Domestic Violence and a Lease

A tenant may end a rental agreement of one year or less without penalty, fees, or liability for future rent if the tenant or an immediate family member living there was a victim of domestic violence in the ninety days before the notice.

• The notice is given at least fourteen days before the termination date, which is no more than one hundred four days after the most recent act.
• It comes with a restraining order or court document, a letter from a victim services program or shelter, or one from a medical or mental health provider, attorney, advocate, social worker or member of the clergy.
• The tenant also gives a written statement that the abuser is reasonably believed to know where the tenant lives, unless the abuser lives in the same unit.
• The landlord may not charge a fee or penalty, and may not disclose the information without the tenant's signed consent, except in a court case or where law requires.

• §HRS 521-80StatuteEarly termination of tenancy; victims of domestic violenceOpens data.capitol.hawaii.gov ↗

A tenant who stays may ask the landlord to change the locks. The landlord does it within three days, at the tenant's expense, or the tenant may change them and give the landlord a key. If the abuser is also on the agreement, the locks are changed only under a court order that the abuser vacate.

• §HRS 521-81StatuteChange of locks; victims of domestic violenceOpens data.capitol.hawaii.gov ↗