To evict a family member in Hawaii, you have to treat them the way the law treats any other occupant: figure out whether they are a tenant or an unpaying guest, give the written notice the statute requires, and if they still won’t leave, file a summary possession action in District Court and wait for a judge to order them out. Changing the locks, cutting off utilities, or moving their belongings to the curb is illegal, no matter whose name is on the deed.
Start By Classifying the Person Living With You
Everything downstream depends on this. If your relative pays rent or contributes to household expenses under any agreement, written or verbal, they are almost certainly a tenant under Hawaii’s Residential Landlord-Tenant Code (Chapter 521). A month-to-month tenancy exists the moment money changes hands for a place to live, and all of Chapter 521’s protections apply.
If your relative pays nothing and lives in your home purely because you invited them, they are a guest or licensee. You can revoke that permission, but revoking it does not authorize you to physically remove them. If they refuse to go, you still have to use the summary possession process under Chapter 666 of the Hawaii Revised Statutes to get them out lawfully.
The Written Notice You Have to Give
Notice is where most do-it-yourself evictions fall apart. Get the timeline or the delivery wrong and the judge will send you back to the beginning.
Month-to-Month Tenant, No Specific Reason
If your family member is a paying month-to-month tenant and you simply want the arrangement to end, you owe at least 45 days’ written notice before the termination date. You do not have to give a reason.1Justia. Hawaii Code 521-71 – Termination of Tenancy; Landlords Remedies for Holdover Tenants The tenant can leave earlier within that window, but must tell you when and pay prorated rent through their departure date.
Week-to-Week or Shorter
For arrangements shorter than one month, either party can end things with at least 10 days’ written notice before termination.1Justia. Hawaii Code 521-71 – Termination of Tenancy; Landlords Remedies for Holdover Tenants
Non-Paying Family Member
If your relative pays nothing and has no lease, Chapter 521 does not apply. Chapter 666 does, and it entitles an occupant without a written lease to at least 10 days’ written notice to quit before you can file for eviction.2Justia. Hawaii Code 666-1 – Summary Possession on Termination or Forfeiture Deliver the notice in person or by certified mail with a return receipt so you have proof for the court.
When They’ve Broken the Deal
Hawaii allows shorter notices when a paying tenant has actually breached something:
- Unpaid rent: demand payment in writing and give at least five business days to pay. If they don’t, the tenancy terminates and you can file for eviction.3Justia. Hawaii Code 521-68 – Landlords Remedies for Failure to Pay Rent
- Other lease or rule violations: at least 10 days’ written notice describing the problem and giving them a chance to fix it. If the violation involves a health or safety law, intentional property destruction, or a threat of injury, you can skip the cure period and go straight to court.
The notice itself has to be in writing but has no mandatory format.1Justia. Hawaii Code 521-71 – Termination of Tenancy; Landlords Remedies for Holdover Tenants Include the names of both parties, the property address, the reason if there is one, and the date the person must be out. Keep a copy and keep your proof of delivery.
Filing a Summary Possession Case
If the deadline passes and your relative is still there, the next step is a summary possession action in the District Court of the circuit where the property sits.4Justia. Hawaii Code 666-6 – Summary Possession Proceedings; Venue The Hawaii State Judiciary publishes the complaint form online.5Hawaii State Judiciary. Complaint for Summary Possession Form 1DC08
The complaint should describe your relationship to the property, the living arrangement, the notice you gave, and why you are entitled to possession. Attach a copy of the notice and your proof of service. The filing fee was $155 on the most recent published District Court schedule.6Hawaii State Judiciary. District Court Filing Fees and Costs Confirm the current amount with the clerk. Once you file, the court issues a summons and sets a hearing.
