Security Deposit Law
What Hawaii landlords must do with security deposits — the cap, interest, return deadline, account rules, and penalties — with citations to the statute itself.
Verified as of June 11, 2026
This page is general information, not legal advice. Statutes change — verify with the cited sources or an attorney.
Deposit cap
One month's rent, plus an optional pet deposit of up to one additional month's rent.
Interest
No interest is required on Hawaii security deposits.
Return deadline
14 days after the rental agreement terminates.
Hawaii caps the security deposit at one month's rent. You may also collect a separately agreed pet deposit of up to one more month's rent, but only for a tenant whose pet actually lives in the unit — and never for an assistance animal that is a reasonable accommodation for a tenant with a disability. At move-in you may not collect any money beyond the first month's rent and the security deposit.
HRS § 521-44 contains no requirement to pay or credit interest on a residential security deposit; the statute is silent on interest, so none is owed under state law.
Return the deposit (or the remainder) within 14 days of termination. If you retain any amount, you must send written notice of the particulars and grounds within that same 14 days, including written evidence of costs — estimates or invoices for repairs, receipts or charges for cleaning. Mailing counts if postmarked before midnight of the fourteenth day to the tenant's supplied address with acceptable proof of mailing, or if the tenant acknowledges receipt within the 14-day limit. The written-notice requirement is excused if the tenant wrongfully quit the unit.
Hawaii does not require a separate or escrow account. The statute expressly contemplates commingling: the deposit is held for the tenant, and the tenant's claim to it is prior to any creditor of the landlord — including a bankruptcy trustee — even if deposits are commingled.
If you fail to send the required written notice and evidence within 14 days, you lose the right to retain any of the deposit and must return it all. In a small-claims dispute, a court must award the tenant the amount wrongfully retained plus costs, and may award three times any amount wrongfully and wilfully retained plus costs; if you were entitled to retain it, the court awards you the disputed amount plus costs, and neither side may use an attorney. All actions over a landlord's retention of the deposit must be brought within one year after the rental agreement terminates.
Haw. Rev. Stat. § 521-44(h) · Haw. Rev. Stat. § 521-44(c) · Haw. Rev. Stat. § 521-44(g)
None identified. Hawaii's Residential Landlord-Tenant Code (HRS ch. 521) is statewide, and no county (Honolulu, Maui, Kauai, or Hawaii County) was found to impose its own residential security deposit ordinance as of June 2026.
The base security deposit cannot exceed one month's rent. A pet deposit of up to one additional month's rent may be agreed, but never for an assistance animal that is a reasonable accommodation under HRS § 515-3, and never charged to a tenant whose pet does not live in the unit.
Within 14 days of termination you must return the deposit or send written notice of what you are keeping and why, with written evidence of costs (repair estimates or invoices; cleaning receipts or service charges). Mail postmarked before midnight of the fourteenth day with proof of mailing presumptively satisfies the deadline.
At the start of a tenancy you may collect only the first month's rent and the security deposit — no last month's rent, no extra fees. The deposit may be applied to the last month's rent only if you and the tenant mutually agree in writing and the tenant gives 45 days' notice of vacating; postdated checks for rent are prohibited.
A tenant absent for 20 continuous days or more without written notice (and without rent paid covering that period) is deemed to have wrongfully quit, and you may retain the entire deposit in addition to other remedies. Wrongful quitting also excuses the 14-day written retention notice — subsection (c) requires notice "unless the tenant had wrongfully quit the dwelling unit."
On any transfer of your interest the successor is bound by § 521-44. You must give the successor an accounting of deposits at or before transfer; within 20 days after, the successor must give each tenant written notice of the deposit credited. If the successor fails, each tenant is presumed to have paid a deposit of at least one month's rent at the original rental rate.
You forfeit the right to retain any of the deposit and must return the entire amount — even for legitimate damage. Continued withholding becomes wrongful retention, exposing you to deposit-plus-costs damages, or treble damages if wilful.
Section 521-44(b) flatly forbids receiving any money at the start of a rental agreement other than the first month's rent and the capped security deposit; excess collections are unauthorized and a disputing tenant can pursue recovery in small claims under subsections (g)-(h).
In small claims court a tenant can be awarded three times the amount wrongfully and wilfully retained, plus the cost of suit — and you cannot send a lawyer, since attorneys (including salaried employees acting as such) are barred from these actions.
Each tenant is presumed to have paid a deposit of no less than one month's rent at the rate when they first rented, and you are bound by that amount in all further deposit matters — regardless of what the seller actually transferred to you.
The pet-deposit add-on is unlawful in both cases: it may not be required from any tenant without a resident pet, nor for an assistance animal that is a reasonable accommodation for a tenant with a disability under HRS § 515-3 — which also creates fair-housing exposure.
Up to one month's rent. You may add a separately agreed pet deposit of up to one additional month's rent, but only if the tenant has a pet living in the unit — and never for an assistance animal that is a disability accommodation. You cannot collect anything else at move-in beyond the first month's rent and the deposit. (HRS § 521-44(b))
14 days after the rental agreement terminates. If you keep any portion, you must send written notice within those 14 days listing the grounds and including written cost evidence — repair estimates or invoices, cleaning receipts or service charges. A mailing postmarked before midnight of the fourteenth day with proof of mailing satisfies the deadline. (HRS § 521-44(c))
You forfeit the right to retain any part of the deposit and must return the full amount, even if the tenant caused real damage (you'd have to pursue damages separately). If you keep withholding, a small-claims court must award the tenant the amount wrongfully retained plus costs, and can award three times the amount if the retention was wilful. (HRS § 521-44(c), (h))
Only if you both agree in writing and the tenant gives 45 days' notice of vacating. Otherwise no part of the deposit counts as last month's rent, and entering such an agreement doesn't waive your right to pursue the tenant for damages. (HRS § 521-44(b))
No to both. HRS § 521-44 has no interest requirement and no separate-account requirement — it expressly says the tenant's claim to the deposit beats any creditor of the landlord 'even if the security deposits are commingled.' You still hold the money for the tenant, so don't treat it as income. (HRS § 521-44(b))
Only the purposes listed in HRS § 521-44(a): damage beyond the tenant's § 521-51 duties, unpaid rent, unreturned keys (including key fobs, parking cards, garage door openers, and mailbox keys), cleaning to return the unit to the condition at move-in, damage from a wrongful quit, pet damage covered by a pet deposit, and landlord-provided utilities the tenant owes. Each deduction needs written evidence in your 14-day notice. (HRS § 521-44(a), (c))
This page is general information, not legal advice. Statutes change — verify with the cited sources or an attorney.
Statute facts on this page were verified against the cited official sources on June 11, 2026.
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