This Page Is NOT a Lawsuit
To be absolutely clear about what this is and is not:
- This is NOT a class action lawsuit, certified action, or organized legal proceeding.
- This is NOT a law firm intake form. We are not attorneys.
- We do NOT represent you, give legal advice, or initiate any legal action on your behalf.
- Submitting this form does NOT file anything in court, preserve any claim, or toll any statute of limitations.
- This IS an interest-gauging form to help tenants connect with attorneys who handle landlord-tenant collective action.
- Aggregate counts (anonymized, no names or contact info) MAY BE shared with Hawaii landlord-tenant attorneys who request them.
- Your individual identity is NEVER shared without your explicit follow-up consent.
- A class action requires court certification under Hawaii Rules of Civil Procedure Rule 23. This is preliminary interest documentation only.
If you have time-sensitive claims, do not wait on this. File an AG complaint, send a demand letter, or contact Hawaii Legal Aid (808-244-3731) directly. See statute of limitations for deadlines.
Background
Why Collective Action?
A class action is a single lawsuit brought by one or more "named plaintiffs" on behalf of a larger group of people who suffered substantially similar harm from the same defendant. Hawaii Rules of Civil Procedure Rule 23 governs certification.
The pattern that makes a class viable: many tenants, each with relatively small individual damages, all harmed by the same systemic practice. Filing dozens of separate small-claims cases is expensive in time and energy. One certified class action consolidates them — and creates a "common fund" from which damages and statutory penalties can be paid out.
Hawaii's statute of limitations for written contracts is six years (HRS §657-1). Many tenant claims fall well within that window — see statute-of-limitations.html for the per-claim breakdown.
Roles, briefly: Named plaintiffs lead the case and may receive an "incentive award" for the time they put in. Class members participate passively — they are notified after certification, can opt out, and share in any settlement or judgment without having to actively litigate. Attorneys are typically paid from the common fund or via fee-shifting under statutes like HRS §480-13.
What Attorneys Look For
Common Patterns at AMC Properties
Each of the patterns below — if documented across many tenants — is the kind of systemic practice that could potentially form a class. None of these is currently a certified class action; this is the type of factual pattern attorneys evaluate.
Deposit Deductions Without Itemization
Routine deductions (cleaning, "carpet," "general repairs") applied to many tenants without the itemized written statement the statute requires within 14 days.
Pest Control Fees Despite Building Infestation
Tenants charged pest control fees at move-out despite building-wide infestations that are the landlord's habitability obligation.
ESA Fees / ESA Denials
Pet deposits and pet fees charged on Emotional Support Animals, or ESA accommodation requests denied — both unlawful under federal Fair Housing law.
Post-Fire Rent Increases
Rent increases imposed during active emergency proclamations following the 2023 Lahaina fire — when price gouging on essential commodities, including rent, is prohibited.
Retaliation After Complaint
Lease non-renewal, fee assessment, or eviction filings shortly after tenants assert legal rights, file complaints, or organize.
Register
Register Your Interest
This form sends an anonymous interest record. It does not file anything legal. You decide whether and how to be contacted.
Public Counts
Current Aggregate Counts
Anonymized totals across all submissions to date. No names, contact info, or unit identifiers are reflected here.
Counts updated periodically by site moderators based on submissions received. Last updated: pending first batch.
Independent Path
Find an Attorney Yourself
You do not need to wait for this interest registry to grow. Anyone can pursue a claim individually right now. The resources below are for finding qualified Hawaii attorneys directly:
We do not refer to specific private attorneys to avoid the appearance of endorsement or referral fees. The directories above are independent.
Procedural Basics
What Counts as a "Class" in Hawaii?
Hawaii Rules of Civil Procedure Rule 23 governs class actions in state court. To be certified, a proposed class must satisfy four prerequisites:
- Numerosity — the class is so large that joinder of all members is impractical. There is no fixed number, but courts often look for at least 30–40 members; a few dozen tenants from a single property typically clears this bar.
- Commonality — there are questions of law or fact common to the class. A landlord's uniform deposit-withholding policy, applied identically to every move-out tenant, is a textbook common-question pattern.
- Typicality — the named plaintiffs' claims are typical of the class. The named plaintiffs' deposit dispute should look like everyone else's, not be an outlier.
- Adequacy of representation — the named plaintiffs and their attorneys can fairly and adequately protect the class's interests.
A class of 100 deposit-dispute tenants from one property, all subject to the same itemization failure, is the kind of fact pattern attorneys actively look for. The federal counterpart is FRCP Rule 23, used if the case is brought in federal court (e.g., for Fair Housing Act claims).
Privacy & Safety
Privacy & Safety
- Aggregate-only sharing. Numbers shared with attorneys are aggregated. No name, email, unit, or contact info is shared without your explicit follow-up consent.
- Honeypot & rate limits. The form uses a honeypot field and standard spam protections. Submissions are stored in Formspree's secure hosted backend.
- You can withdraw anytime. Email [email protected] to withdraw your registration. We will delete the record within 7 days.
- Don't include other people's identifying info in your description. Stick to your own situation.
- Anti-retaliation reminder. If your landlord retaliates against you for joining or expressing interest in collective action, that is itself a violation of HRS §521-63 — file an AG complaint.
Related Tools
While You Wait
Don't sit on time-sensitive claims while interest accrues. These are immediately actionable: