To buy a redeemable tax deed in Hawaii you bid on the property at a county auction run by the county director of finance. The deed is yours at the sale. The former owner then keeps a statutory window to take the parcel back by repaying your price with statutory interest, so your title stays defeasible until that window closes.
New here? There is no certificate step in Hawaii. You bid on the property itself, so the money is at risk on the parcel from day one and the research has to happen before the auction, not after. Not sure which is for you? Start with tax lien vs tax deed.
Step 1: Learn the timeline and lien priority
Understand this before you commit any money.
Full Hawaii rule detail for step 1, Learn the timeline and lien priority
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.
Step 2: Learn what sends a parcel to the auction
- What starts it
- 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.
Full Hawaii rule detail for step 2, Learn what sends a parcel to the auction
What starts it, continued. Before the sale the director publishes notice at least once a week for four successive weeks (Honolulu and Maui: a statewide newspaper with a circulation of at least 60,000 plus a newspaper of general circulation in the county; Hawaii County: the statewide paper plus two newspapers of general circulation published and distributed in the County; Kauai: 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.
The opening bid, continued. The parcel goes to the highest bidder for cash, and a parcel that draws no bid sufficient to satisfy the lien, interest, penalties, costs and charges may be withdrawn and the sale abandoned.
Step 3: Bid at the tax deed auction
The county director of finance sells the property at public auction to the highest bidder.
- Deposit and registration
- No separate deposit: the whole bid is due at the sale, and each county sets its own payment forms. Honolulu takes cashier's checks payable to the "City and County of Honolulu" that show on their face they are drawn on a bank with a Hawaii address. Maui's 2026 sale took certified or cashier's checks, and active bidders must register and have funds verified at the event.
Full Hawaii rule detail for step 3, Bid at the tax deed auction
Deposit and registration, continued. Kauai's 2026 notice lists cash, certified checks, cashier's checks, traveler's checks or money orders. Hawaii County's June 2026 notice lists cash, cashier's checks, traveler's checks, money orders or certified checks, with no registration. No county takes personal checks or cards, and an overage on a check comes back as a county credit memo or check.
Step 4: Wait out the redemption window
- What the buyer earns
- The 12 percent is an annual rate on the amount the purchaser paid plus the purchaser's required costs, not a flat premium, so the redemption payment grows with time and a quick redemption earns only the interest actually accrued.
- The redemption window
- The former owner redeems by paying the purchaser directly; the counties take no part in it. The clock runs from the sale, not from recording, except in Honolulu and Maui, where a deed not recorded within 60 days of the sale extends the window to one year from the day the deed is recorded, without further interest for the extension.
- What the owner pays
- To redeem, the owner pays the amount the purchaser paid at the sale, plus all costs and expenses the purchaser was required to pay including the fee for recording the deed, plus interest on that total at 12 percent a year.
- When the deed is delivered
- On payment the director makes and delivers the tax deed, and delivery vests title in the purchaser; the county prepares the deed and records it at the Bureau of Conveyances or Land Court, collecting the recording fee from the purchaser at the sale. Honolulu and Maui require the deed to be recorded within 60 days of the sale.
- What it means for you
- If they redeem, that payoff is your return; if the window closes without a redemption, the parcel is yours outright.
Full Hawaii rule detail for step 4, Wait out the redemption window
What the buyer earns, continued. Hawaii County's FAQ describes it as 1 percent a month. In Honolulu and Maui, where a deed recorded more than 60 days after the sale extends the redemption window to one year from recording, no interest is added for the extended period.
The redemption window, continued. Hawaii County advises buyers not to build during the year, since the former owner need not pay for improvements, and says a buyer may sell during the year only subject to the redemption right.
When the deed is delivered, continued. The county FAQs say title passes at the sale and recording, with the deed carrying a reservation for the redemption period, and that the recorded deed can take several months to arrive.
What the deed conveys in Hawaii
Differs by county. Hawaii County (19-42) and Kauai (5A-5.6) vest fee title free and clear of any lien, claim or encumbrance except later real property taxes, subject only to State mineral rights and government easements. Honolulu (8-5.6) and Maui (3.48.270) say only that delivery of the deed vests title in the purchaser; Honolulu's 2026 sale notice nonetheless describes the parcels as sold in fee simple free and clear of all liens. Every county sells 'as is' with no warranty of title or condition, Hawaii County notes that title companies mostly will not insure a tax-deed title and that federal tax liens are a separate risk, and the former owner can redeem for a year. Get a title opinion before bidding.
Fold any title work into your maximum bid and read what you actually own after a tax deed and what survives a tax deed before you bid. A quiet title action is how a buyer clears a title an insurer will not accept.
Buying redeemable tax deeds in Hawaii: common questions
How do you buy a redeemable tax deed in Hawaii?
Can you buy Hawaii redeemable tax deeds online?
More Hawaii answers, including redemption and statute detail, are on the Hawaii tax sale FAQ. New to this? Start with tax lien vs tax deed and the full Hawaii walkthrough, then value a parcel with the due diligence guide.
Steps 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 office that runs the sale before you bid.