Land · Hawaii tax sale guide

Hawaii tax sales by county

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Hawaii real property tax belongs to the counties, and each of the state four counties runs its own delinquent tax sale. The pattern is the same across the islands: taxes go unpaid, the lien ages three years, and the county sells the property at public auction to the highest bidder for cash, opening at an upset price of everything owed on the parcel.

The buyer takes a tax deed at the sale, and the former owner then has one year to redeem by paying the price plus costs and interest at 12 percent a year. Anything bid above what was owed is surplus for the person entitled to it. Sale dates, venues, payment rules and lists are set county by county, so the four pages below each carry one county own notice, list, and record. Kalawao County, the small county on Molokai administered by the state Department of Health, levies no county real property tax and holds no tax sale.

Verify before you go: a city or town can move a date, change terms, cancel a sale, or pull parcels at any time. The official sale list is the final word.

The 4 counties

Each row links to that jurisdiction's own page: selling office, venue or platform, deposit, payment terms, leftover channel, and sources. Where a jurisdiction has not posted a dated sale, the row says so instead of projecting a pattern onto it.

How Hawaii tax sales work

• The lien ages three years. Hawaii real property tax is a county tax collected under county ordinance in the pattern of the state tax lien law: property on which a tax lien has existed for three years is sold to satisfy it (HRS 231-63).
• Notice runs for a month. The sale is advertised once a week for at least four successive weeks immediately before it, a notice goes to each owner by registered mail at least 45 days ahead, and notice is posted in the taxation district, on the land itself where it is improved (HRS 231-63).
• The sale is a public auction. The property is sold to the highest bidder, for cash, at the county published venue, opening at an upset price of the whole amount of taxes, penalties, interest and costs due on the parcel, as each county published list states it (HRS 231-63).
• The deed follows payment. On payment of the purchase price the county delivers the tax deed, which vests title in the purchaser, and the deed is recorded within 60 days after the sale (HRS 231-67).
• Redemption runs one year. The taxpayer may redeem within one year from the date of sale by paying the purchaser the amount paid, all costs and expenses including the deed recording fee, and interest at 12 percent a year. If the deed was recorded late, the year runs from the recording instead, and no interest is added for the extension (HRS 231-67).
• Surplus goes to the person entitled. A price above the lien, penalties, interest and costs is surplus, rendered to the person entitled to it; where entitlement is in doubt the claim is settled in circuit court, and the state statute sets no claim deadline (HRS 231-63 and 231-70).

Hawaii at a glance: each county sells delinquent property at public auction once the lien has aged three years, opening at an upset price of everything owed, and the owner may redeem for one year at the price plus costs and 12 percent interest (HRS 231-63 and 231-67).

Research the parcels before you bid

A sale list gives you the parcel, the date, and the opening terms. It does not give you the owner, the value, or the rest of the picture: liens, foreclosure status, and parcel history. PropertyRadar is the data platform for that layer. It carries owner records, assessed and market values, foreclosure and tax data, and property history for parcels across the country, searchable by address, owner, or county, including parcels that never reach a sale list.

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Get the alert, not just the calendar.

The dates on these pages are the free layer. The Pine membership is the paid layer, proven in New York: members pick their counties, get alerts when a sale is scheduled or a list posts, and receive the full property list with the analysis already done. Hawaii jurisdictions open from the interest list first, in the order readers join it.

Keep going

Once a deadline puts you in a sale, the Land Investor Due Diligence Toolkit is the checklist and bid worksheet to run on each parcel before you bid.