|
Comparison · All 5 Hawaii Counties
Hawaii County Rules & Differences
Side-by-side: what changes from island to island — and what stays the same
|
|
🏝️ Kauai • Honolulu • Kalawao • Maui • Hawaii Island
⚖️ State law HRS Ch. 521 applies everywhere
📍 Local rules vary dramatically
|
|
|
|
Same State, Four Very Different Regulatory Environments
Hawaii has one statewide landlord-tenant code — HRS Chapter 521 — that governs the substantive rules of every residential tenancy in the state: one-month security deposit cap, 14-day deposit return, 5-business-day nonpayment notice, 45-day month-to-month termination notice, prohibition of self-help eviction. Those rules are identical in Lihue, Honolulu, Wailuku, and Hilo. What varies — dramatically — is the county layer sitting on top. Short-term rental rules, mediation infrastructure, court procedure, timelines, disclosure obligations, and tax burden all differ by county, sometimes in ways that materially change what a landlord needs to do. This page is a side-by-side snapshot of the current differences among the five Hawaii counties as of April 2026. Kalawao County is included for completeness but has no commercial rental market and is administered by the Hawaii Department of Health rather than by ordinary county government, so most comparison columns read “not applicable.” For detail on any specific county, follow the links in the navigation table or at the bottom of this page.
|
|
|
|
✅ What’s the Same Across All 5 Counties (State Law)
These rules come from HRS Chapter 521 and apply to every residential tenancy in Hawaii regardless of county.
| Rule |
Requirement (Statewide) |
| Security Deposit Cap |
One month’s rent (HRS § 521-44(b)) |
| Deposit Return Deadline |
14 days after tenant vacates; itemized statement required |
| Wrongful Withholding Penalty |
Up to 3x amount wrongfully withheld + attorney’s fees |
| Nonpayment Pay-or-Quit Notice |
5 business days (HRS § 521-68) |
| Month-to-Month Termination (Landlord) |
45 days’ written notice (§ 521-71(a)) |
| Month-to-Month Termination (Tenant) |
28 days’ written notice |
| Demolition / Conversion / TVR Notice |
120 days |
| Lease Violation Cure Period |
10 days (§ 521-72) |
| Landlord Entry Notice |
48 hours (§ 521-53) |
| Repair & Deduct Cap |
$500 per incident (§ 521-64), 12 business days’ notice |
| Self-Help Eviction |
Prohibited — up to 2 months’ rent damages + fees (§ 521-63) |
| Retaliation |
Prohibited (§ 521-74) — defense to eviction + actual damages |
| Rent Control |
None — state law preempts county rent control |
| Act 278 Mediation (eff. Feb 5, 2026) |
Statewide two-year pilot through Feb 4, 2028 |
| State TAT Rate (eff. Jan 1, 2026) |
11% (increased from 10.25%) |
| Summary Possession Filing Fee |
~$155 (uniform across all District Courts) |
|
|
⚠️ Where Counties Differ — The Stuff That Matters
These are the ways Hawaii’s four functional counties (Honolulu, Hawaii, Maui, Kauai) diverge from one another. Kalawao is excluded here because its governance structure renders most comparison columns inapplicable.
|
|
🏛️ District Court — Where You File
| County |
Circuit |
Primary Courthouse |
Additional Divisions |
| Kauai |
Fifth |
Pu‘uhonua Kaulike, 3970 Ka‘ana St., Lihue • (808) 482-2303 |
Ni‘ihau Division (jurisdictional; no active caseload) |
| Honolulu |
First |
Ka‘ahumanu Hale, 1111 Alakea St., Honolulu • (808) 538-5151 |
Covers all of Oahu (highest-volume landlord-tenant docket in the state) |
| Maui |
Second |
2145 Main St. Ste 106, Wailuku • (808) 244-2929 |
Molokai (Kaunakakai) • Lanai (Lanai City) Divisions |
| Hawaii |
Third |
Hale Kaulike, 777 Kīlauea Ave., Hilo • (808) 961-7440 |
Kona (Keahuolū Courthouse, (808) 322-8700) • Waimea (South Kohala, (808) 443-2030) — file by property location |
| Kalawao |
Maui (2nd) |
No local courthouse; cases heard in Wailuku |
Judicial district of Maui County |
|
|
🤝 Mediation Provider — Required Under Act 278
Effective February 5, 2026, every Hawaii county must route nonpayment mediation through a designated Mediation Centers of Hawaii community provider. The statewide rule is the same; the provider differs.
