Hawaii runs 4 different redemption windows
Which one applies is decided by the parcel, not by the state, so read the condition before trusting the headline figure.
How the clock works
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. 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.
Who can redeem
The taxpayer whose property was sold. None of the four county codes gives lienholders a separate redemption right; in Hawaii County and Kauai their remedy is a claim on the surplus within one year.
What the owner pays to redeem
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.
How your return accrues
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. 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.
How the bidding works
There is no rate to bid down, because no certificate is sold. Bidders compete on price above the upset price (taxes, penalty, interest and sale costs), and the director may postpone the sale for want of purchasers or abandon it for any parcel that draws no bid sufficient to satisfy the lien. If the owner redeems, the buyer receives the amount paid (overbid included), the costs the buyer was required to pay including the deed recording fee, and 12 percent a year on that amount. There is no minimum return. Several events look like a sale and are not an investor sale: Maui County's 'Top 25 Delinquent Accounts' and 'Delinquent Accounts 3+ years' lists are collection lists, not sale lists; a county's published 'Notice of Proposed Sale of Real Property' lists parcels that are often paid off before the auction; the county's recording of the tax deed at the Bureau of Conveyances within about 60 days is paperwork on a sale already held; and a circuit court foreclosure of a tax lien under the county's judicial route ends in a court-supervised sale, not the director's tax sale. Maui County's FAQ describes a tax sale as an auction of 'tax deeds and/or tax liens', but Maui County Code 3.48.250 and 3.48.270 provide only for selling the property and delivering a deed, and no certificate sale was found in any county.
What happens when it ends
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.
A redemption pays back your price plus the statutory premium, which is what makes the wait profitable; see how redemption periods work across states. If the window closes unredeemed you keep the Hawaii tax deed, which still does not convey marketable title on its own, so budget for a quiet title action.
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.