| Quick Facts | Answer |
| Acceptable Deductions | Unpaid rent, utilities and late fees
Costs of damage Costs of early termination Cleaning costs Failure to return keys |
| Return Deadline | 14 days |
| Itemized Deductions | Required |
| Max. Penalty for Late Return | Full Deposit + 3x Amount Due + Court Costs |
For laws on security deposit collections and holdings in Hawaii, click here.
Some cities and counties may have regulations which are different than those presented here. Always check local laws.
Security Deposit Deductions in Hawaii
In Hawaii, the following can be deducted from security deposits:
- Unpaid rent, utilities, and late fees
- Costs of damage excluding normal wear and tear
- Costs of damage due to early termination of the lease
- Cleaning costs
- Failure to return keys (including key fobs, garage door openers, etc.)
Most states, such as Hawaii, do not have a legal limit on how much a landlord can charge for damages except that the charges must be reasonable.
If the cost of the damages exceeds the amount of the security deposit, landlords are entitled to seek additional damages from the former tenant.
What is Considered Normal Wear and Tear in Hawaii?
Unlike many states, Hawaii has a formal legal standard for “Normal Wear and Tear.” The law provides this definition:
“Normal wear and tear” means deterioration or depreciation in value by ordinary and reasonable use but does not include items that are missing from the dwelling unit.
Examples of normal wear and tear include:
- Lightly scratched glass
- Faded flooring
- Lightly dirtied grout
- Loose door handles
- Stained bath fixtures
“Excessive Damage” means any careless, reckless, or intentional damage that occurs because of someone on the property with the tenant’s permission. Examples include:
- Heavily stained, burned, or torn carpets
- Broken tiles or windows
- Holes in the wall
- Missing fixtures
Can the Landlord Charge for Replacing the Carpet in Hawaii?
Landlord can charge for replacing the carpet if it is damaged beyond normal wear and tear.
A carpet that is slightly discolored or gently worn will be considered normal wear and tear. A carpet with visible stains, major discoloration and rips will be considered excessively damaged.
Can the Landlord Charge for Nail Holes in Hawaii?
Landlords in Hawaii can charge a tenant for nail holes if they damage the walls in a way that doesn’t demonstrate an ordinary and reasonable level of care.
Tenants have the right to use the walls within their unit in a reasonable way. This includes inserting small nails or thumbtacks to hang posters or pictures.
However, large holes from drilling, multiple nail holes, large nail holes, and holes made for hanging heavier things may be considered damage, and thus chargeable to the tenant.
Can the Landlord Charge a Cleaning Fee in Hawaii?
Hawaii law allows landlords to charge for reasonable cleaning costs. The law considers it reasonable to clean the unit back to its original condition at the start of the lease.
Can the Landlord Charge for Painting in Hawaii?
Hawaii landlords can charge for painting, except for normal wear and tear. For example, a landlord might be able to charge for:
- Damage to the paint beyond normal wear and tear
- Tenant repainting without the landlord’s consent
- Tenant repainting with consent, but not doing the work to a professional standard
Normal paint wear includes:
- Minor scrapes from daily use
- Fading due to sunlight
- Minor cracks in the original paint.
Landlords can charge for repainting if the damage is not the result of ordinary care. This includes stains, large or deep scratches, and water damage.
Security Deposit Returns in Hawaii
Landlords must return a security deposit by mail within 14 days after the lease term ends. If the landlord intends to make deductions, they must include an itemized statement of deductions.
How Long Do Landlords Have to Return Security Deposits in Hawaii?
Hawaii landlords have 14 days after the lease term ends to return any unused portion of the security deposit. Landlords comply with this requirement if the mailing is postmarked or acknowledged by the tenant within the 14-day period.
Do Landlords Owe Interest on Security Deposits in Hawaii?
Unlike in some states, such as New Jersey, landlords in Hawaii do not owe interest on security deposits.
How Do Landlords Give Notice in Hawaii?
Hawaii law requires that written notice must be mailed with return receipt requested to the address provided by the tenant. It must include the amount of the security deposit due to the tenant (if any), plus an itemized statement of deductions. The itemized statement is not valid unless supported with evidence of the costs of repair, such as invoices, receipts, etc.
If a landlord fails to comply within the 14-day period, they lose the right to make deductions from the security deposit.
An itemized statement isn’t required when the tenant terminates the lease agreement early. Also, if a tenant abandons the rental unit for 20 days or longer without notifying the landlord or paying rent, the landlord can keep the entire security deposit.
Can a Security Deposit Be Used for Last Month’s Rent in Hawaii?
Hawaii law does not forbid the security deposit from being used for any outstanding rent.
Landlords can include a provision in the lease agreement that the security deposit cannot be used for the last month’s rent until the tenant vacates the rental unit.
Security Deposit Disputes in Hawaii
If landlords do not return the security deposit within the 14-day period, tenants can file for the return of the full security deposit plus damages in court up to three times the amount wrongfully withheld plus court costs.
If the court determines that the act of the landlord was unintentional, they may only award damages up to the amount of the deposit wrongfully withheld.
Tenants can also take legal action against a landlord for:
- Failure to provide an itemized statement when deductions are made
- Unreasonable deductions
How Can Tenants File a Dispute for a Security Deposit in Hawaii?
If a landlord fails to return the security deposit, the tenant can file a dispute in Small Claims Court if the amount of damages is less than $5,000. If the amount is greater, the tenant must file a regular civil case in the local District Court.
