How much can a landlord charge for a security deposit in Hawaii?

No more than one month's rent, plus an agreed pet deposit of up to one month's rent for a pet that is not an assistance animal. The cap comes from Haw. Rev. Stat. 521-44, and the lease repeats it in the deposit clause.

What does a Hawaii landlord have to disclose with the lease?

Beyond the federal lead paint disclosure for a building built before 1978, the Hawaii checklist has five items: name and address of each person authorized to manage the Premises and of the owner or the owner's agent for service of process, rents, notices and demands, in writing at or before the start of the tenancy; a copy of the written rental agreement given to the Tenant; and an agent residing on the same island as the Premises, named in the rental agreement, when the owner lives off-island or out of state. The other two are on the checklist in the document. Each one names its statute and the landlord initials it in the document.

Which Hawaii statutes does this lease cite?

Haw. Rev. Stat. 521-44, Haw. Rev. Stat. 521-71, Haw. Rev. Stat. 521-53 and Haw. Rev. Stat. 521-43, read on October 23, 2026. They print in the document footer so a reader can check each clause against the statute in a minute.

Should a lawyer look at this Hawaii lease before I use it?

It is a general form, not legal advice, and it does not claim to comply with any law. The clauses state what the Hawaii statute requires and name the statute. A lawyer who works with Hawaii landlords can tell you whether the form fits your property, your city and the terms you want to add, which is worth the hour before signing a lease for a large rent or a long term.

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Hawaii Residential Lease Agreement

A plain-language lease for a house or apartment in Hawaii. The deposit, notice, entry and disclosure clauses follow Hawaii statute, cited in the document. Download the blank PDF or e-sign it online; electronic signatures are recognized under the federal ESIGN Act and state UETA laws.

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Page one of the Hawaii Residential Lease Agreement — Page 1 of the PDF. Tinted boxes are the placed fields, one color per role.

Hawaii rules in this lease

Security deposit cap: No more than one month's rent, plus an agreed pet deposit of up to one month's rent for a pet that is not an assistance animal
Deposit return: Within 14 days after the rental agreement ends, the Landlord returns the deposit or the balance after lawful deductions, with written notice of the particulars and grounds for each deduction and the estimates, invoices or receipts that support it, mailed to the address the Tenant supplied, and a Landlord who misses that deadline may not keep any part of the deposit.
Ending a month-to-month tenancy: The Landlord ends a month-to-month tenancy with at least 45 days' written notice, and the Tenant with at least 28 days' written notice.
Landlord entry: The Landlord gives at least two days' notice before entering, enters at a reasonable time, and needs no notice in an emergency or where notice is impracticable.
Disclosures: 6 items, listed below with the section that requires each one
Statutes: Haw. Rev. Stat. 521-44, Haw. Rev. Stat. 521-71, Haw. Rev. Stat. 521-53, Haw. Rev. Stat. 521-43. Read the Hawaii statute
Rules read on: 2026-10-23

A general form, not legal advice, and not a claim that it complies with any law. Rules change and vary by city. Check the statute cited here, or ask a lawyer, before you rely on it.

What is different in Hawaii

Pick Hawaii and four parts of this lease change: the security deposit clause, the notice clause for a month-to-month tenancy, the entry clause and the disclosures checklist, each rewritten from the Hawaii statute. The rest of the document reads the same in every state.

Start with the deposit. Hawaii caps it at one month's rent, plus an agreed pet deposit of up to one month's rent for a pet that is not an assistance animal. The statute does not say where the money is kept, so the lease leaves that to the landlord, but its return rule, quoted in full below, says when and how the deposit comes back, and takes the right to keep any of it away from a landlord who misses the deadline.

Notice to end a month-to-month tenancy is not symmetrical in Hawaii; the two sides give different notice. The Landlord ends a month-to-month tenancy with at least 45 days' written notice, and the Tenant with at least 28 days' written notice.

Hawaii also speaks to when a landlord may come in. The Landlord gives at least two days' notice before entering, enters at a reasonable time, and needs no notice in an emergency or where notice is impracticable.

The disclosures checklist carries five Hawaii items on top of the federal lead paint notice, among them the Landlord's general excise tax number, each with the section that requires it and a line for the landlord's initials.

This row notes no city or county overlay for Hawaii; if the property is in a city with its own rental ordinance, check it before signing. The state clauses follow four sections of Hawaii law, read on October 23, 2026 and listed in the Statutes row above; the same citations print in the footer of the PDF.

