Haw. Rev. Stat. § 708-837

Current through Act 7 of the 2024 Legislative Session
Section 708-837 - Failure to return a rental motor vehicle; penalty

A person commits the offense of failure to return a rental motor vehicle when he intentionally does not return the motor vehicle to the person, or his agent, from whom the vehicle was rented within forty-eight hours after the time stated on the rental agreement, unless the person renting the vehicle gives notice that he will not be able to return the vehicle in the stated time and extends the time in which the vehicle will be returned.

Failure to return a rental motor vehicle is a misdemeanor.

HRS § 708-837

L 1973, c 63, §1

COMMENTARY ON § 708-837.5

Act 171, Session Laws 1980, enacted this section as part of a package of penal sanctions and civil remedies intended "to provide an effective means for businesses, which have rented personal property to others, to obtain speedy and rightful return of their property while respecting the rights of persons who have leased the property." Conference Committee Report No. 37-80 (57-80).

Where police stopped defendant's rental car after they had received a report from the car's owner that the car was overdue, police had reasonable suspicion to stop the car, even if the report turned out to be mistaken due to its timing, because the police were acting on a police report from the car's owner, whose honesty had not been questioned. 241 F.3d 1124. Mentioned:86 Haw. 207,948 P.2d 1048.

As to civil remedies, see §§ 603-29, 604-6.2, and 633-8.