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Tenant Abandoned Property Laws in Hawaii

In Hawaii, a landlord must mail notice before selling or donating a former tenant's abandoned property of value and must wait 15 days after mailing; property may then be sold after newspaper advertising or donated to charity, and items of no value may be disposed of.

Last checked . General information, not legal advice.

Hawaii at a glance

Written notice required
Yes, mailed notice
Holding period
15 days after notice is mailed
After the holding period
Sell after advertising, or donate to charity
Sale proceeds, after rent and costs, are held in trust for the tenant for 30 days and then forfeited to the landlord.

Sources

Last checked

The rules in Hawaii

Does a landlord in Hawaii have to notify the tenant before disposing of left-behind property?

Yes, mailed notice. Written notice required in Hawaii: yes, mailed notice.

How long must a landlord in Hawaii keep a tenant's abandoned property?

Holding period in Hawaii: 15 days after notice is mailed.

What can a landlord in Hawaii do with abandoned property after the waiting period?

After the holding period in Hawaii: Sell after advertising, or donate to charity. Sale proceeds, after rent and costs, are held in trust for the tenant for 30 days and then forfeited to the landlord.

Where do the Hawaii tenant abandoned property laws come from?

The rules above come from Haw. Rev. Stat. 521-56. Each source is linked on this page. We last checked them in October 2026.

Good to know

A sale must be advertised in a daily newspaper for at least three consecutive days.

What this means in practice

Before treating anything as abandoned, confirm that the tenancy has actually ended. Some statutes define when a unit counts as abandoned, and removing property while a tenant still has a right to possession can expose a landlord to claims for wrongful eviction or conversion.

Keep a written record. Photos or a video of the items, a dated inventory, a copy of any notice sent and proof of how it was delivered make it much easier to show that the required steps were followed if the former tenant later asks for the property or its value.

Store items safely and in a reasonable way during any holding period. Where a statute allows the landlord to charge reasonable moving and storage costs, or to keep sale proceeds to cover those costs, the rules on what may be charged and what happens to any surplus vary, so check the exact text for your state.

General information, not legal advice. Laws change, and cities can add their own rules, so check the current statute before you rely on it.