Hawaii Mobile Home Park Laws

Hawaii Mobile Home Park Laws — Lot Rent and Evictions (2026)

By Oleg Kachko · Updated August 22, 2026

✓ Law Verified August 2026

Hawaii mobile home park laws are their own world: you own the home, you rent the ground, and a separate set of rules, different from ordinary landlord-tenant law, decides what the park can charge, when it can evict, and what happens if the land is sold out from under the whole community. This guide covers those rules in plain English, verified against official Hawaii sources as of August 2026.

Hawaii Mobile Home Park Laws at a Glance

The law that governs parks NONE — Hawaii has no separate mobile home or manufactured home park act. No HRS chapter governs park lot tenancies. Any lot rental that does exist would fall under the Residential Landlord-Tenant Code, HRS Chapter 521, which contains no mobile/manufactured home provisions. HRS 521-7 (exclusions) does not exclude mobile homes, so Chapter 521 is the default source of rights.
Notice before a lot rent increase 45 days written notice for a month-to-month tenancy; 15 days written notice for a tenancy shorter than month-to-month (HRS 521-21(d)). No park-specific notice period exists.
Cap on lot rent increases NO CAP — Hawaii has no statewide or county rent control and no percentage limit on rent or lot-rent increases. Unlike New Jersey (3.5 percent) or Oregon (about 6 percent), Hawaii sets no ceiling.
Eviction notice periods Nonpayment of rent — 10 calendar days written notice, plus the landlord must send a copy to a state-funded mediation center and wait 20 calendar days from the tenant’s receipt if the tenant schedules mediation within the 10 days (HRS 521-68 as amended by Act 278 (2025), effective February 5, 2026 through February 4, 2028; the prior rule was 5 business days). Breach of a rule or lease term — 10 days to cure (HRS 521-72). No-cause termination of a month-to-month tenancy by the landlord — 45 days (HRS 521-71); tenant-initiated — 28 days.

Why Park Living Has Its Own Rulebook in Hawaii

Hawaii law does not recognize or separately regulate the own-the-home/rent-the-lot arrangement. Mobile home parks are essentially nonexistent in Hawaii, and county zoning treats mobile homes on wheels as prohibited permanent dwellings (Hawaii County Code Chapter 25); only modular/manufactured homes set on a permanent foundation are allowed, and those sit on land the owner typically owns or leases directly.

Because there is no park act, a Hawaii homeowner renting a lot has none of the special protections mainland park acts give (limited eviction grounds, park-sale notice, closure relocation payments).

You may be able to rely on Chapter 521 duties and on your written lot lease, but check with your court, because whether a bare-land lot rental is a “dwelling unit” under HRS 521-8 has not been settled in your favor by statute.

Owning the home while renting the ground under it creates a kind of leverage no apartment landlord has: moving a manufactured home typically costs thousands of dollars, and many older homes cannot be moved at all without falling apart.

Lawmakers know that “just move” is not a real option for park residents, which is exactly why Hawaii mobile home park laws give lot renters protections apartment tenants never get, limited eviction grounds, longer notice periods, and rules about what happens when the park itself changes hands.

Lot Rent Increases: Your Rights Before You Pay More

Required notice: 45 days written notice for a month-to-month tenancy; 15 days written notice for a tenancy shorter than month-to-month (HRS 521-21(d)). No park-specific notice period exists.

Is there a cap? NO CAP — Hawaii has no statewide or county rent control and no percentage limit on rent or lot-rent increases. Unlike New Jersey (3.5 percent) or Oregon (about 6 percent), Hawaii sets no ceiling.

Whatever the number on the notice, read it against the rules above before paying. An increase served with short notice, or one that violates a cap where Hawaii has one, is challengeable, and park residents who organize respond far more effectively than neighbors acting alone. Many states saw lot-rent fights turn into new legislation in the last two years for exactly this reason.

The Park Cannot Evict You for Just Any Reason

UNVERIFIED as to park-specific grounds — Hawaii has no park act limiting eviction to a closed list of causes. Under HRS Chapter 521 a landlord may terminate a month-to-month tenancy for no stated cause on 45 days’ notice (HRS 521-71), or for nonpayment of rent (HRS 521-68) or breach of a rule or lease term (HRS 521-72).

Many tenants can still defend against retaliatory or discriminatory terminations, but Hawaii does not require good cause the way most mainland park acts do.

This list matters enormously: it means a park in Hawaii cannot simply non-renew you to free up the lot the way an apartment landlord might. If an eviction notice arrives, check it against the legal grounds first, park evictions fail in court most often because the stated reason is not on the list, or the notice skipped a required warning step.

If the Park Sells or Closes

When the park is sold: NONE — Hawaii has no park-sale notice law, no resident right of first refusal, and no resident cooperative purchase statute. Unlike states that changed park-sale notice law in 2024-2026, Hawaii enacted nothing, because it has no park statute to amend. Your only rights on a sale would come from your written lease and from the general rule that a buyer takes subject to existing leases.

When the park closes: NONE — Hawaii requires no advance closure or land-conversion notice period for a park and provides no relocation assistance payment. There is no statutory month figure and no dollar figure. A month-to-month lot tenant would receive only the general 45-day termination notice under HRS 521-71.