Don’t Miss the 60-Day Window
If a month-to-month tenant stays past the termination date without your consent, you have 60 days to file the summary possession action. Wait longer and the law automatically creates a new month-to-month tenancy at the old rent, and you have to serve fresh notice and start over.1Justia. Hawaii Code 521-71 – Termination of Tenancy; Landlords Remedies for Holdover Tenants
Check Military Status Before a Default
Before the court will enter a default judgment against a no-show, federal law requires you to verify whether the person is on active military duty. The Servicemembers Civil Relief Act prohibits evicting an active-duty servicemember or their dependents from a primary residence without a court order, and the court can stay the proceedings for at least 90 days if military service has affected the person’s ability to pay.7Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 50 USC 3951 – Evictions and Distress You can check status through the Department of Defense’s online database and file an affidavit with the court.
The Hearing
Bring everything you have. The notice, proof of delivery, any written agreement, rent records, text messages, emails, anything that documents the arrangement. Judges in these cases move quickly and expect organized evidence.
Your relative will get a chance to answer. Common defenses are that the notice was defective, that the eviction is retaliatory, or that the tenant has already cured whatever violation triggered the case. Hawaii specifically bars retaliatory eviction when a tenant has reported health or safety violations to a government agency or requested repairs in good faith.8Justia. Hawaii Code 521-74 – Retaliatory Evictions and Rent Increases Prohibited If the tenant shows the eviction followed a protected action, you carry the burden of proving a legitimate reason.
If the judge rules for you, the court enters a Judgment for Possession.9Justia. Hawaii Code 666-11 – Judgment; Writ of Possession
Getting Them Out After You Win
A Judgment for Possession does not let you go home and start hauling boxes to the sidewalk. The judgment lets you request a Writ of Possession from the court clerk. The writ is the document that actually authorizes law enforcement to remove the occupant.
Under Hawaii law, the writ is directed to a sheriff, deputy sheriff, police officer, or approved independent civil process server, commanding them to remove all persons from the property and put you or your agent in full possession.9Justia. Hawaii Code 666-11 – Judgment; Writ of Possession You deliver the writ to the local sheriff’s office or police department, which schedules the actual removal. There is a fee; ask the clerk.
Do Not Try to Do This Yourself
Hawaii forbids self-help eviction, and the penalty is steep. Changing the locks, removing doors, shutting off utilities, or clearing out someone’s belongings without a court order all count as unlawful removal. If you remove or exclude an occupant overnight without cause or a court order, they can sue you for an amount equal to two months’ rent or receive two months of free occupancy, plus court costs and attorney fees.10Justia. Hawaii Code 521-63 – Tenants Remedy of Termination at Any Time; Unlawful Removal or Exclusion The court can also order you to let them back in. However bad the relationship has gotten, the court process is the only legal route.
What to Do With Belongings Left Behind
Once your relative is out, you cannot throw away what they leave. If the items appear to have value, you have to make a reasonable effort to notify the former occupant by mailing notice to their forwarding address or last known address, describing the property and your intent to sell or donate it.11Justia. Hawaii Code 521-56 – Disposition of Tenants Abandoned Possessions
Wait at least 15 days after mailing the notice before selling or donating anything. If you sell, you can deduct unpaid rent and storage costs from the proceeds, then hold the remainder in trust for 30 days. Anything unclaimed after that is yours. Items you determine have no value can be disposed of at your discretion without liability.
Settling It Without Going to Court
Court is slow, expensive, and hard on the family. If there is any room to negotiate, use it before you file.
A cash-for-keys arrangement is the most common workaround. You offer a set amount of money in exchange for your relative voluntarily leaving by a specific date. Put it in writing. The agreement should list the move-out date, the condition you expect the home to be in, and a statement that they are voluntarily giving up any claim to occupy the property. Don’t pay until they are out and the keys are back in your hand, and change the locks immediately.
Mediation is another route, particularly when the real fight is about something other than the housing itself. The Hawaii Judiciary operates a mediation program, and a neutral mediator can sometimes reach an agreement that a courtroom won’t. Even when mediation doesn’t resolve everything, it can narrow what’s left to fight about.