Hawaiʻi renters deserve honest information, reasonable notice, and greater stability in the place they call home.

Moving means paying deposits, covering moving expenses, taking time away from work, and rebuilding daily routines. When an owner already plans to sell, move into, or stop renting a property, prospective tenants deserve to know before committing their money and signing a lease.

I created the proposed Hawaiʻi Renter Stability and Disclosure Act because renters who pay their rent and follow their agreements should not automatically carry the entire financial burden when an owner’s decisions force them to move.

Renting out an investment property or second home is a business. That business should include responsibility to the people who make that property their home. When suitable rental options are limited, another unexpected move can put a household under serious financial pressure.

We urge Hawaiʻi lawmakers to introduce and pass legislation, beginning with condominium rentals, that provides:

• Honest disclosures before a commitment. Require owners to disclose known plans to sell, occupy, substantially renovate, or withdraw a unit from the rental market within the next 24 months, before accepting a deposit or signing a lease. Include renewal expectations and known condominium restrictions or major projects that could materially affect occupancy.

• More time to prepare. Require written notice of renewal or nonrenewal at least 90 days before a fixed-term lease expires, increasing to 120 days when nonrenewal results from an owner’s decision to sell, occupy, substantially renovate, or withdraw the property from the rental market.

• No security deposit for six-month leases. Tenants entering a six-month lease would not be required to pay a security deposit. They would remain responsible for rent, damage, and their lease obligations.

• Flexibility when another home becomes available. Allow tenants receiving an owner-driven nonrenewal notice to leave during the notice period without an early-termination fee after giving reasonable written notice.

• Help with displacement costs. Require relocation assistance equal to one month’s current rent for compliant tenants displaced for an owner-driven reason after at least 12 months of occupancy. Lawmakers should also consider two months’ assistance after three years.

• Accountability with reasonable safeguards. Establish remedies for intentional or reckless misrepresentation and protections for documented, unforeseen owner hardships. Relocation assistance would exclude nonpayment, material lease violations, abandonment, and mutually agreed termination.

Please sign this petition to support the Hawaiʻi Renter Stability and Disclosure Act. Help give renters the information, time, and financial stability they need to keep building their lives here.