Summary of Hawaii's Foreclosure Laws

If you are facing foreclosure in Hawaii, it’s important to understand some of the basics, including:

the most common type of foreclosure procedure (judicial v. nonjudicial) used in Hawaii
how much time you have to respond
your rights and protections in the process, and
what happens afterwards (for example, whether you’ll be liable for a deficiency judgment).

Below we have outlined some of the most important features of Hawaii foreclosure law. Keep in mind that this is just a summary; we’ve included statute citations so you can get more details from the laws themselves. And be sure to check out Nolo’s extensive Foreclosure section, where you can find information about all aspects of foreclosure, definitions of foreclosure terms (like redemption and reinstatement), and options to avoid foreclosure.

Topic	State Rule
Most common type of foreclosure process	Judicial. In the past, most foreclosures in Hawaii were nonjudicial. However, lenders have switched to judicial foreclosures in order to bypass Hawaii’s new Mortgage Foreclosure Dispute Resolution (MFDR) program. This could change if the legislature amends the MFDR program.
Time to respond	Homeowner has 20 days to respond after being served with summons and complaint. For judicial foreclosures, the foreclosing party must publish a notice of sale in a newspaper once each week for three consecutive weeks, with the sale taking place no sooner than 14 days after the date of the publication of the third public notice advertisement; or the notice of sale may be published not less than 28 days before the date of the public sale on a state website. (If the public notice is published on a website, the notice must also be published at least once in a newspaper not less than 14 days prior to the public sale.)
Reinstatement of loan before sale	Not available for foreclosures by mortgage holders
Redemption after sale	Not available
Special protections for foreclosures involving high-cost mortgages	None
Special state protections for service members	Haw. Rev. Stat. §§ 657D-1 to 657D-63
Deficiency judgments	Allowed for judicial foreclosures
Cash exempted in bankruptcy	About $12,725 for one person, $25,450 for a married couple under federal bankruptcy exemptions.
Notice to leave after house is sold	Former owner is subject to eviction or ejectment (a common law procedure to “eject” an occupant). Either way, new owner must get a court order to remove former homeowner.
Foreclosure statutes	Haw. Rev. Stat. §§ 667-1 to 667-46, 667-A to 667-AC

Summary of Hawaii's Foreclosure Laws

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