Skip to main content
How to avoidForeclosure
Get help

Hawaii · What this letter means

Hawaii foreclosure letters and notices

The papers Hawaii homeowners receive, in the order they usually arrive. Each page uses the name on the Hawaii document, explains the deadline it starts under Hawaii law, and lists what to do this week.

  1. Step 1

    Summons and complaint for foreclosure (foreclosure by action)

    Most Hawaii mortgage foreclosures are lawsuits in the circuit court for the island where the home is. The summons and complaint start the case, and you have 20 days after you are served to file a written answer. For a home, the lender's attorney must also file a signed affirmation that the papers were checked and are accurate.

    What it means
  2. Step 2

    Notice of Default and Intention to Foreclose

    If your Hawaii lender wants to foreclose without a lawsuit, it must serve you a Notice of Default and Intention to Foreclose. It must give you at least 60 days to cure. If you are an owner-occupant, it also starts two separate 30-day windows: one to elect the state's dispute resolution program and one to convert the case to a court foreclosure. You can use only one.

    What it means
  3. Step 3

    Department notification of Mortgage Foreclosure Dispute Resolution program, with election form

    When a lender files a power of sale foreclosure notice for an owner-occupied home, Hawaii's Department of Commerce and Consumer Affairs mails you a notice about its Mortgage Foreclosure Dispute Resolution program with a form to elect or waive it. The department must receive your completed form, proof you are an owner-occupant and a $300 fee within 30 days after it mails the notice. If you join, the foreclosure is put on hold while you meet with the lender and a neutral.

    What it means
  4. Step 4

    Public Notice of Public Sale

    In Hawaii, the auction of a foreclosed home is announced by a public notice of the public sale. In a court foreclosure a court-appointed commissioner publishes it. In a power of sale foreclosure the lender does, and the notice must say you can cure until three business days before the sale. Either way it is published for three weeks, and the sale cannot be sooner than 14 days after the third ad.

    What it means

Got a letter not listed here? See every foreclosure letter explained, or how foreclosure works in Hawaii.