When the sale is held
No state office assigns dates. Each county director sets its own sale date and publishes its own list at least four weeks ahead. Honolulu publishes the list only as the 'Notice of Proposed Sale of Real Property' in the Honolulu Star-Advertiser legal notices; no separate Honolulu web list was found. Hawaii County publishes the notice and list on hawaiipropertytax.com (Tax Sales) and in the Hawaii Tribune-Herald, West Hawaii Today and the Honolulu Star-Advertiser, posts it at county and state buildings in Hilo and Kona, and mails a copy for $1.00. Maui County posts a Tax Sale List PDF on its Delinquent Tax Accounts page, advertises in the Honolulu Star-Advertiser and The Maui News (and once in the Molokai Dispatch), and posts it at county offices on Maui, Molokai and Lanai. Kauai posts the foreclosure list on its qpublic.net Real Property Tax site and in the local newspaper four weeks before the sale.
When taxes go delinquent
All four counties bill on July 20 and collect in two equal installments due August 20 and February 20; an installment unpaid after its due date is delinquent. Delinquent taxes draw a penalty (Honolulu: 2 percent a month to a maximum of 10 percent; Hawaii County: 10 percent; Maui and Kauai: up to 10 percent as the director determines) and interest of 1 percent a month on the taxes and penalty. Each year's tax is a paramount lien on the parcel that attaches July 1 and lasts six years, or until an enforcement proceeding begun within that period ends.
What sends a parcel to the sale
Any parcel carrying a real property tax lien may be sold by foreclosure without suit. In Honolulu, Maui and Kauai, once any lien or part of one has existed for three years the director shall sell the parcel. In Hawaii County a parcel whose lien has existed for at least two years may be sold, with no mandatory sale. Before the sale the director publishes notice at least once a week for four successive weeks (in a statewide newspaper with a circulation of at least 60,000 plus a local paper; Kauai requires only a newspaper of general circulation in the county), mails notice by registered mail to the owner and to Land Court lienholders at least 45 days before the sale, and posts it in three conspicuous public places, one on the land if improved. Each county may instead foreclose the lien in its circuit court as an ordinary foreclosure.
These dates are the statewide statutory schedule. The exact auction date, registration deadline, and platform are set county by county, so confirm them on the Hawaii county pages before you plan a bid. For the mechanics of the sale itself, see how to buy in Hawaii.
Verified Sep 27, 2026 against Hawaii statutes.
Tax Sale Atlas publishes educational information about public tax sale processes. This is not legal, financial, or investment advice. Rules, dates, and fees change; confirm with the county office before you bid.