HONOLULU (Island News) — Hawaiʻi has launched a new statewide Pre-Eviction Mediation Filing Program that requires landlords to participate in mediation before filing residential eviction cases involving non-payment of rent.
The two-year pilot, known as PEMP, aims to prevent unnecessary evictions and reduce court congestion by addressing disputes earlier in the process. The program builds on earlier mediation efforts in Hawaiʻi that kept about 90% of participating tenants housed or resulted in agreements between landlords and tenants.
Under the program, landlords must provide tenants with a 10-day notice offering mediation and upload the notice to a centralized website, which routes cases to island-based mediation centers. If tenants schedule mediation within that period, landlords must allow an additional 10 days for mediation before filing an eviction case.
Mediation services are free for landlords and tenants, with trained neutral mediators, language interpretation upon request, and technology assistance for Zoom-based sessions. Program outcomes will be tracked through annual reports to the Hawaiʻi State Judiciary to inform future eviction prevention efforts statewide…