Fees the Park Can and Cannot Charge in Hawaii

UNVERIFIED as to park-specific fees — Hawaii bars no entry fee, exit fee, transfer fee, guest fee, or utility markup for lot rentals, because no park act exists. Under HRS Chapter 521 generally, a security deposit may not exceed one month’s rent (HRS 521-44), and a landlord may not shut off or cause termination of a tenant’s utility service to force a move-out (HRS 521-74.5).

Check your lot lease, since any fee not barred by Chapter 521 is governed by contract.

The park’s side of the bargain: UNVERIFIED as to park-specific duties — there is no Hawaii statute requiring a park to maintain roads, water lines, sewer lines, or common areas.

Under HRS 521-42 a landlord must comply with applicable building, housing, and health codes materially affecting health and safety; keep common areas clean and safe; maintain electrical, plumbing, sanitary, heating, and ventilating facilities in good working order; and supply running water and reasonable hot water.

You may be able to use HRS 521-63 and 521-64 remedies if the landlord fails to supply an essential service, but check with your court about how those apply to a land-only lot rental.

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The Trapped-Equity Problem and How to Protect Yourself

The economics of a mobile home park in Hawaii are unlike any apartment: you own the home, but moving it typically costs thousands of dollars, often more than an older home is worth, and many parks will not accept a home past a certain age. That is why lot-rent disputes feel so different here: walking away is rarely a real option, and park owners know it.

The law is what balances that power gap, which makes knowing the exact notice rules, fee limits, and eviction grounds in Hawaii worth more to a park resident than to almost any other kind of tenant.

Protect yourself the way the long-time residents do: keep every rent notice and rule change in writing, photograph the condition of your lot and the park’s common areas a couple of times a year, and read the community rules before signing anything, in most states the written rules you were given are what a court will hold both sides to.

Selling Your Home Without Losing Its Value

When it is time to leave, most residents sell the home in place rather than move it, and this is where park rules matter most.

Many states limit a park’s power to block an in-place sale: the park can usually screen the buyer the way it screens any new resident, but it generally cannot force you to remove a home just because you are selling, and it cannot demand a cut of your sale price unless it actually acted as your sales agent.

Get the park’s buyer-approval requirements in writing early, keep the lot rent current through the sale, and never sign a rule change mid-sale without reading it, a home that can stay on its lot is worth far more than one that has to be moved.

The Strongest Protection Is the Lot Next Door

Everything about park life is shared, the roads, the water lines, the rent schedule, the fate of the land itself. That is why the single most effective move a park resident in Hawaii can make is joining or forming a residents association. A park owner can ignore one complaint about a rent increase; ignoring a letter signed by sixty households is a different decision.

Associations are also how residents use park-sale rights in the states that grant them, organized communities have bought their own parks across the country, usually with help from nonprofit lenders who specialize in exactly this.

Keep your own records the same way any tenant should: the lease for your lot, every rent notice, every rule change, photos of anything the park fails to maintain. Hawaii mobile home park laws reward the resident who can show a judge dates and documents, and most disputes never reach a judge once the park realizes you have them.

Recent changes in Hawaii: Hawaii passed no mobile home park bill in 2024-2026 and has no lot-rent cap fight, because parks effectively do not exist in the state. Act 278 (2025), effective February 5, 2026 through February 4, 2028, replaced the old 5-business-day nonpayment notice with a 10-calendar-day notice and a landlord mediation duty for all Chapter 521 tenancies.

SB155 (no-fault eviction limits and relocation assistance) and HB1742/HB2606 (permitting framework for relocatable and factory-built homes) were moving in the 2026 session that adjourned sine die on May 8, 2026 — verify final enactment before relying on them.

Hawaii Mobile Home Park Laws: Quick Answers

Can the park raise lot rent whenever it wants? The Hawaii mobile home park laws above set the notice rules, and any cap, that apply before an increase is valid.

Can the park make me remove my home? Only for the legal grounds listed in the Hawaii mobile home park laws, and only through the court process, never by padlock or tow truck.

Do apartment tenant rights apply to me? Partly. The Hawaii mobile home park laws are their own chapter, and this page plus the state guides linked below cover both layers.

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Official Hawaii Sources & Resources

Making Hawaii Mobile Home Park Laws Work for You

The Hawaii mobile home park laws only protect residents who use them, and parks count on most residents never reading the act. Read your lot lease against this page, calendar every notice deadline the moment a letter arrives, and talk to your neighbors, nearly every protection in the Hawaii mobile home park laws gets stronger when residents act together.

If the park ignores the rules, the state agency and local legal aid both handle park disputes, and a written complaint citing the act gets a very different response than a phone call. Under the Hawaii mobile home park laws, the resident with documents and neighbors is never as trapped as the park hopes.

This guide to hawaii mobile home park laws was last verified against official sources in August 2026. Lot-rent caps and park-sale laws are moving fast in many states, re-check before acting on a deadline.

More Hawaii Tenant Rights Guides

Disclaimer: This guide is informational only and is not legal advice. Landlord-tenant laws change and vary by city and county within a state. Verify current rules with your state, your local court, or a free legal-aid office before acting. If you are facing eviction, contact a local tenant attorney or legal-aid organization right away.

Renting? Protect your belongings — compare renters insurance at Home Insure Guide. Divorce involving a lease? See Divorce Help Guide. Unsafe housing / toxic mold injury? Some cases qualify — see Mass Tort Info.