Hawaii Mobile Home Park Eviction Process: A Step-by-Step Guide

Nonpayment of rent

Hawaii rewrote its rent-default notice effective February 5, 2026. Under 2025 Act 278, HRS 521-68 now requires a written notice giving the tenant not less than ten calendar days to pay before the rental agreement terminates. This is a permanent extension from the old five business days rule, so any template or web copy still saying 5 days is out of date.

Act 278 also layers a two-year eviction-mediation pilot on top of the notice, running through February 4, 2028. You must send a copy of the 10-day notice to a state-funded mediation center, and if the tenant schedules mediation within the 10-day window you cannot file for summary possession until 20 calendar days after the tenant received the notice.

Caveat for pad-only lots: HRS 521-68 sits in the Residential Landlord-Tenant Code, which governs dwelling units. If you rent only the lot and the resident owns the home, it is genuinely unsettled whether 521-68 applies at all (see the section on resident-owned homes). Serve the 10-calendar-day notice as if Chapter 521 applies, but have counsel confirm the track.

Other lease or rule violations

For a curable breach of a lease rule, HRS 521-72 requires a written notice giving the tenant not less than ten days to remedy the violation, served in substantially the statutory form (if you continue violating or again violate this rule after a date not less than ten days after this notice, the landlord may terminate the rental agreement and sue for possession).

If the breach continues or recurs after the cure date, HRS 521-72 lets you bring a summary proceeding for possession within thirty days after such continued or recurring breach. No cure time is required where the breach causes or threatens to cause damage to any person or violates HRS 521-51(1) or (6) — in those cases you can move straight to termination.

Filing for eviction (summary possession)

Hawaii evictions are summary possession actions under HRS Chapter 666, filed in the District Court of the circuit where the premises are located. Your complaint must allege the landlord-tenant relationship, how the tenancy was created, when and how it was terminated, and that the required notice to quit was given.

The court sets a return day at the next court session no less than five days following the date of service (seven days if the tenant is served in another circuit). For a month-to-month or parol tenancy, Chapter 666 also contemplates a notice to quit of at least ten days. There is no lawful self-help in Hawaii — no lockouts or utility shutoffs; you need the court judgment and a writ before removal.

When the resident owns the home

Hawaii has no mobile-home-park statute and no MHP-specific home-removal deadline. There is no statutory window (such as 30 or 60 days) telling a resident how long they have to move a home they own off your lot. That timing comes from your written lease and general contract/property law, plus whatever the summary-possession judgment and writ order.

This ties to a real coverage question. HRS 521-8 defines a dwelling unit as a structure, or part of a structure, which is used as a home, residence, or sleeping place. A bare pad or lot is not a structure, so a lot-only tenancy (resident owns the home and rents only the land) may fall outside Chapter 521 and instead be governed by the lease and Chapter 666 general landlord-tenant/summary-possession law. No Hawaii statute squarely resolves this, so treat it as unsettled.

Practical takeaway: spell out home-removal timing, storage, abandonment, and lot restoration in the lease itself, because the statutes will not fill the gap. Be wary of online guides that cite HRS Chapter 205 (land use) or 514B (condominiums) as MHP tenant law — they are not on point.

Typical timeline in Hawaii

• Day 0 — Rent past due
  Once rent is due you may demand payment; the clock starts when you serve the written notice.
• 10 calendar days — Nonpayment notice
  HRS 521-68 (as amended by Act 278, eff. 2/5/2026) requires not less than ten calendar days to pay before termination, and a copy of the notice goes to a state-funded mediation center.
• 20 calendar days — If mediation is scheduled
  If the tenant requests mediation within the 10-day window, you cannot file for summary possession until 20 calendar days after the tenant received the notice (pilot through 2/4/2028).
• 10 days — Lease-violation cure
  For other breaches, HRS 521-72 requires not less than ten days to cure; you then have 30 days to file if the breach continues or recurs.
• 5-7 days — Court return day
  After you file summary possession under HRS Chapter 666, the return day is the next court session no less than 5 days after service (7 days if served in another circuit).
• Post-judgment — Writ and removal
  There is no MHP-specific removal window; timing for a resident to move a home they own comes from your lease and the court's judgment and writ.

Operator best practices in Hawaii

• Update your notices to 10 calendar days
  Retire any 5-day nonpayment template; HRS 521-68 now requires not less than ten calendar days, and the Judiciary publishes a fillable Ten Calendar Day Notice of Termination.
• Build the mediation step into your process
  Send the 521-68 copy to a state-funded mediation center and calendar the 20-day filing hold whenever a tenant schedules mediation (pilot runs through 2/4/2028).
• Use the statutory cure-notice form for violations
  For rule breaches, track the 10-day cure and the 30-day filing window in HRS 521-72, and serve notice in substantially the statutory form.
• Put home-removal terms in the lease
  Because Hawaii has no MHP statute, define removal timing, storage, abandonment, and lot restoration contractually — the statutes will not do it for you.
• Never self-help; go through District Court
  Use HRS Chapter 666 summary possession and wait for the judgment and writ; lockouts and utility shutoffs are unlawful in Hawaii.
• Offer cash-for-keys where it pencils out
  A negotiated move-out payment is common market practice and can be faster and cheaper than a contested summary-possession case, especially given the unsettled lot-only coverage.
• Build a relationship with a Hawaii MHP attorney
  Because lot-only coverage under Chapter 521 is genuinely unsettled and parks are rare here, have local counsel confirm which notice track and statute apply before you file.