(a) When a landlord or the landlord’s agent receives a request from an applicant to rent a dwelling unit, the landlord or the landlord’s agent may charge the applicant an application screening fee at the time the application is processed for the dwelling unit to cover the costs of obtaining information about the applicant; provided that a landlord or the landlord’s agent shall only charge an application screening fee for an applicant who is eighteen years of age or older or an emancipated minor. Information sought by the landlord or the landlord’s agent charging the fee may include personal reference checks, tenant reports, criminal background checks, and credit reports produced by any consumer credit reporting agency.
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Terms Used In Hawaii Revised Statutes 521-46

  • Dwelling unit: means a structure, or part of a structure, which is used as a home, residence, or sleeping place by one person or by two or more persons maintaining a common household, to the exclusion of all others. See Hawaii Revised Statutes 521-8
  • Landlord: means the owner, lessor, sublessor, assigns or successors in interest of the dwelling unit or the building of which it is a part and in addition means any agent of the landlord. See Hawaii Revised Statutes 521-8
  • Tenant: means any person who occupies a dwelling unit for dwelling purposes under a rental agreement. See Hawaii Revised Statutes 521-8
(b) Upon request by the applicant, a landlord or the landlord’s agent shall provide to the applicant a:

(1) Receipt for payment of the application screening fee; and
(2) Breakdown of costs covered by the application screening fee.
(c) A landlord or the landlord’s agent shall return to the applicant any amount of the application screening fee that is not used for the purposes authorized by this section within thirty days after the landlord has submitted screening requests.
(d) For the purposes of this section:

“Consumer credit reporting agency” has the same meaning as in section 489P-2.

“Credit report” has the same meaning as in section 489P-2.

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