Hawaii Abandoned Tenant Property Notice

Introduction

Key Things to Know

1. 1

   Hawaii's abandoned tenant property notice is a mailed letter that must apprise the former tenant of three things: the identity of the personalty, its location, and the landlord's intent to sell or donate it. HRS Section 521-56(a) prints no form and has no title for the notice, so a plain letter carrying those three items, mailed to the right address, is what the statute asks for.

2. 2

   The address order is set by statute. Mail to the tenant's forwarding address, or to an address the tenant designated for notification; only if neither is available may the notice go to the tenant's previous known address. The duty is to make reasonable efforts to apprise the tenant, so keep the envelope, the postal receipt and a copy of what was sent.

3. 3

   Fifteen days is the floor. The statute says a sale or donation shall not take place until fifteen days after notice is mailed, after which the tenant is deemed to have received notice. Count from the mailing date, not from the day the unit was found empty, and put the earliest calendar date in the letter.

4. 4

   A sale needs a second step. Following the mailed notice, the landlord may sell only after advertising the sale in a daily paper of general circulation within the circuit where the premises are located for at least three consecutive days, and the sale itself must be conducted in a commercially reasonable manner. A donation to a charitable organization needs no advertisement but is subject to the same fifteen days.

5. 5

   Hawaii uses no dollar figure. The line the statute draws is the landlord's good-faith judgment: personalty determined to be of value goes through the notice, advertisement and fifteen-day steps, while goods left unsold after those steps, or determined to be of no value, may be disposed of at the landlord's discretion without liability under subsection (c).

6. 6

   Net proceeds are not the landlord's straight away. From the sale price the landlord deducts accrued rent and the costs of storage and sale, including the cost of advertising. The balance is held in trust for the tenant for thirty days, after which the statute says it shall be forfeited to the landlord.

7. 7

   The trigger is a tenant who has left. Section 521-70(d) describes a tenant who wrongfully quits and unequivocally indicates by words or deeds an intention not to resume the tenancy, and Section 521-44(d) deems a tenant absent for a continuous period of twenty days or more without written notice to have wrongfully quit, though not during any period for which rent was paid. The statute does not address a separate goods rule after a court-ordered removal.

Hawaii Requirements for Abandoned Tenant Property Notice

• Facts Showing the Tenant Has Quit the Premises

  Record why Section 521-56 applies: a wrongful quit shown by words or deeds unequivocally indicating no intention to resume the tenancy under Section 521-70(d), a continuous absence of twenty days or more without written notice and without rent received under Section 521-44(d), or the end of the tenancy by notice or at the natural expiration of the term.

• A Good-Faith Determination That the Personalty Is of Value

  The notice procedure covers personalty the landlord in good faith determines to be of value. Make a dated, item-by-item inventory with photographs and mark anything judged to be of no value, since subsection (c) treats those items differently. Hawaii sets no dollar threshold, so the written record of that judgment is what supports it.

• Identity of the Personalty

  Section 521-56(a) requires reasonable efforts to apprise the tenant of the identity of the personalty. Describe each item, or each sealed container, closely enough for the owner to recognize it.

• Location of the Personalty

  The notice must give the location of the goods. State the street address where they are held, whether still in the unit, elsewhere on the premises or in a storage facility, and who to contact to collect them.

• The Landlord's Intent to Sell or Donate

  The notice must state the landlord's intent to sell or donate the personalty. Say which, name the charitable organization if donation is planned, and give the earliest date of sale or donation, which cannot be sooner than fifteen days after the notice is mailed.

• Mailing in the Statutory Address Order

  Mail to the forwarding address or an address the tenant designated for notification; only if neither is available, to the previous known address. Keep the mailing receipt and a copy, because the fifteen days run from the mailing date and the tenant is deemed to have received notice when they end.

• Three Consecutive Days of Newspaper Advertisement Before a Sale

  Before selling, advertise the sale in a daily paper of general circulation within the circuit where the premises are located for at least three consecutive days, then conduct the sale in a commercially reasonable manner. Keep the publisher's proof of publication. A donation to a charitable organization does not require the advertisement.

• Accounting and the Thirty-Day Trust of Net Proceeds

  Record the sale price and deduct only accrued rent and the costs of storage and sale, including advertising. Hold the balance in trust for the tenant for thirty days; under Section 521-56(b) it is forfeited to the landlord after that time. Keep the accounting with the file.