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HRS §171-77

How residential leases can pass to heirs or through foreclosure

This section says that a residential lease or the land under it can only be passed to someone else through a will, inheritance, or by law, not by a regular sale. People or groups who are not allowed to hold such a lease cannot get it except through those legal transfers or a foreclosure sale. If the leaseholder buys the land, the same limits apply for a period after the purchase.

beneficiariescourtscreditorsdebtorsheirslandlordsstate agenciestenants

The statute, as written — Transfers of title by bequest, devise, intestate succession, or by operation of law, and upon foreclosure

Notwithstanding the prohibitions contained in section 171-73, title to a residential lease or to the fee of the premises if purchased by the lessee, and to the improvements upon the premises, may be transferred only by testamentary bequest or devise, intestate succession, or otherwise by operation of law. No person, corporation, or agency of government, disqualified under section 171-74 or 171-75 to take a residential lease, may succeed to and take title to a residential lease and improvements, except by such transfer or by purchasing at or after a sale upon a foreclosure of a mortgage permitted by this part. If the lessee purchases the fee as provided in section 171-79, no person, corporation, or agency of government, disqualified under sections 171-74 and 171-75, may, without the express written consent of the board of land and natural resources, within the ten-year period following the issuance to the lessee of a patent or deed in fee simple to the premises, succeed to and take the fee title to the premises formerly leased, and improvements, except by testamentary bequest or devise, intestate succession, or otherwise by operation of law, or by purchasing at or after a sale upon the foreclosure of a mortgage permitted by this part.
Read the official text at capitol.hawaii.gov ↗as published Jan 6, 2026our copy taken Aug 20, 2026

Sections this one refers to

§171-73 Rules for long-term residential land leases from the state

§171-74 Who can get a residential lease

§171-79 When residential lessees can buy the land under their lease

LawTrove is not legal advice. The summary above is a computer-generated restatement — the authoritative text is the official version linked above.