Hawaii Revised Statutes 521. Residential Landlord-Tenant Code
PART I. GENERAL PROVISIONS AND DEFINITIONS
- 521-1 Short Title.
This chapter shall be known and may be cited as the Residential Landlord-Tenant Code. [L 1972, c 132, pt of §1]
- 521-2 Purposes; Rules of Construction.
(a) This chapter shall be liberally construed and applied to promote its underlying purposes and policies. (b) The underlying purposes and policies of this...
- 521-3 Supplementary General Principles of Law, Other Laws, Applicable.
(a) Unless displaced by the particular provisions of this chapter, the principles of law and equity, including the law relative to capacity to contract,...
- 521-4 Construction Against Implicit Repeal.
This chapter being a general law intended as a unified coverage of its subject matter, no part of it shall be deemed to be...
- 521-5 Severability.
If any provision of this chapter or the application thereof to any person or circumstance is held invalid, the invalidity does not affect other...
- 521-6 Territorial Application.
This chapter applies to rights, remedies, and obligations of the parties to any residential rental agreement wherever made of a dwelling unit within this...
- 521-7 Exclusions From Application of Chapter.
Unless created solely to avoid the application of this chapter, this chapter shall not apply to: (1) Residence at an institution, whether public or...
- 521-8 Definitions.
As used in this chapter, unless the context clearly requires otherwise: "Action" with reference to a judicial proceeding includes recoupment, counterclaim, setoff, and any...
- 521-9 Notice, Notification, Knowledge, Etc.
(a) A person has notice of a fact when: (1) The person has actual knowledge of it; or (2) The person has received a...
- 521-10 Duties; Obligation of Good Faith.
Every duty imposed by this chapter and every act which must be performed as a condition precedent to the exercise of a right or...
- 521-11 Time; Reasonable Time.
(a) Whenever this chapter requires any action to be taken within a reasonable time, any time which is not manifestly unreasonable may be fixed...
PART II. RENT
- 521-21 Rent.
(a) The landlord and tenant may agree to any consideration, not otherwise prohibited by law, as rent. In the absence of such agreement, and...
- 521-22 Term of Rental Agreement.
The landlord and tenant may agree in writing to any period as the term of the rental agreement. In the absence of such agreement,...
PART III. LIMITATIONS ON RENTAL
AGREEMENTS AND PRACTICES
- 521-31 Waiver; Agreement to Forego Rights; Settlement of Claims.
(a) Except as otherwise provided in this chapter, a tenant or landlord may not waive or agree to forego rights or remedies under this...
- 521-32 Separation of Rents and Obligations to Property Forbidden.
Any agreement, conveyance, or trust instrument which authorizes a person other than the beneficial owner to act as the landlord of a dwelling unit...
- 521-33 Landlord's Waiver of Liability Prohibited.
A provision in a rental agreement exempting or limiting the landlord, or requiring the tenant to indemnify the landlord, from liability for damages to...
- 521-34 Authorization to Confess Judgment Prohibited.
A tenant may not authorize any person to confess judgment on a claim arising out of a rental agreement of any dwelling unit. An...
- 521-35 Attorney's Fees.
(a) A rental agreement may provide for the payment by the tenant of the costs of a suit, for unpaid rent, and reasonable attorney's...
- 521-36 Effect of Termination.
Except as otherwise provided in this chapter, whenever a landlord or tenant exercises a right to terminate a rental agreement, the obligations of each...
- 521-37 Subleases and Assignments.
(a) Unless otherwise agreed to in a written rental agreement and except as otherwise provided in this section, the tenant may sublet the tenant's...
- 521-38 Tenants Subject to Rental Agreement; Notice of Conversions.
When a period of tenancy is pursuant to any rental agreement and where a landlord contemplates conversion to a condominium property regime under chapter...
- 521-39 Medical Marijuana; Tenant Use; Eviction.
A provision in a rental agreement allowing for eviction of a tenant who has a valid certificate for the medical use of marijuana as...
PART IV. LANDLORD OBLIGATIONS
PART V. TENANT OBLIGATIONS
- 521-51 Tenant to Maintain Dwelling Unit.
Each tenant shall at all times during the tenancy: (1) Comply with all applicable building and housing laws materially affecting health and safety; (2)...
- 521-52 Tenant to Use Properly.
(a) The tenant shall comply with all obligations or restrictions, whether denominated by the landlord as rules, or otherwise, concerning the tenant's use, occupancy,...
- 521-53 Access.
(a) The tenant shall not unreasonably withhold the tenant's consent to the landlord to enter into the dwelling unit in order to inspect the...
- 521-54 Tenant to Use and Occupy.
The landlord may require, in the rental agreement, that the tenant must notify the landlord of any anticipated extended absence from the dwelling unit...
- 521-55 Tenant's Responsibility to Inform Landlord.
