How many hours' notice must a landlord give before entering in Hawaii?

2 days. The statute actually says two days, not 48 hours, and the notice does not have to be in writing. Entry must be during reasonable hours, and no notice is required in an emergency or where notice is impracticable (HRS 521-53(b)).

What reasons allow a landlord to enter a rental in Hawaii?

Inspections, necessary or agreed repairs and improvements, agreed services, and showings to prospective purchasers, mortgagees, or tenants. The tenant may not unreasonably withhold consent to any of these, and the statutory list is exhaustive (HRS 521-53).

Can a landlord enter without notice in an emergency in Hawaii?

Yes — Hawaii recognizes an emergency exception to the entry-notice requirement.

Are there time-of-day limits on when a landlord can enter in Hawaii?

None by the clock. Entry must be during 'reasonable hours,' and the statute sets no hour windows.

How much notice must a landlord give before entering in Hawaii?

Verified July 11, 2026 All Hawaii topics →

Hawaii landlords must give tenants at least two days' notice before entering a rental unit and may enter only during reasonable hours, with no-notice entry allowed in an emergency or where notice is impracticable (HRS 521-53).

Cited to HRS § 521-53 (a)-(c) and 3 more Hawaii statutes · Verified July 11, 2026

The notice does not have to be in writing — the statute requires only 'notice,' unlike Hawaii's rent-increase rules — and permitted purposes are limited to inspections, necessary or agreed repairs and improvements, agreed services, and showings to prospective purchasers, mortgagees, or tenants, plus court-ordered entry, apparent abandonment, and entry reasonably necessary during a tenant's extended absence. A landlord who abuses the access right faces real teeth under HRS 521-73: liability for any theft or casualty damage from certain non-consensual entries, a tenant right to terminate over repeated unreasonable entry demands, injunctions, and a fine of up to $100 — and lease clauses waiving those protections are void, except a tenant's consent to a particular entry.

Hawaii entry notice at a glance

Advance notice required	2 days
Notice standard	The statute actually says two days, not 48 hours, and the notice does not have to be in writing. Entry must be during reasonable hours, and no notice is required in an emergency or where notice is impracticable (HRS 521-53(b)). HRS 521-53(b): except in case of emergency 'or where impracticable to do so,' the landlord must give the tenant at least two days' notice of intent to enter and may enter only during reasonable hours. The statutory unit is DAYS ('at least two days notice'), and unlike Hawaii's rent-increase notices, 521-53 does not say 'written.' The landlord may not abuse the access right or use it to harass the tenant.
Permitted reasons	Inspections, necessary or agreed repairs and improvements, agreed services, and showings to prospective purchasers, mortgagees, or tenants. The tenant may not unreasonably withhold consent to any of these, and the statutory list is exhaustive (HRS 521-53). Inspection; necessary or agreed repairs, decorations, alterations, or improvements; services supplied as agreed; and showings to prospective purchasers, mortgagees, or tenants: the tenant may not unreasonably withhold consent for any of these (521-53(a)). Subsection (c) makes the list exhaustive. There is no other right of entry except by court order, where the tenant appears to have abandoned the premises, or during a tenant's extended absence as reasonably necessary for inspection, maintenance, and safe-keeping (521-70(b)).
Emergency exception	Yes
Time-of-day restrictions	None by the clock. Entry must be during 'reasonable hours,' and the statute sets no hour windows.

Cite this page: "Landlord Atlas, Hawaii Landlord Entry Notice Laws (verified July 11, 2026), landlordatlas.com/laws/entry-notice/hawaii/" — free to cite and quote with a link (how these records are verified). Every figure above is cited to the Hawaii statute in the citations section below.