Read the Hawaii clauses

The wording below is what prints in the PDF for Hawaii, word for word, under the headings Security deposit, Entry, Ending the lease and default, and Disclosures.

Security deposit

Within 14 days after the rental agreement ends, the Landlord returns the deposit or the balance after lawful deductions, with written notice of the particulars and grounds for each deduction and the estimates, invoices or receipts that support it, mailed to the address the Tenant supplied, and a Landlord who misses that deadline may not keep any part of the deposit. The deposit may not exceed one month's rent, plus an agreed pet deposit of up to one month's rent for a pet that is not an assistance animal.

Entry

The Landlord gives at least two days' notice before entering, enters at a reasonable time, and needs no notice in an emergency or where notice is impracticable.

Ending the lease and default

The Landlord ends a month-to-month tenancy with at least 45 days' written notice, and the Tenant with at least 28 days' written notice. If rent is unpaid or a term is broken, the Landlord gives the written notice Hawaii law requires before ending the tenancy, and the Tenant is responsible for rent through the end of the term unless the Premises is re-rented sooner.

Disclosures the Landlord initials

Lead-based paint and hazards, for a building built before 1978, with the EPA pamphlet (42 U.S.C. 4852d)
Name and address of each person authorized to manage the Premises and of the owner or the owner's agent for service of process, rents, notices and demands, in writing at or before the start of the tenancy (Haw. Rev. Stat. 521-43(a))
A copy of the written rental agreement given to the Tenant (Haw. Rev. Stat. 521-43(d))
An agent residing on the same island as the Premises, named in the rental agreement, when the owner lives off-island or out of state (Haw. Rev. Stat. 521-43(f))
The Landlord's general excise tax number (Haw. Rev. Stat. 521-43(h))
A written move-in condition inventory signed in duplicate, with each party keeping a copy (Haw. Rev. Stat. 521-42(a)(6))

Footer of the PDF: Hawaii clauses follow Haw. Rev. Stat. 521-44, Haw. Rev. Stat. 521-71, Haw. Rev. Stat. 521-53, Haw. Rev. Stat. 521-43 as read on 2026-10-23.

Hawaii lease questions

How much can a landlord charge for a security deposit in Hawaii?: No more than one month's rent, plus an agreed pet deposit of up to one month's rent for a pet that is not an assistance animal. The cap comes from Haw. Rev. Stat. 521-44, and the lease repeats it in the deposit clause.
When does the security deposit come back in Hawaii?: Within 14 days after the rental agreement ends, the Landlord returns the deposit or the balance after lawful deductions, with written notice of the particulars and grounds for each deduction and the estimates, invoices or receipts that support it, mailed to the address the Tenant supplied, and a Landlord who misses that deadline may not keep any part of the deposit.
How much notice ends a month-to-month tenancy in Hawaii?: The Landlord ends a month-to-month tenancy with at least 45 days' written notice, and the Tenant with at least 28 days' written notice.
How much notice does a Hawaii landlord give before entering?: The Landlord gives at least two days' notice before entering, enters at a reasonable time, and needs no notice in an emergency or where notice is impracticable.
What does a Hawaii landlord have to disclose with the lease?: Beyond the federal lead paint disclosure for a building built before 1978, the Hawaii checklist has five items: name and address of each person authorized to manage the Premises and of the owner or the owner's agent for service of process, rents, notices and demands, in writing at or before the start of the tenancy; a copy of the written rental agreement given to the Tenant; and an agent residing on the same island as the Premises, named in the rental agreement, when the owner lives off-island or out of state. The other two are on the checklist in the document. Each one names its statute and the landlord initials it in the document.
Which Hawaii statutes does this lease cite?: Haw. Rev. Stat. 521-44, Haw. Rev. Stat. 521-71, Haw. Rev. Stat. 521-53 and Haw. Rev. Stat. 521-43, read on October 23, 2026. They print in the document footer so a reader can check each clause against the statute in a minute.
Should a lawyer look at this Hawaii lease before I use it?: It is a general form, not legal advice, and it does not claim to comply with any law. The clauses state what the Hawaii statute requires and name the statute. A lawyer who works with Hawaii landlords can tell you whether the form fits your property, your city and the terms you want to add, which is worth the hour before signing a lease for a large rent or a long term.

Who this is for. A Hawaii lease is one half of a landlord's paperwork; proving a notice was received is the other. Both are covered at free e-signatures for landlords.

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