Sources
- 1 Haw. Rev. Stat. § 521-44
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As used in this section “security deposit” means money deposited by or for the tenant with the landlord to be held by the landlord to:
(1) Remedy tenant defaults for accidental or intentional damages resulting from failure to comply with section 521-51, for failure to pay rent due, or for failure to return all keys, including key fobs, parking cards, garage door openers, and mail box keys, furnished by the landlord at the termination of the rental agreement;
(2) Clean the dwelling unit or have it cleaned at the termination of the rental agreement so as to place the condition of the dwelling unit in as fit a condition as that which the tenant entered into possession of the dwelling unit;
(3) Compensate for damages caused by a tenant who wrongfully quits the dwelling unit;
(4) Compensate for damages under subsection (b) caused by any pet animal allowed to reside in the premises pursuant to the rental agreement; and
(5) Compensate the landlord for moneys owed by the tenant under the rental agreement for utility service provided by the landlord but not included in the rent.
Source Link - 2 Haw. Rev. Stat. § 521-8
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… “Normal wear and tear” means deterioration or depreciation in value by ordinary and reasonable use but does not include items that are missing from the dwelling unit. …
Source Link
- 3 Haw. Rev. Stat. § 521-44(c)
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At the termination of a rental agreement in which the landlord required and received a security deposit if the landlord proposes to retain any amount of the security deposit for any of the purposes specified in subsection (a), the landlord shall so notify the tenant, in writing, unless the tenant had wrongfully quit the dwelling unit, together with the particulars of and grounds for the retention, including written evidence of the costs of remedying tenant defaults, such as estimates or invoices for material and services or of the costs of cleaning, such as receipts for supplies and equipment or charges for cleaning services. The security deposit, or the portion of the security deposit remaining after the landlord has claimed and retained amounts authorized under this section, if any, shall be returned to the tenant not later than fourteen days after the termination of the rental agreement. If the landlord does not furnish the tenant with the written notice and other information required by this subsection, within fourteen days after the termination of the rental agreement, the landlord shall not be entitled to retain the security deposit or any part of it, and the landlord shall return the entire amount of the security deposit to the tenant. A return of the security deposit or the furnishing of the written notice and other required information in compliance with the requirements of this subsection shall be presumptively proven if mailed to the tenant, at an address supplied to the landlord by the tenant, with acceptable proof of mailing and postmarked before midnight of the fourteenth day after the date of the termination of the rental agreement or if there is an acknowledgment by the tenant of receipt within the fourteen-day limit. All actions for the recovery of a landlord’s complete or partial retention of the security deposit shall be instituted not later than one year after termination of the rental agreement.
Source Link - 4 Haw. Rev. Stat. § 521-44(d)
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For the purposes of this section if a tenant is absent from the dwelling unit for a continuous period of twenty days or more without written notice to the landlord the tenant shall be deemed to have wrongfully quit the dwelling unit; provided that the tenant shall not be considered to be absent from the dwelling unit without notice to the landlord during any period for which the landlord has received payment of rent. In addition to any other right or remedy the landlord has with respect to such a tenant the landlord may retain the entire amount of any security deposit the landlord has received from or on behalf of such tenant.
Source Link - 5 Haw. Rev. Stat. § 521-44
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In any action in the small claims division of the district court pursuant to subsection (g) where the court determines that:
(1) The landlord wrongfully and wilfully retained a security deposit or part of a security deposit, the court may award the tenant damages in an amount equal to three times the amount of the security deposit, or part thereof, wrongfully and wilfully retained and the cost of suit.
(2) The landlord wrongfully retained a security deposit or part of a security deposit, the court shall award the tenant damages in an amount equal to the amount of the security deposit, or part thereof, wrongfully retained and the cost of suit.
(3) The landlord was entitled to retain the security deposit or a part of it, the court shall award the landlord damages in an amount equal to the amount of the security deposit, or part thereof, in dispute and the cost of suit.
(4) In any such action, neither the landlord nor the tenant may be represented by an attorney, including salaried employees of the landlord or tenant.
Source Link - 6 Haw. Rev. Stat. § 633-27
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All district courts, except as otherwise provided, shall exercise jurisdiction conferred by this chapter, and while sitting in the exercise of that jurisdiction, shall be known and referred to as the small claims division of the district court; provided that the jurisdiction of the court when sitting as a small claims division of the district court shall be confined to:
(1) Cases for the recovery of money only where the amount claimed does not exceed $5,000 exclusive of interest and costs, except as provided by section 633-30;
(2) Cases involving disagreement between landlord and tenant about the security deposit in a residential landlord-tenant relationship; and
(3) Cases for the return of leased or rented personal property worth less than $5,000 where the amount claimed owed for that lease or rental is less than $5,000 exclusive of interest and costs.This chapter shall not abridge or affect the jurisdiction of the district courts under paragraphs (1) and (3) to determine cases under the ordinary procedures of the court, it being optional with the plaintiff in the cases to elect the procedure of the small claims division of the district court or the ordinary procedures, as provided by rule of court. No case filed in the small claims division after December 31, 1991, shall be removed from the small claims division to be heard under the ordinary procedures of the district court unless the removal is agreed to by the plaintiff. In cases arising under paragraph (2), the jurisdiction of the small claims division of the district court shall be exclusive; provided that the district court, having jurisdiction over a civil action involving summary possession, shall have concurrent jurisdiction with the small claims division of the district court over any security deposit dispute between landlord and tenant in a residential landlord-tenant relationship. This subsection shall not abrogate or supersede sections 604-5, 633-30, and 633-31.
Source Link
