Does the deposit have to be in an interest-bearing account in Hawaii?

No statute addresses whether the account must bear interest. Hawaii imposes no holding-account duty, and it says so in the strongest way a statute can: it legislates for the case where the money has been mixed. The closing sentence of § 521-44(b) provides that "[a]ny such security deposit shall be held by the landlord for the tenant and the claim of the tenant to the security deposit shall be prior to the claim of any creditor of the landlord, including a trustee in bankruptcy, even if the security deposits are commingled".

What happens if a landlord does not pay deposit interest in Hawaii?

No statutory penalty reaches an interest violation specifically.

Does a landlord have to pay interest on a security deposit in Hawaii?

Verified August 28, 2026 All Hawaii topics →

Hawaii does not require landlords to pay tenants interest on a security deposit, and it does not require the deposit to be held apart either — its statute expressly contemplates that deposits are mixed with other money.

Cited to HRS § 521-44 (security deposits — the commingling and creditor-priority sentence) (b) and 1 more cited source · Verified August 28, 2026

The deposit section gives the tenant's claim priority over "the claim of any creditor of the landlord, including a trustee in bankruptcy, even if the security deposits are commingled" (HRS § 521-44(b)). That clause is the point. A legislature intending to require segregation could not have written it, and the priority rule exists because commingling is allowed. So in Hawaii the tenant's protection comes from the strength of the claim, not from where the landlord keeps the money, and nothing in chapter 521 addresses interest on a deposit at all.

Hawaii deposit interest at a glance

Interest owed to the tenant	No — no statute addresses it
How the rate is set	No rate exists — there is no interest duty
Current figure	No published figure exists
Rate rules	No rate rules — no duty exists
Accrual and payment	No payment duty exists
Who and what is covered	No statutory conditions stated — see the summary and notes
Statute controls where or how the deposit is held	No
Interest-bearing account required	No statute addresses whether the account must bear interest
Custody rules	Hawaii imposes no holding-account duty, and it says so in the strongest way a statute can: it legislates for the case where the money has been mixed. The closing sentence of § 521-44(b) provides that "[a]ny such security deposit shall be held by the landlord for the tenant and the claim of the tenant to the security deposit shall be prior to the claim of any creditor of the landlord, including a trustee in bankruptcy, even if the security deposits are commingled". That is a claim-priority rule rather than an account rule, and it is what protects the tenant precisely because commingling is permitted. There is no escrow requirement, no trust account, no separate-account language and no duty to disclose where the money sits anywhere in the section, and § 521-44 is the only deposit section in chapter 521. The one accounting duty in the section runs to a successor landlord, not to a tenant: on a transfer of the landlord's interest, an accounting of the deposits must be provided (subsection (f)).
Penalty for violation	No statutory penalty reaches an interest violation specifically
Local rules	None noted for this state

Cite this page: "Landlord Atlas, Hawaii Security Deposit Interest Laws (verified August 28, 2026), landlordatlas.com/laws/deposit-interest/hawaii/" — free to cite and quote with a link (how these records are verified). Everything above is cited in the citations section below.

Check the verified Hawaii answer — and every state and city that differs — in the deposit interest calculator — free, no signup, built on the same verified Hawaii law as this page.

Notes and caveats

The commingling sentence — It is the final sentence of the unnumbered paragraph closing § 521-44(b), immediately after the last-month's-rent provision: "Any such security deposit shall be held by the landlord for the tenant and the claim of the tenant to the security deposit shall be prior to the claim of any creditor of the landlord, including a trustee in bankruptcy, even if the security deposits are commingled." Hawaii is the clearest case in the country of a state answering the custody question in the negative with words rather than with silence.
"Held for the tenant" is not "held in trust" — The phrase "shall be held by the landlord for the tenant" is paired in the same sentence with the creditor-priority rule, and it creates no account duty. Several states use similar wording, and it is routinely over-read into a trust or escrow requirement. In Hawaii the following clause settles it: the priority survives commingling, which is only meaningful if commingling is permitted.
What the section does cover — Section 521-44 sets the permitted purposes of a deposit, caps it at one month's rent with a separate pet deposit allowed, requires return with an itemized notice within 14 days, addresses a tenant who quits wrongfully, bars postdated checks, binds successor landlords and requires an accounting of deposits on transfer, allows small claims enforcement, and provides treble damages where a landlord wilfully and wrongfully retains a deposit. None of it addresses interest, and no other section of chapter 521 does either.
Currency — The published amendment trail for § 521-44 ends at Act 29, Session Laws of Hawaii 2015, and the section stands as published. The only 2025 act adjacent to chapter 521 concerns eviction mediation; it contains no reference to § 521-44 and does not use the word "interest".

Common questions: Hawaii deposit interest

Each answer is the verified value from the table above, restated as a direct answer. Free to quote with a link to this page.

What is the Hawaii security deposit interest rate right now?: No published figure exists.
When must a landlord pay or credit deposit interest in Hawaii?: No payment duty exists.
Does the deposit have to be in an interest-bearing account in Hawaii?: No statute addresses whether the account must bear interest. Hawaii imposes no holding-account duty, and it says so in the strongest way a statute can: it legislates for the case where the money has been mixed. The closing sentence of § 521-44(b) provides that "[a]ny such security deposit shall be held by the landlord for the tenant and the claim of the tenant to the security deposit shall be prior to the claim of any creditor of the landlord, including a trustee in bankruptcy, even if the security deposits are commingled".
What happens if a landlord does not pay deposit interest in Hawaii?: No statutory penalty reaches an interest violation specifically.
Do any cities or counties in Hawaii have their own deposit-interest rules?: None noted for this state.

Citations

HRS § 521-44 (security deposits — the commingling and creditor-priority sentence) · (b) (verified 2026) Official source
HRS ch. 521, Residential Landlord-Tenant Code (section index) (verified 2026) Official source

How this record was verified: Direct read of HRS § 521-44, "Security deposits", in full — subsections (a) through (h), with the published amendment trail and case note — on the Legislature's current Hawaii Revised Statutes service, together with the chapter 521 section index, which confirms § 521-44 is the chapter's only deposit section; every occurrence of "interest", "account", "escrow", "trust", "segregate", "commingle" and "separate" in the section examined in context, the three "interest" hits all being the property sense in subsection (f) and the remainder being the commingling sentence, the transfer accounting owed to a successor landlord, and "trustee in bankruptcy"; and the only 2025 act adjacent to chapter 521 read in full, an eviction-mediation act containing no reference to § 521-44 and no use of the word "interest".