Hawaii Landlord Compliance Kit: Deposit, Notice and Eviction Checklists with an Excel Tracker

Who it is for

Landlords and property managers with rentals in Hawaii, and tenants who want the same record, from move-in through move-out or a court case.

Not the right fit if

Your rental is outside Hawaii: get that state's kit. Not legal advice, not a lawyer's review of a lease, notice or court case, and not a set of legal notice forms; city and county rules aren't covered.

Why it is different

• Built only from our Hawaii data files, checked November 2026 against 7 official pages, among them Hawaii DCCA Office of Consumer Protection: Residential Landlord-Tenant Code; Hawaii DCCA Office of Consumer Protection: Residential Landlord-Tenant Handbook (2024); Hawaii State Legislature: HRS 521-21 (Rent); Hawaii State Legislature: HRS Chapter 666, Landlord and Tenant (2017 compilation); Hawaii State Judiciary: Small Claims; Hawaii State Judiciary: Your Guide to Small Claims Court (brochure), plus National Coalition for a Civil Right to Counsel (a vetted secondary source, marked in the kit) where no official page could be read.
• 6 items the official pages didn't state are left out of the rules and put on a short look-up list with the page to check, never guessed.
• The workbook recalculates with zero formula errors and works out Hawaii notice and deposit dates for you.

What is inside

• Start here. How to use the kit, the 17 confirmed Hawaii rules at a glance and a short look-up list of 6 points to check: where the deposit is held, filing fee, time to answer or appear, hearing after filing, judgment to writ, writ to lockout, each with the official page.
• Hawaii landlord rules checklist. Deposits, notice periods, the eviction case and the small claims limit, each confirmed rule with its source link and check date. What it confirms: deposit limit: No more than one month's rent, and key or pet deposits count toward it; return deadline: The balance after deductions is returned no later than 14 days after the rental agreement ends, with written notice of the reasons for keeping any part; itemized list of deductions: Written notice of the reasons for keeping part or all of the deposit; interest on the deposit: The Office of Consumer Protection handbook (2024) says the landlord isn't required by law to pay interest on the deposit; penalty the law states: Without the notice within 14 days, the landlord must return all of the deposit; ending month-to-month (landlord): Written notice at least 45 days in advance; oral notice isn't enough; ending month-to-month (tenant): Written notice at least 28 days in advance; rent increase notice: Month-to-month tenancy: written notice 45 consecutive days before the increase takes effect (15 consecutive days for a tenancy shorter than month-to-month); unpaid rent notice: A written 10-calendar-day notice to pay the full amount owed; entry notice: Except in an emergency, at least two days' notice before entering, and only at reasonable hours; late fee limits: A late charge can't exceed 8% of the rent due; court: A summary possession case in the district court of the circuit where the rental is; who carries out the lockout: The writ goes to a sheriff, deputy sheriff, police officer or an independent civil process server on the state list; paying to stop the case: In a nonpayment case the writ is stayed if, before it issues, the tenant pays the rent due with 8% interest plus the costs of the case and the landlord's expenses, including a reasonable attorney fee; right to counsel (statewide): No statewide right to counsel for tenants in eviction cases (as of November 2026, per the National Coalition for a Civil Right to Counsel): its tracker of enacted laws lists no statewide law here; diversion or mediation (statewide): A mediation step before filing: if mediation is scheduled during the 10-day nonpayment notice, the landlord generally waits 20 calendar days before filing.
• Move-in and move-out deposit checklist. A room-by-room condition checklist for both visits and the steps after move-out, with Hawaii's return deadline (within 14 days).
• Notice calendar. When each notice must go out: the lead time for every notice the state's text confirms, with a 2027 month-by-month serve-by table worked out with our notice date calculator's rules.
• Eviction timeline sheet. The Hawaii case in order from notice to lockout, with each confirmed stage, an example dated from a sample filing day where the rules give periods, and blanks for your own case dates.
• Hawaii landlord workbook (Excel). A tenant notice log that dates each notice from the Hawaii rules, a deposit tracker that works out the return date for each move-out, and a rent ledger with a running balance.