Bill Text: HI SB825 | 2025 | Regular Session | Amended
Bill Title: Relating To Eviction Mediation.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 3-0)
Status: (Introduced) 2025-02-19 - The committee(s) on JDC recommend(s) that the measure be PASSED, WITH AMENDMENTS. The votes in JDC were as follows: 4 Aye(s): Senator(s) Rhoads, Chang, San Buenaventura, Awa; Aye(s) with reservations: none ; 0 No(es): none; and 1 Excused: Senator(s) Gabbard. [SB825 Detail]
Download: Hawaii-2025-SB825-Amended.html
|
THE SENATE |
S.B. NO. |
825 |
|
THIRTY-THIRD LEGISLATURE, 2025 |
S.D. 1 |
|
|
STATE OF HAWAII |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
||
|
|
||
A BILL FOR AN ACT
RELATING TO EVICTION MEDIATION.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF HAWAII:
Act 57, Session Laws of Hawaii 2021 (Act 57), encouraged communication and facilitated mediation between housing providers and tenants to help encourage collaborative solutions to this common problem and to avoid evictions when possible. Experience shows that the mediation procedures created by Act 57 were widely successful in substantially increasing the number of disputes that were settled in mediation without any eviction cases being filed and increased the number of settlements in which the parties agreed that the tenant could continue to reside in the dwelling unit. However, the amendments to the landlord-tenant code by Act 57 have expired.
Accordingly, the purpose of this Act is to:
(2) Establish a pilot program that adopts the most effective provisions of Act 57 that:
(A) Extends the period for a notice of termination of the rental agreement from five business days to ten calendar days;
(B) Requires all housing providers and tenants to engage in early mediation and delay filing an action for eviction if a tenant schedules or attempts to schedule a mediation;
(C) Requires
tenants and landlords to be responsible for their own attorneys' fees and costs
in prelitigation mediation. If the
tenant defaults on a mediated agreement, the landlord may file for eviction and
payment of all attorneys' fees and costs incurred in the pre-litigation
mediation process; and
(D) Requires landlords to provide specific information in the ten-calendar-day notice to tenants, which shall also be provided to a mediation center that offers free mediation for residential landlord-tenant disputes; and
(3) Appropriate moneys for the pre-litigation mediation pilot program.
SECTION 2. Section 521-68, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended to read as follows:
"§521-68 Landlord's remedies for
failure by tenant to pay rent[.]; pre-litigation mediation. (a) A
landlord or the landlord's agent [may], any time after rent is due, may
demand payment thereof and notify the tenant in writing that unless payment is
made within a time mentioned in the notice[, not] as provided
in subsection (b), not less than [five business] ten calendar
days after receipt thereof, the rental agreement will be terminated. [If the tenant cannot be served with
notice as required, notice] Notice may be given to the tenant
by posting the same in a conspicuous place on the dwelling unit[.],
and the notice shall be deemed received on the date of the posting. If the notice is mailed to the tenant via the
United States Postal Service, properly addressed and with appropriate postage,
the notice shall be deemed to have been received two business days after the
date of the postmark, unless the letter is returned to the landlord as
undeliverable. If the tenant remains
in default[,] after the expiration of the time stated in the notice,
the landlord may [thereafter] bring a summary proceeding for possession
of the dwelling unit or any other proper proceeding, action, or suit for
possession[.], subject to this section. The notice required by this section need not
be given if the action is based on the breach of a mediated agreement or other
settlement agreement, or is for an eviction proceeding based on matters other
than non-payment of rent. In any action
based on the breach of a mediated agreement, the court shall not require any
further mediation before trial.
(b) The ten-calendar-day notice shall include the
following:
(1) The name of the landlord or the
landlord's agent and the landlord's or landlord's agent's contact information,
including, if possible, phone number, electronic mail address, and mailing
address;
(2) The address of the dwelling unit
subject to the rental agreement;
(3) The name and contact information of
all tenants listed on the rental agreement, including phone number and, if
possible, electronic mail address and mailing address;
(4) The current amount of the rent due
as of the date of the notice, after applying all rent paid from all sources;
(5) Notice that a copy of the
ten-calendar-day notice being provided to the tenant is also being provided to a
state-funded mediation center for the mediation center to contact the landlord
and tenant to schedule a mediation regarding the nonpayment of rent in
accordance with subsection (c);
(6) Notice that the landlord or
landlord's agent may file an action for summary possession if the rent due is
not paid and if mediation is not scheduled within ten calendar days after the
tenant's receipt of the ten‑calendar-day notice, regardless of whether
the scheduled mediation session occurs within the ten calendar days;
(7) A warning in bold typeface print in
substantially the following form: "If mediation is not scheduled within
ten calendar days after receipt of this notice, regardless of whether the
scheduled mediation session occurs within the ten-calendar-day period, the
landlord may file an action for summary possession after the expiration of the
ten-calendar-day period. If mediation is
scheduled before the expiration of the ten-calendar-day period, regardless of
whether the scheduled mediation session occurs within the ten calendar days,
the landlord shall only file an action for summary possession after the
expiration of twenty calendar days following the tenant's receipt of the
ten-calendar-day notice unless you (tenant) fail to attend or cancel mediation. If the ten‑calendar‑day notice
was posted on the premises, receipt of notice shall be deemed to be the date of
posting. If the ten‑calendar‑day
notice was mailed, receipt of notice shall be deemed to be two business days
after the date of the postmark. If
filing an action for summary possession, the landlord shall be required to note,
in the summary possession complaint, the status of the mediation or settlement
effort and proof of posting or sending the ten‑calendar-day notice to the
mediation center."; and
(8) Notice that the landlord or
landlord's agent shall engage in mediation if mediation is scheduled.
The
judiciary shall prepare a notice form that may be used by landlords and
landlords' agents to provide the information required by this subsection and
make the form available on its website.
(c) A landlord or the landlord's agent shall
provide the ten‑calendar-day notice to a state-funded mediation center that
offers free mediation for residential landlord-tenant matters. All state-funded mediation centers shall
offer mediation services to landlords and tenants through in-person and remote
means, and shall allow mediation participants to utilize remote appearances, if
requested. If a mediation center schedules
mediation within the ten-calendar-day period and the tenant participates in the
mediation, regardless of whether the scheduled mediation session occurs within
the ten-calendar-day period, the landlord shall only file a summary possession
proceeding after the expiration of twenty calendar days from the date of the
tenant's receipt of the ten-calendar-day notice. If the tenant schedules mediation, the
landlord shall participate. Mediation
shall take place within thirty days from the date that the mediation center makes
contact with both the landlord and tenant. Upon request by the landlord or the landlord's
agent, the mediation center shall provide copies of a document or documents verifying
that the landlord provided a copy of the required ten‑calendar-day notice
to the mediation center.
(d) The summary possession complaint for
nonpayment of rent shall include:
(1) A document or documents from the
mediation center verifying that the landlord provided a copy of the required
ten-calendar-day notice to the mediation center or an affirmation from the
landlord or the landlord's agent that the notice was provided to the applicable
mediation center and the means by which the notice was provided to the
applicable mediation center. Upon
request by the landlord or the landlord's agent, the mediation center shall
provide copies of the relevant documents to the landlord; and
(2) If mediation is scheduled but has
not yet occurred, the date on which the mediation is scheduled.
(e) If there is any defect in the
ten-calendar-day notice described in subsection (b) provided by the landlord
and the court determines the defect was unintentional or immaterial, the court
may allow the landlord to cure the defect without dismissing the action for
summary possession.
(f) Nothing in this section shall impact a
landlord's or tenant's other rights and responsibilities under this chapter.
(g) The mediation may take place using remote
communication, in person, or both.
(h) Each tenant and landlord shall be responsible
for bearing the party's own costs, including attorneys' fees, relating to the
mediation; provided that, if the tenant defaults on a mediated agreement or
fails to attend a scheduled mediation, the landlord may request payment of all
costs, including reasonable attorneys' fees, incurred during the pre‑litigation
mediation process.
(i) If the mediation does not result in an
agreement, the landlord or the landlord's agent may file an action for summary
possession without participating in an additional mediation; provided that
after the filing of the action for summary possession, the court, in its
discretion and based on a finding of good cause, may order an additional
mediation.
[(b)]
(j) A landlord or the landlord's
agent may bring an action solely for rent [alone] at any time
after the landlord has demanded payment of past due rent and notified the
tenant of the landlord's intention to bring such an action."
SECTION 3. There is appropriated out of the general revenues of the State of Hawaii the sum of $ or so much thereof as may be necessary for fiscal year 2025-2026 and the same sum or so much thereof as may be necessary for fiscal year 2026-2027 for the judiciary to contract for mediation services pursuant to section 2 of this Act.
The sums appropriated shall be expended by the judiciary for the purposes of this Act.
SECTION 4. This Act does not affect rights and duties that matured, penalties that were incurred, and proceedings that were begun before its effective date.
SECTION 5. Statutory material to be repealed is bracketed and stricken. New statutory material is underscored.
SECTION 6. This Act shall take effect on July 1, 2050; provided that:
(1) Section 2 shall take effect on February 5, 2026; and
(2) This Act shall be repealed on February 4, 2027, and section 521-68, Hawaii Revised Statutes, shall be reenacted in the form in which it read on the day prior to the effective date of section 2 of this Act.
Report Title:
Judiciary; Eviction Mediation; Pre-litigation Mediation Pilot Program; Summary Possession; Landlords; Tenants; Appropriations
Description:
Beginning
2/5/2026, extends the period for a notice of termination of a rental agreement
from 5 business days to 10 calendar days. Requires landlords to engage in mediation and
delay filing an action for summary possession if a tenant schedules or attempts
to schedule mediation. Requires
landlords to provide specific information in the 10‑calendar-day notice
to tenants. Requires mediation to take
place within 30 days from the date that a mediation center makes contact with
both the landlord and tenant. Appropriates
funds. Repeals 2/4/2027. Effective 7/1/2050. (SD1)
The summary description
of legislation appearing on this page is for informational purposes only and is
not legislation or evidence of legislative intent.
