Honolulu’s early eviction mediation and rental assistance program’s success
Act 57 became a national model to keep renters housed in Hawaii during the COVID-19 pandemic. This bill (PDF) established a temporary landlord-tenant mediation program in order to prevent evictions, with four key features:
Mandatory Mediation
Increased Notice Periods
Rental Assistance Funds
Focus on Housing Stability.
Consequently, Act 57 provided high rates of success in preventing evictions and resolving disputes. Approximately 1,379 mediations were conducted by The Mediation Center of the Pacific (MCP) between June 2021 to August 2022, and of those, 87 percent reached an agreement (PDF), allowing residents to remain in their homes. Of the 41 settlement agreements, 90 percent of tenants remained in their homes.
The Act 57 program diverted from the court system as many as 1,201 eviction cases before the funding came to an end and protection expired in August 2022.
Beginning on Feb. 5, 2025, Act 202 requires landlords to offer tenants the opportunity for mediation before initiating eviction proceedings for nonpayment of rent. If a tenant requests mediation within 15 days of receiving an eviction notice, the landlord must participate in the mediation process. This bill stems from Act 57’s (2021) positive impact and it is meant to provide a platform for landlords and tenants to resolve disputes amicably and potentially avoid court proceedings.
Honolulu’s on a clearer path after participating in National League of Cities’ 2024 – 2025 Eviction Prevention Learning Lab. Now, Honolulu is intentionally putting our compassionate shoulders to the wheel and we are ready to be innovative and collaborative. The next step is for more opportunities to uplift the statewide efforts advancing housing stability through early intervention and cross-sector collaboration.
The EEM team plans to work with universities, foundations and nonprofits to gather data on evictions to continue to develop effective eviction prevention strategies. EEM will also be designing and implementing a Tenant Education and Advocacy community action plan to educate tenants about their rights and advocate for policies that protect tenants. Finally, EEM’s advocacy partners, Hawaiʻi Appleseed Center for Law and Economic Justice, are championing eviction record sealing policies since court record data is consistently inaccurate and misleading.