Hawaii franchise termination law

HRS 482E-6 requires good cause and a reasonable written chance to cure, without stating a number of days. Read from a statute mirror.

Hawaii's franchise statute is chapter 482E, which Justia titles the Franchise Investment Law. This page is short on purpose. The text read gives no number of notice days and no number of cure days, so none are stated here.

The wording was read from Justia's copy of the 2025 Hawaii Revised Statutes, because the state's own site returned an error on 28 October 2026. Check the official text.

Good faith and good cause

HRS 482E-6(1) says "The parties shall deal with each other in good faith." Paragraph (2)(H) makes it an unfair or deceptive practice to "Terminate or refuse to renew a franchise except for good cause, or in accordance with the current terms and standards established by the franchisor then equally applicable to all franchisees."

The paragraph says good cause "shall include, but not be limited to, the failure of the franchisee to comply with any lawful, material provision of the franchise agreement after having been given written notice thereof and an opportunity to cure the failure within a reasonable period of time." In ordinary words: written notice, a chance to fix it, and a reasonable time to do so. How many days counts as reasonable is not in the text read.

Compensation when a franchise ends

HRS 482E-6(3) says that on termination or refusal to renew the franchisee "shall be compensated for the fair market value, at the time of the termination or expiration of the franchise, of the franchisee's inventory, supplies, equipment and furnishings purchased from the franchisor or a supplier designated by the franchisor." Personalized materials are excepted. Where non-renewal is meant to convert the business to franchisor ownership, loss of goodwill must also be compensated. The franchisor may deduct removal costs and offset sums the franchisee owes.

Remedies and waivers

482E-9(a) treats a violation of 482E-6 as an unfair or deceptive practice under chapter 480. A case note on the mirror says subsection (a) does not itself create a private cause of action for deceptive practices.
482E-9(b) lets a franchisee sue over sales made in violation of the chapter for damages, rescission or other relief. Recovery can include costs and reasonable attorneys' fees, and the court "may in its discretion increase the award of damages to an amount not to exceed three times the actual damages sustained."
No limitation period appears in 482E-9. No forum or choice-of-law rule was found in the sections read.
Under 482E-6(2)(F), any provision binding a franchisee to waive compliance with the chapter "shall be void," though the paragraph does not bar settling disputes or claims already arising.

What this page has not confirmed

The coverage and definition sections (482E-1 and 482E-2) were not opened, so this page cannot say which businesses fall inside the chapter. Later paragraphs of 482E-6(2) were truncated in the copy read. Exact notice and cure days, and any no-cure exceptions, are not confirmed.

Questions to look for in your own notice and agreement

Is the notice in writing, and does it name a lawful, material provision of the agreement?
Does it offer a chance to cure, and by what date?
Does the agreement set its own cure days, and how do they compare with a "reasonable period"?
Which inventory, equipment and furnishings did you buy from the franchisor or a designated supplier?

The notice and the agreement control your own dates; a lawyer licensed in Hawaii can advise. Related: the cure period explained, what a default notice states and state laws compared.