Hawaii’s rent increase laws set no ceiling on how much your landlord can raise the rent, but they do control the timing: 45 days’ written notice for a month-to-month tenancy and 15 days for a week-to-week arrangement, with fixed-term leases locked at the agreed price until they end. The rules sit in the Hawaii Residential Landlord-Tenant Code (HRS Chapter 521), which also bars increases used to retaliate against a tenant or to discriminate. One Hawaii-specific wrinkle: the General Excise Tax can legally be added on top of your rent, so the number on your lease may not be the number you actually pay.
How Much Notice Your Landlord Must Give
The required notice period depends on the length of your tenancy. On a month-to-month lease, the landlord must give written notice at least 45 consecutive days before the new rate takes effect. On a week-to-week rental, the minimum is 15 consecutive days.1Justia. Hawaii Code 521-21 – Rent Both are calendar days, not business days.
The notice has to be in writing. A verbal mention in the hallway or over the phone doesn’t start the clock, and until valid written notice has been delivered and the full period has run, you still owe only the old amount. Keep a copy of anything you receive, and note the date it arrived.
If you don’t want to pay the new rate, a month-to-month tenant can end the tenancy with at least 28 days’ written notice before the intended move-out date, owing rent through that 28th day.2Justia. Hawaii Code 521-71 – Termination of Tenancy Because the landlord’s 45-day window is longer than your 28-day one, you have time to decide whether to stay or leave once you see the new number.
No Cap on the Amount
Hawaii has no statewide rent control law. Once proper notice is delivered, the increase itself can be any dollar figure. A landlord could double the rent with 45 days’ notice and face no statutory penalty for the size of the jump alone. The practical limit is the local market; landlords who overreach end up with vacancies.
The legislature has looked at rent control more than once and hasn’t passed it. A 2021 statewide proposal was deferred indefinitely in committee, and a 2025 bill (SB1133) that would have let individual counties set their own rental price controls also failed to advance. For now, the statute regulates the process, not the price.
Rent During a Fixed-Term Lease
If you signed a lease with a set end date, the rent is generally locked for the whole term. Your landlord cannot raise it partway through a 12-month lease because property taxes climbed or nearby units are renting for more. The lease is a contract, and the agreed price is part of it.
The one exception is an escalation clause written into the lease. Some leases include language that triggers a specific increase on a set date or ties adjustments to a formula. If you signed a lease with that clause, the increase is enforceable. Without it, a mid-lease hike is a breach.
What happens when the term ends is where people get caught. Fixed-term leases carry no statutory notice requirement for rent increases at the end of the term, and if you stay in the unit with the landlord’s consent after your lease runs out, the tenancy converts to month-to-month.2Justia. Hawaii Code 521-71 – Termination of Tenancy From that point, the 45-day written notice rule applies to any future increase. Your old rate does not automatically continue; the landlord can propose a new one with proper notice.
The General Excise Tax on Rent
Hawaii doesn’t have a traditional sales tax, but it does charge a General Excise Tax on business activity, and renting a home counts as a business activity. The statewide GET rate is 4%, and every county adds a 0.5% surcharge, bringing the combined rate to 4.5% across all four counties.3Department of Taxation. General Excise Tax (GET) Information Landlords are allowed to pass this cost on to tenants.
When the tax is passed on visibly as a separate line item, the maximum pass-on rate is 4.7120% in all four counties for 2026.3Department of Taxation. General Excise Tax (GET) Information The rate runs slightly above the combined 4.5% tax because the tax applies to the total collected, including the passed-on tax itself. On $2,000 in monthly rent, that adds roughly $94.
Some landlords fold the tax into the listed rent instead of showing it separately. Either method is legal, but when it appears as a line item the landlord cannot charge more than the actual tax owed.4Hawaii Department of Taxation. An Introduction to Renting Residential Real Property Ask which method your landlord uses before you sign, because $2,000 with GET added on top is not cheaper than $2,094 with tax included.
Reasons a Landlord Cannot Raise Your Rent
The amount is unlimited, but the motivation is not. Under HRS § 521-74, a landlord cannot raise your rent as payback for exercising your rights as a tenant.5Justia. Hawaii Code 521-74 – Retaliatory Evictions and Rent Increases Prohibited Specifically, an increase is prohibited after you have:
- Filed a complaint with the Department of Health, a building department, the Office of Consumer Protection, or another government agency about conditions that violate health or safety standards
- Been the subject of a government-filed complaint, meaning an agency has issued a violation notice regarding your unit
- Requested repairs in good faith under the landlord’s maintenance obligations
The statute doesn’t set a fixed expiration on this protection. It runs as long as you keep paying rent and the underlying complaint or repair issue remains relevant. A landlord can defend against a retaliation claim by showing the increase was driven by legitimate costs, such as a substantial jump in property taxes or operating expenses, that arose at least four months before the rent hike was demanded.5Justia. Hawaii Code 521-74 – Retaliatory Evictions and Rent Increases Prohibited
If a court finds the increase retaliatory, you can recover your actual damages plus the cost of the lawsuit, including reasonable attorney’s fees.5Justia. Hawaii Code 521-74 – Retaliatory Evictions and Rent Increases Prohibited Actual damages cover what the retaliation cost you, such as moving expenses or the difference in rent at a new place.
Increases Based on Who You Are
Federal fair housing law prohibits rent increases motivated by a tenant’s race, color, national origin, religion, sex, familial status, or disability.6U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. Housing Discrimination Under the Fair Housing Act Hawaii’s own fair housing statute adds sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, marital status, ancestry, age, and HIV infection.7Justia. Hawaii Code 515-3 – Discriminatory Practices A landlord who raises rent on one tenant but not others in comparable units without a legitimate business reason can face a discrimination claim built on the pattern itself.
What Else Moves When Rent Moves
A security deposit in Hawaii is capped at one month’s rent. If you have a pet, the landlord can collect an additional pet deposit, but it also cannot exceed one month’s rent, so the combined maximum for a tenant with a pet is two months’ rent.8Justia. Hawaii Code 521-44 – Security Deposits Assistance animals for tenants with disabilities are exempt from the pet deposit. Because the cap is pegged to rent, an increase raises the landlord’s legal ceiling for the deposit too, though whether the landlord asks you to top it up is a separate question. At the start of a tenancy, a landlord may collect only first month’s rent and the security deposit.
Late fees have their own cap. If your rental agreement includes a late fee, it cannot exceed 8% of the rent due.1Justia. Hawaii Code 521-21 – Rent The fee has to be written into the agreement to be enforceable at all. This cap applies to all rental agreements and renewals entered on or after November 1, 2017. When rent rises, your maximum late fee exposure rises with it.
If Your Landlord Breaks the Rules
If a rent increase arrives without proper written notice or within too short a timeframe, you are not obligated to pay the higher amount. Keep paying your existing rent and document everything: your lease, the notice you received, and the date it arrived.
Hawaii’s Department of Commerce and Consumer Affairs runs a Landlord-Tenant Information Center with a phone line for questions. Small claims court handles landlord-tenant disputes that can’t be resolved informally, and the process is designed for people without lawyers.
Retaliation and discrimination claims carry more weight and more complexity. A fair housing complaint can go to HUD or the Hawaii Civil Rights Commission. Retaliation claims under HRS § 521-74 go through state court, and the statute’s attorney’s fees provision makes it easier to find a lawyer willing to take the case if you have a strong one.