Notes and caveats

The statute says 'two days,' not '48 hours' — 521-53(b) requires 'at least two days notice' — the statutory unit is DAYS, so render it as two days rather than 48 hours.
No writing requirement — charts adding 'written' are wrong — unlike Hawaii's rent-increase and termination notices, 521-53 requires only 'notice'; charts saying '48 hours' written notice' add a requirement the statute lacks.
A broader-than-usual escape valve — no-notice entry covers emergencies AND 'where impracticable' — broader than the emergency-only carve-outs in most states.
Never substantively amended since 1972 — the section is bracketed [§521-53] in the official HRS: enacted L 1972, c 132, with only a general change in 1985, so there is no stale-amendment risk. The official DCCA 2024 handbook states the same rule ('at least two days notice... only during reasonable hours').
Effectively non-waivable — 521-31(a) bars waiving chapter rights generally, and 521-73(d) voids exculpatory agreements about entry liability — excepting only a tenant's consent to a particular entry.
Remedies run both directions — a tenant is liable for damage from unreasonably refusing lawful access (521-73(a)); a landlord is liable for theft or casualty loss from non-emergency entries made over a refusal, without a present tenant's actual consent, or negligently (521-73(b)); and repeated unreasonable demands or an unreasonable non-consented entry are grounds for tenant termination, an injunction, and a fine of up to $100 (521-73(c)).

Common questions: Hawaii entry notice

Each answer is the verified value from the table above, restated as a direct answer. Free to quote with a link to this page.

How many hours' notice must a landlord give before entering in Hawaii?: 2 days. The statute actually says two days, not 48 hours, and the notice does not have to be in writing. Entry must be during reasonable hours, and no notice is required in an emergency or where notice is impracticable (HRS 521-53(b)).
What reasons allow a landlord to enter a rental in Hawaii?: Inspections, necessary or agreed repairs and improvements, agreed services, and showings to prospective purchasers, mortgagees, or tenants. The tenant may not unreasonably withhold consent to any of these, and the statutory list is exhaustive (HRS 521-53).
Can a landlord enter without notice in an emergency in Hawaii?: Yes — Hawaii recognizes an emergency exception to the entry-notice requirement.
Are there time-of-day limits on when a landlord can enter in Hawaii?: None by the clock. Entry must be during 'reasonable hours,' and the statute sets no hour windows.

Statute citations

HRS § 521-53 (a)-(c) (verified 2026) Official source
HRS § 521-70 (b) (verified 2026) Official source
HRS § 521-73 (a)-(d) (verified 2026) Official source
DCCA Office of Consumer Protection, Landlord-Tenant Handbook (2024) (verified 2026) Official source

How this record was verified: Direct read of statute text on the official Hawaii State Legislature site (capitol.hawaii.gov, hrscurrent edition): sections 521-44, 521-21, 521-53, and 521-71 each read twice with character-identical results, and every decisive figure additionally reconciled against two more official documents — the Session Laws of Hawaii act PDFs on capitol.hawaii.gov (Act 179 (2017), S.B. 119, which sets out amended section 521-21 in full including the 45-day/15-day rent-increase notices and the 8 per cent late-charge cap, effective 2017-11-01 with an entered-into-or-renewed applicability clause; Act 206 (2013), S.B. 328, which sets out amended section 521-44(a)-(b) including the one-month cap plus the additional one-month pet deposit, applicable to agreements entered into on or after 2013-11-01) and the Department of Commerce and Consumer Affairs Office of Consumer Protection's official 2024 Landlord-Tenant Handbook (cca.hawaii.gov), which matches on the 14-day return, forfeiture rule, treble small-claims penalty, one-year limitation, two days' entry notice, 45-day termination and rent-increase notices, 8 per cent cap and its 2017-11-01 applicability, and the no-interest negative. Also read in full: 521-7, 521-8, 521-10, 521-22, 521-31, 521-43, 521-46, 521-63, 521-66, 521-70, 521-73, 521-74, 521-75, 521-77, 521-85, 666-20, and 127A-30. Verified negatives (no deposit interest, no separate-account rule, no grace period, no rent-increase frequency or size tiers, no express rent-control preemption) each run against the full chapter 521 table of contents sweep. Legislative check 2026-07-11 on official capitol.hawaii.gov status pages and the LRB Bills Passed 2026 list: the 2026 regular session adjourned sine die 2026-05-08 ending the 2025-2026 biennium; no 2025 or 2026 act amended any topic section; SB 2539 (3% rent cap), SB 347 (late fee 8%-to-5%), HB 464 (60/90-day notices), HB 693 (increase increments), and SB 822 (code working group) all died.