Belongings Left Behind
HRS 521-56 — notice to the tenant before a sale or donation, and the proceeds held thirty days
Where a tenant has quit the premises and left belongings the landlord in good faith judges to be of value, the landlord may sell them in a commercially reasonable manner, store them at the tenant's expense, or donate them to a charity.
Who handles this in Hawaii: legal aid programs, lawyer referral and the state offices, listed in the Hawaii directory.
- Before selling or donating, the landlord makes reasonable efforts to tell the tenant what and where the things are, by mail to the forwarding address or another address the tenant gave.
- Sale proceeds, after accrued rent and the costs of storage and sale, are held in trust for the tenant for thirty days, and are then forfeited to the landlord.
- Things the landlord judges to be of no value may be disposed of without liability.
Sources for this section (1)
- HRS 521-56 — Disposition of tenant's abandoned possessions
Legal information, not legal advice. Verified as of October 2026. Applying it to a particular situation is the work of a licensed Hawaii attorney.