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How long before eviction in Hawaii?
Tenant protection: Weak4 of 9 checked
Last verified 2026-09-23Law change in effect or pending. Hawaii's eviction mediation pilot under Act 278 (2025) ends on February 4, 2028. On that date the parts of HRS 521-68 that require the landlord to send a copy of the nonpayment notice to a mediation center, and to wait twenty calendar days from the tenant's receipt of the notice before filing when mediation is scheduled, are repealed. The ten-calendar-day notice to pay rent stays in place after that date.
From notice to removal
Each stage has its own timing. A landlord notice alone does not authorize removal.
- 01Notice
10 calendar days
- 02Court stage
Timing not verified
- 03Writ wait
Timing not verified
- 04Removal
Enforcement follows a court order
At a glance
- Grace period before a late fee
- Not verified
- Late fee cap
- A late charge in a rental agreement may not exceed eight per cent of the amount of rent due.
- Pay-or-quit notice
- 10 calendar days
- Recorded court-stage timing
- Not verified
- Wait before the writ can be executed
- Not verified
- Can paying stop it before judgment?
- Yes
- Can paying stop it after judgment?
- Yes
- Lockouts without a court order banned?
- Not verified
- Record sealing available?
- Not verified
- Right to counsel
- Not verified
- Fastest lawful timeline
- 10 daysNot independently verified. Figure from the Eviction Research Network's state eviction timeframes dataset, as of 2026-07-13. We have not yet checked it against the statutes. It is a minimum estimate. No statute sets a court or removal interval, so the dataset counts that stage as zero.
A landlord may demand overdue rent and give written notice any time after rent is due. The notice must give the tenant at least ten calendar days after receipt to pay before the rental agreement can be terminated. A notice left in a conspicuous place on the dwelling counts as received on the day it is posted; a mailed notice counts as received two business days after the postmark. The landlord must also send a copy of the notice to a state-funded mediation center. If the tenant schedules mediation within the ten-day period and takes part, the landlord cannot file for possession until twenty calendar days after the tenant received the notice. This ten-day notice period and the mediation referral run as a pilot program from February 5, 2026 through February 4, 2028; the change from five business days to ten calendar days is permanent and does not revert when the pilot ends. The statute does not state whether a lease may set a different notice period or treat a first late payment differently, and no county notice overlay was found.
A landlord who removes or excludes a tenant from the dwelling overnight without cause or a court order authorizing it owes the tenant an amount equal to two months' rent, or two months of free occupancy, plus the cost of suit, and the tenant may recover possession or end the lease. If a court instead finds the removal or exclusion was with cause or was authorized by a court order, the tenant's claim fails and the court may award the landlord its costs.
Not legal advice. This page reports what the state statute says as of the last-verified date. It does not describe how a particular court applies it, and it does not account for your lease, local ordinances, or the facts of your case. If you have received a notice or a court summons, contact a legal aid organization listed below.
Can I stop it by paying?
Before judgment: Yes. A landlord who wants to evict a tenant for unpaid rent must first demand payment in writing and give the tenant at least ten calendar days from receipt to pay before the rental agreement can be terminated. Only after that time passes without payment may the landlord bring a case for possession. If the tenant asks for mediation within the ten-day notice period, the landlord must wait a total of twenty calendar days from the tenant's receipt of the notice before filing, unless the tenant fails to appear at or cancels the mediation.
After judgment: Yes. Once a court has ruled for the landlord in a nonpayment case, the sheriff's writ removing the tenant is stayed if the tenant pays the rent due, interest on it at 8% a year, and the court costs and the landlord's attorney's fees, at any time before the writ is actually issued.
Behind on utilities in Hawaii too? See Hawaii's shutoff protection rules.
Where to get help
Sources
- HRS §521-68(a), as amended by Act 278 (SLH 2025), effective 2026-02-05. The landlord may demand payment and notify the tenant in writing that the rental agreement will terminate unless payment is made within ten calendar days after receipt of the notice.
- HRS §521-21(f), added by Act 179, SLH 2017, effective 2017-11-01. A late charge in a rental agreement may not exceed eight per cent of the amount of rent due.
- HRS §666-11; §666-12. Once the court finds the plaintiff is entitled to possession, judgment and execution issue, and the writ of possession is directed to the sheriff, deputy sheriff, police officer, or an independent civil process server, who executes it "according to the tenor thereof." Neither section sets a minimum or maximum number of days between judgment and execution of the writ.
- District Court Rules of Civil Procedure, Rule 12(a). In a summary possession case, the return day (when the tenant must appear or answer) is the next court session at least five days after service in the same circuit, at least seven days after service in another circuit, or at least ten days after court-ordered posting if the defendant cannot be found. No rule fixes how many days after filing, or after the return day, judgment must be entered.
- Thomas, Tim, and the Eviction Research Network (2026). Time to evict: State statutory eviction timelines (verified edition, July 2026) [Data set]. Eviction Research Network, University of California, Berkeley.
- Primary statute · Court self-help