Bills to increase tenant protections advance at Legislature

Hawaiʻi Appleseed Center for Law & Economic Justice Housing Director Arjuna Heim explained that the landlord-tenant code can be difficult to navigate—even for someone experienced in the topic.

“I’ve been doing this work in Honolulu for, gosh, five years now,” she said. “So I make my living understanding and reading housing policy, including the landlord-tenant code.”

Even she had a situation where she was trying to get her security deposit back from her landlord. Heim called the Landlord-Tenant Information Center for guidance. In the end, she still had to push her property managers to comply with the law.

She explained that the bill could be a resource for landlords as well.

“An accessible landlord-tenant code is good for tenants; it’s good for mom-and-pop landlords,” Heim said.

“Quite frankly, the corporate landlords need a refresher on what the law is as well, because just ‘cause your company policy isn’t to do something, doesn’t mean you can kind of spit in the face of the law.”