Statewide Pre-Eviction Mediation Pilot Keeps Hawaiʻi County Tenants Housed

The state’s Pre-Eviction Mediation Filing Program (PEMP), created by Act 278, requires landlords to offer mediation before filing residential evictions for nonpayment of rent and launched Feb. 5, 2026, statewide. Local coverage published March 6, 2026 reports the two-year pilot has already helped keep some Hawaiʻi Island tenants housed, though those reports did not specify numbers or case details.

State leaders framed PEMP as an early intervention to prevent displacement and reduce pressure on courts. “Act 278 was passed by the Legislature last year, and the goal is to bring landlords and tenants together early to talk, to negotiate agreements so that they don't end up in court and there isn't an eviction process,” said Tracey Wiltgen, executive director of the Mediation Center of the Pacific, who will manage the state’s contract with Mediation Centers of Hawaiʻi to provide the services. Maui state Senator Troy Hashimoto added the pilot is testing “a professionalized, pre-eviction framework” and described the effort as a “data-driven approach” to measure whether mediation can reduce court backlog and resolve disputes.

Under PEMP, landlords must issue a 10-day notice informing tenants of the opportunity to participate in mediation and upload that notice to a centralized website that routes cases to the appropriate island mediation center. If a tenant schedules mediation within the initial 10-day period, an additional 10 days is provided for mediation to take place before an eviction filing can proceed; if tenants do not opt into mediation, landlords may proceed with eviction filings.

Mediation services under PEMP are free for landlords and tenants and will be provided by trained, neutral mediators through Mediation Centers of Hawaiʻi, the umbrella organization for the state’s five mediation centers. Language interpretation is available on request, and mediation centers will offer technology assistance for participants who need help accessing Zoom-based mediation.

Mediation leaders do not expect a deluge of new cases statewide. Wiltgen said, “I am not expecting a substantial upswing in mediation cases beyond the centers’ typical annual caseload; statewide, the mediation centers see about 100-150 cases per month.” She added, “These are cases that would have gone to court anyway; we’re just getting them sooner,” and noted “there wasn’t really a huge flood of cases [after the state’s moratorium on rent-related evictions expired in 2021].”

Advocates point to pandemic-era programs as precedent, though success rates vary by source: Mediation Centers of Hawaiʻi has said earlier efforts kept 90% of participating tenants housed, Mediate.com cites a 90% agreement rate for an Early Eviction Mediation Program, Hawaiʻi Public Radio referenced 80 to 90 percent agreement rates in past programs, and a LinkedIn post in the coverage packet claimed 85% of participants stayed housed during pandemic-era mediation efforts.

PEMP includes annual reporting to the Hawaiʻi State Judiciary so lawmakers and administrators can review outcomes during the two-year pilot. Landlords have voiced concerns that mediation could be used to delay payments, a procedural limit noted in early reporting, while program managers point to early local reports from March 6 that some Hawaiʻi Island tenants have remained housed as an initial sign the pilot is producing the early dialogue lawmakers intended. Over the next two years, those annual Judiciary reports will provide the data lawmakers and Mediation Centers of Hawaiʻi say they need to judge whether PEMP reduces evictions and eases court backlog.