| County |
Mediation Provider |
Contact |
| Kauai |
Kauai Economic Opportunity Mediation Program |
Via Mediation Centers of Hawaii portal |
| Honolulu |
Mediation Center of the Pacific |
Serves all of Oahu |
| Maui |
Maui Mediation Services — longest-running program in the state (Act 202 since Feb 2025) |
95 Mahalani St. Ste 25, Wailuku • (808) 344-4255 • landlordtenanthelp@mauimediation.org |
| Hawaii |
Split by side: Ku‘ikahi Mediation Center (East/Hilo) • West Hawai‘i Mediation Center (Kona) |
Two providers serving opposite sides of the island |
| Kalawao |
No designated provider (no active caseload) |
Would default to Maui Mediation Services if needed |
|
|
⏱ Typical Eviction Timeline (Nonpayment, Uncontested)
| County |
Total Time |
Key Driver |
| Kauai |
4–7 weeks |
Fastest neighbor island. No Pre-Trial Hearing layer. Trial scheduled 1–2 weeks after General Denial. |
| Honolulu |
6–9 weeks |
Distinctive Pre-Trial Hearing procedure adds a step between General Denial and trial that the neighbor islands don’t use. High-volume docket. |
| Maui |
6–10 weeks |
Longest timeline in the state. Continuous mandatory mediation since Feb 2025 (Act 202 → Act 278 through Feb 2028). Landlords must notify Maui Mediation Services and wait before filing. |
| Hawaii |
4–7 weeks |
Similar to Kauai. Three courthouse locations; file in the division covering the property. |
| Kalawao |
N/A |
Essentially zero filings in recorded history |
|
|
🏡 Short-Term Vacation Rental (TVR/STR) Regulation
This is where the counties diverge the most. Each county has its own STR framework. They share almost nothing in common beyond the 180-day threshold.
| County |
Framework |
Key Feature |
Status |
| Kauai |
Ordinance #864 (2008) + Ord. #5473 (2022) moratorium |
Oldest framework in state. VDAs (Princeville, Poipu-Koloa, Kapaa-Wailua, Nawiliwili) or grandfathered NCU only. Zero-tolerance annual renewal — miss by 1 business day = permanent forfeit. No new permits since 2022. |
Stable since 2008 |
| Honolulu |
Bill 41 (2022), Bill 89 (2019), ongoing HILSTRA litigation |
30-day minimum outside resort zones. 2022 attempt to impose 90-day minimum was blocked in federal court (HILSTRA). Resort zones (Waikiki, Ko Olina, Turtle Bay) unaffected. DPP active enforcement. |
Actively litigated |
| Maui |
Ordinance 5909 (Bill 9), signed Dec 15, 2025 |
Phases out ~7,000 apartment-zoned TVRs (Minatoya List). West Maui deadline: Jan 1, 2029. Rest of county: Jan 1, 2031. Hotel-zoned unaffected. H-3/H-4 rezoning (Resolution 25-230) pending; Maui Planning Commission rejected it Feb 2026. Two lawsuits pending. |
Actively changing |
| Hawaii |
Ord. 2018-114 (Bill 108) + Ord. 25-50 (Bill 47), eff. July 1, 2026 |
Bill 108: zoning-based (unhosted TVRs limited to Resort/Resort Node/commercial/multifamily or NCU). Bill 47: mandatory annual registration of all TVRs hosted + unhosted. Hosted $250, unhosted $500. Platform fee $1,000 + monthly reporting. Fines $1k–$10k/day. Hosted 1-hr phone / 3-hr on-site response required. |
Launching July 2026 |
| Kalawao |
No STR framework |
No commercial rental market of any kind; peninsula closed to public |
N/A |
|
|
💰 STR Tax Burden by County
All four functional counties impose the state 11% TAT + a 3% county TAT surcharge. GET rates and county GET surcharges vary slightly.
