RELATING TO EVICTION RECORDS.
SB154 would require Hawaii courts to seal records of residential eviction proceedings after the case is resolved, with immediate sealing when the landlord does not obtain a judgment for possession or when all parties agree to sealing. If the landlord prevails, the records would be sealed within two years of final disposition. The bill also allows tenants to seek earlier sealing in several specified circumstances, including low-dollar judgments, participation in housing voucher or rental supplement programs, certain domestic violence-related cases, landlord discrimination or retaliation, violations of specified landlord-tenant statutes, settlements that do not return possession to the landlord, or other grounds the court finds sufficient.
The bill further amends Hawaii’s fair housing and real estate discrimination laws to treat a sealed eviction record as a protected category. It would make it unlawful to require disclosure of a sealed eviction record in a range of real property transactions, including rental, lending, appraisal, insurance, and membership in real estate organizations, and it would prohibit discrimination in housing and related real estate practices based on a sealed eviction record. It also gives tenants access to their sealed records upon written request.
SB154 would add a new eviction-record sealing framework to chapter 666, Hawaii Revised Statutes, and would expand chapter 515’s anti-discrimination provisions to include sealed eviction records. In practice, this would limit public access to many eviction case files after resolution and restrict how landlords, brokers, lenders, insurers, and other real estate actors may use or inquire about those records in housing-related decisions. The bill would also create a new statutory definition of “sealed eviction record” and make related conforming amendments across Hawaii’s fair housing laws.
The bill’s stated purpose and structure reflect a generally tenant-protective approach, aimed at reducing the long-term housing consequences of eviction filings that do not result in a landlord’s successful recovery of possession. The available context shows no recorded committee debate or votes, so there is no documented opposition or support in the materials provided. Based on the text alone, the measure appears designed to address housing access concerns and the collateral effects of eviction records on renters.
The main policy tension in SB154 is between tenant privacy and housing access on one hand, and landlord, screening, and real estate industry interests on the other. Supporters would likely emphasize that eviction filings can harm tenants even when cases are dismissed or resolved without eviction, while critics may be concerned that sealing records could reduce information available to landlords and other housing decision-makers. Another possible point of contention is the bill’s broad anti-discrimination language, which would extend beyond landlords to lenders, brokers, appraisers, insurers, and real estate organizations, potentially affecting standard screening and underwriting practices.