Eviction Notice Requirements in Hawaii

At a glance

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)