No one is speaking up for Hawaiʻi’s renters

There is no organization dedicated to advocating for the rights of tenants, and a new study finds they lose nearly every eviction case.

Honolulu residents pay some of the highest rents in the nation. But there still isn’t an organization dedicated to advocating for tenants. And when it comes to actual eviction cases, they lose nearly every time.

Tenants are only represented 5 percent of the time in eviction cases compared to 70 percent for landlords, according to a recent study by the Hawaiʻi Appleseed Center for Law and Economic Justice, a nonprofit that advocates for low-income people.

Ninety-five percent of cases end in eviction, and half end in a default judgment for the landlord.

The analysis reflects a broader lack of advocacy for renters in Honolulu. While other states have groups solely dedicated to renters—such as the Philadelphia Tenants Union, California’s Tenants Together and Arizona Tenants Advocates—there’s nothing similar in Hawaiʻi.