and sources

• Haw. Rev. Stat. § 521-68(a) — 10-calendar-day pay-or-quit notice (eff. Feb. 5, 2026); posting/mailing receipt rules.
  https://www.capitol.hawaii.gov/hrscurrent/Vol12_Ch0501-0588/HRS0521/HRS_0521-0068.htm (accessed 2026-07-11)
• Haw. Rev. Stat. § 521-68(c) — 20-calendar-day wait to file if mediation is scheduled within the 10 days.
  https://www.capitol.hawaii.gov/hrscurrent/Vol12_Ch0501-0588/HRS0521/HRS_0521-0068.htm (accessed 2026-07-11)
• Haw. Rev. Stat. § 521-68 note — the 10-day change in subsection (a) is permanent (exempt from the Feb. 4, 2028 repeal/reenactment of the mediation pilot).
  https://www.capitol.hawaii.gov/hrscurrent/Vol12_Ch0501-0588/HRS0521/HRS_0521-0068.htm (accessed 2026-07-11)
• Haw. Rev. Stat. § 521-69(a) — at least 10 days to cure waste/failure to maintain; no cure time if irremediable damage to a person or property.
  https://www.capitol.hawaii.gov/hrscurrent/Vol12_Ch0501-0588/HRS0521/HRS_0521-0069.htm (accessed 2026-07-11)
• Haw. Rev. Stat. § 521-72 — at least 10 days to cure a house-rule breach (statutory form); no cure time if damage to a person or a § 521-51(1)/(6) violation; 30-day filing window on recurrence.
  https://www.capitol.hawaii.gov/hrscurrent/Vol12_Ch0501-0588/HRS0521/HRS_0521-0072.htm (accessed 2026-07-11)
• Haw. Rev. Stat. § 521-71(a), (c), (d) — 45 days to end a month-to-month tenancy; 120 days for demolition/condo/vacation-rental conversion; 10 days for a shorter tenancy.
  https://www.capitol.hawaii.gov/hrscurrent/Vol12_Ch0501-0588/HRS0521/HRS_0521-0071.htm (accessed 2026-07-11)
• Haw. Rev. Stat. § 521-74(a) — retaliatory-eviction bar after a good-faith complaint or repair request.
  https://www.capitol.hawaii.gov/hrscurrent/Vol12_Ch0501-0588/HRS0521/HRS_0521-0074.htm (accessed 2026-07-11)
• Haw. Rev. Stat. § 521-74.5 — landlord may not recover possession by cutting off utilities (self-help barred).
  https://www.capitol.hawaii.gov/hrscurrent/Vol12_Ch0501-0588/HRS0521/HRS_0521-0074_0005.htm (accessed 2026-07-11)
• Haw. Rev. Stat. § 521-64(b)(1) — repair-and-deduct remedy up to $1,000 or one month's rent, whichever is greater.
  https://www.capitol.hawaii.gov/hrscurrent/Vol12_Ch0501-0588/HRS0521/HRS_0521-0064.htm (accessed 2026-07-11)