Hawaii Notice to Vacate: 2026 Landlord Rules and the Process

HRS 521-68 (effective February 5, 2026 under 2025 Act 278) requires a 10-calendar-day notice to cure nonpayment. The tenant must cure within 10 calendar days after receiving the notice, or the rental agreement is terminated and the landlord may file summary possession as soon as 10 calendar days after receipt. Mediation is part of the process: the landlord must provide a copy of the 10-day notice to a state-funded mediation center, and if the tenant schedules mediation within the 10-day window the landlord may file summary possession only after 20 calendar days from the tenant's receipt, unless the tenant fails to appear at or cancels the mediation. If the tenant schedules mediation, the landlord must participate. This is a two-year pilot running through February 4, 2028; confirm the rule is still in effect before relying on it for a notice dated near or after that date.

For a remediable breach of a rule authorized under HRS 521-52, HRS 521-72 requires the notice to specify a time, not less than 10 days, within which the tenant must remedy the breach, in substantially the statutory form. The same 10-day floor applies to material noncompliance with the tenant's statutory obligations under HRS 521-69. If the breach continues or recurs after the date specified in the notice, the landlord may bring a summary proceeding for possession. No allowance of time to remedy is required where the breach causes or threatens damage to a person, violates HRS 521-51(1) or (6), or threatens irremediable damage to person or property. Confirm the precise subsection text before relying on a no-cure termination for a specific situation.

HRS 521-71(a) lets a landlord terminate a month-to-month tenancy by giving the tenant at least 45 days written notice before the anticipated termination. A tenant terminating a month-to-month tenancy needs at least 28 days notice under HRS 521-71(b), and a tenancy that is less than month-to-month may be ended by either party on at least 10 days notice under HRS 521-71(d). Where the no-cause termination is driven by voluntary demolition, conversion to a condominium property regime under chapter 514A or 514B, or conversion to transient vacation rentals, HRS 521-71(c) requires at least 120 days notice. Hawaii has no statewide just-cause requirement, so a landlord generally need not state a reason to end a periodic tenancy with proper notice, subject to the retaliation and fair-housing limits below.

Federal law provides the baseline. The Servicemembers Civil Relief Act (50 U.S.C. 3955) generally allows a servicemember to terminate a residential lease on entry into military service or on receipt of qualifying permanent-change-of-station or deployment orders, with termination effective after the next rent due date following written notice. Hawaii law also addresses early termination for servicemembers who receive change-of-station or deployment orders. Because the exact federal effective-date mechanics and landlords should verify the current statute before relying on it, a landlord who receives a military termination notice should verify the orders and the current statutory text rather than proceeding with notice to vacate or summary possession on the same tenancy.

A defective notice can derail the summary possession case. Hawaii notices must be in writing and must match the cause: a nonpayment notice under HRS 521-68 must state the default, the amount of rent due after applying all payments, the 10-calendar-day cure period, and the mediation-center copy and contact information, and a rule-breach notice under HRS 521-72 must use substantially the statutory form and a cure date not less than 10 days out. For nonpayment, the landlord must also show proof that a copy of the notice went to the mediation center and note the status of any mediation effort when filing. A notice that names the wrong period, omits required content, was served improperly, or skips the mediation copy can lead to dismissal and force the landlord to start the notice over.

No. HRS 521-74 bars a landlord from bringing an action to recover possession, otherwise causing the tenant to quit involuntarily, raising rent, or decreasing services after the tenant has in good faith complained to a government agency, the landlord, or a building department about a condition that violates a health law or this chapter, so long as the tenant keeps tendering the usual rent. The statute lists exceptions where the landlord may still recover possession, including where the tenant is committing waste or a nuisance or using the unit for an illegal purpose, where the landlord in good faith seeks the unit as a residence for the landlord or immediate family, or where the landlord in good faith seeks to substantially alter, remodel, or demolish the premises. Confirm the full subsection text, including any presumption window, before relying on it.