| County |
GET |
State TAT |
County TAT |
Total |
| Kauai |
4.5% |
11% |
3% |
~18.5% |
| Honolulu |
4.5% |
11% |
3% |
~18.5% |
| Maui |
4.0% |
11% |
3% |
~18% |
| Hawaii |
4.0% |
11% |
3% |
~18% |
|
|
🌟 Unique County Features Worth Knowing
| County |
Distinctive Rules & Issues |
| Kauai |
Zero-tolerance TVR renewal (miss by 1 day = permanent forfeit, no appeal). Fifth Circuit Court Self-Help Center Mon/Thu 10am–12pm. Extreme rainfall (Mount Waialeale) creates mold/moisture habitability issues not seen elsewhere. Ni‘ihau is privately owned (Robinson family) with no commercial rental market. County Planning Department: (808) 241-4050. |
| Honolulu |
Distinctive Pre-Trial Hearing procedure after General Denial adds a step not used on neighbor islands. AOAO condo bylaws routinely overlay § 521 with stricter rules (pets, occupancy, noise, move-in/out). On-island agent required under § 521-43(f) for out-of-state owners. DPP actively enforces STR rules; platform compliance strongest in state. Military/SCRA a significant factor given Pearl Harbor, Hickam, Schofield, and Kaneohe bases. |
| Maui |
Longest continuous mandatory mediation in state — Feb 5, 2025 (Act 202) through Feb 4, 2028 (Act 278) without interruption. Post-Lahaina housing crisis context. Bill 9 phase-out of ~7,000 apartment-zoned TVRs actively reshaping market. Molokai (anti-tourism culture, Hawaiian Homelands) and Lanai (98% owned by Larry Ellison / Pulama Lanai) are effectively separate micromarkets. Elevated tenant-representation rates post-fire — expect Legal Aid, Lahaina Strong, ILWU involvement. FEMA Direct Lease and state rental assistance programs active. |
| Hawaii |
Two-market structure — Hilo side (long-term, UH Hilo, ag) vs. Kona-Kohala side (resort, TVR-heavy) function as separate markets despite one jurisdiction. Lava Hazard Zone disclosure prudent for Zones 1–2 (most of Puna; 2018 Kīlauea eruption destroyed ~700 homes). Tsunami evacuation zones relevant in Hilo (1946, 1960 disasters). Three courthouses — file by property location. Bill 47 registration launching July 1, 2026 will be the biggest operational change on the island. |
| Kalawao |
Administered by Hawaii Department of Health under HRS Ch. 326, §§ 326-34 to 326-38. No elected government; DOH Director serves as Mayor. Smallest U.S. county by land area. ~82 residents, mostly elderly Hansen’s disease registry patients under lifetime state care. Coterminous with Kalaupapa National Historical Park. Access by air only; mule trail closed since 2018 landslide. |
|
|
🎯 Strategic Takeaways
If you’re a long-term rental landlord: State law (HRS § 521) is what you operate under everywhere. The county differences are mostly irrelevant to you except in Maui, where Act 278’s mandatory mediation operates on an ongoing basis since Feb 2025 and will continue continuously through Feb 2028. Maui landlords serving nonpayment notices must notify Maui Mediation Services in parallel — this is an extra procedural step that other counties only began on Feb 5, 2026.
If you operate a short-term vacation rental: County rules dominate. You are effectively operating in a different regulatory regime on each island. Kauai is the most stable (40-year VDA framework, strict but predictable). Maui is the most volatile (Bill 9 phase-out through 2031, pending litigation, H-3/H-4 rezoning). Hawaii Island is the newest regulatory environment (Bill 47 registration system launching July 2026). Honolulu is the most politically contested (three Bills now blocked by HILSTRA federal court injunctions). Cross-county investors need county-specific legal advice on every property, not generic “Hawaii” advice.
If you’re evaluating eviction timelines: Kauai and the Big Island are fastest (4–7 weeks). Honolulu adds a Pre-Trial Hearing step that stretches timelines to 6–9 weeks. Maui is the slowest (6–10 weeks) due to the continuous mediation requirement. Plan accordingly; aggressive timelines that work elsewhere in the country are not realistic in Hawaii.
If you’re buying income property: Verify the county’s STR permit status before closing. A Minatoya-list Maui condo has a different 2031 future than a Waikiki resort-zoned condo. A Kauai NCU permit is uniquely valuable because it cannot be replaced if lost. A Big Island apartment that can’t register under Bill 47 when the portal launches will lose STR income. These distinctions matter far more than generic “Hawaii real estate” analysis.
|
|
🔍 Deep-Dive Pages for Each County
Each county page includes courthouse info, full local regulations, notice calculator, community lists, and a full SEO article with context for that island.
|
|
|
Disclaimer: This comparison summarizes Hawaii county landlord-tenant rules as of April 2026 and is not legal advice. Hawaii county regulations are changing rapidly — particularly in Maui (active Ordinance 5909 litigation and pending rezoning) and Hawaii (Bill 47 launching July 1, 2026 with the county portal still under construction). Always verify current requirements with the relevant District Court, the county Planning Department, or a licensed Hawaii attorney before taking action. Last updated: April 2026.
|