Any defective condition of the premises which comes to the tenant's attention, which the tenant has reason to believe is unknown to the landlord,...
- 521-56 Disposition of Tenant's Abandoned Possessions.
(a) When the tenant, within the meaning of section 521-70(d) or section 521-44(d), has wrongfully quit the premises, or when the tenant has quit...
PART VI. REMEDIES AND PENALTIES
- 521-61 Tenant's Remedies for Failure by Landlord to Supply Possession.
(a) If the landlord fails to put the tenant into possession of the dwelling unit in the agreed condition at the beginning of the...
- 521-62 Tenant's Remedy of Termination At Beginning of Term.
If the landlord fails to conform to the rental agreement, or is in material noncompliance with section 521-42(a), the tenant may, on notice to...
- 521-63 Tenant's Remedy of Termination At Any Time; Unlawful Removal or Exclusion.
(a) If any condition within the premises deprives the tenant of a substantial part of the benefit and enjoyment of the tenant's bargain under...
- 521-64 Tenant's Remedy of Repair and Deduction for Minor Defects.
(a) The landlord, upon written notification by the department of health or other state or county agencies that there exists a condition on the...
- 521-65 Tenant's Remedies for Fire or Casualty Damage.
When the dwelling unit or any part of the premises or appurtenances reasonably necessary to the benefit and enjoyment thereof is rendered partially or...
- 521-66 Tenant's Right to Refund of Rent, Etc., on Termination; Return of Security Deposit.
When a tenant exercises a right to terminate the rental agreement pursuant to section 521-62, 521-63, or 521-65 the landlord shall return to the...
- 521-67 Tenant's Remedy for Failure by Landlord to Disclose.
If the landlord fails to comply with any disclosure requirement specified in section 521-43 within ten days after proper demand therefor by the tenant,...
- 521-68 Landlord's Remedies for Failure by Tenant to Pay Rent.
(a) A landlord or the landlord's agent may, any time after rent is due, demand payment thereof and notify the tenant in writing that...
- 521-69 Landlord's Remedies for Tenant's Waste, Failure to Maintain, or Unlawful Use.
(a) If the tenant is in material noncompliance with section 521-51, the landlord, upon learning of any such noncompliance and after notifying the tenant...
- 521-69.5 Repealed.
L 1991, c 212, §10.
- 521-70 Landlord's Remedies for Absence, Misuse, Abandonment and Failure to Honor Tenancy Before Occupancy.
(a) If the rental agreement provides for notification of the landlord by the tenant of an anticipated extended absence and the tenant fails to...
- 521-71 Termination of Tenancy; Landlord's Remedies for Holdover Tenants.
(a) When the tenancy is month-to-month, the landlord may terminate the rental agreement by notifying the tenant, in writing, at least forty-five days in...
- 521-72 Landlord's Remedies for Improper Use.
(a) If the tenant breaches any rule authorized under section 521-52, the landlord may notify the tenant in writing of the tenant's breach. The...
- 521-73 Landlord's and Tenant's Remedies for Abuse of Access.
(a) The tenant shall be liable to the landlord for any damage proximately caused by the tenant's unreasonable refusal to allow access as provided...
- 521-74 Retaliatory Evictions and Rent Increases Prohibited.
(a) Notwithstanding that the tenant has no written rental agreement or that it has expired, so long as the tenant continues to tender the...
- 521-74.5 Recovery of Possession Limited.
The landlord shall not recover or take possession of a dwelling unit by the wilful interruption or diminution of running water, hot water, or...
- 521-75 Unconscionability.
(a) In any court action or proceeding with respect to a rental agreement, if the court as a matter of law finds the agreement...
- 521-76 Repealed.
L 1976, c 77, §1.
- 521-77 Investigation and Resolution of Complaints by the Office of Consumer Protection.
The office of consumer protection may receive, investigate and attempt to resolve any dispute arising under this chapter. [L 1976, c 77, §2]
- 521-78 Rent Trust Fund.
(a) At the request of either the tenant or the landlord in any court proceeding in which the payment or nonpayment of rent is...
- 521-79 Definitions.
For the purposes of this part, "domestic violence" shall have the same meaning as "domestic abuse" as defined in section 586-1. [L 2015, c 220,...
- 521-80 Early Termination of Tenancy; Victims of Domestic Violence.
(a) A tenant may terminate a rental agreement of a term of one year or less without penalty or fees for early termination or liability...
- 521-81 Change of Locks; Victims of Domestic Violence.
(a) Subject to subsections (b) and (c), if a tenant of a dwelling unit or an immediate family member of the tenant has been...
- 521-82 Court Order to Vacate; Domestic Violence.
(a) If a court of competent jurisdiction, in an action relating to domestic violence, has ordered the person who committed domestic violence against the...
Last modified: October 27, 2016