How to Counterclaim if You are Facing Eviction

Follow the following steps on how to counterclaim. 

1. Complete the Answer and Counterclaim form.

• You will find this form in the Legal Aid Website. Click here for the entire "How to Counterclaim if You are Facing an Eviction" brochure. The forms are located on the last pages of the brochure.You will have to hand write your answers.
• You may also use the interactive online interview by Legal Aid Society of Hawai`i that will ask you questions on the form and will fill out the form for you. You will just have to save the finished form and print it. Click here for the online interactive form helper.

2. Make five (5) copies of the completed form. 

3. File all five (5) copies of your Answer and Counterclaim form in the District Court. Filing means that the court clerk will file-stamp all copies. He/she will keep one copy for the court's records, and then immediately return four file-stamped copies of your Answer and Counterclaim. 

Filing a counterclaim has a filing fee. When you file your copies at court, you can either pay the filing fee directly to the clerk, or you can submit a fee waiver application called Ex Parte Application for Relief from Costs. You can find this fee waiver form at the District Court in your circuit or online on the District Court Judiciary Website. Click here to find it online.

The court must first approve your fee waiver application before you can file your counterclaim free of charge. Typically, this takes 24-hours. Check with the court how much the filing fee is. If you believe you cannot afford it, submit the fee waiver application at the District Court and return the next day to see if it has been approved. If the court approves your fee waiver application, you should provide a copy to the clerk when you go to file your counterclaim. If the court does not approve, you will have to pay the filing fee in order to file your counterclaim. 

4. Serve a file-stamped copy of your Answer and Counterclaim on your landlord. If your landlord has an attorney, serve the file-stamped copy directly on your landlord's attorney. You can serve the documents by sending them in the mail (return receipt requested), or have someone over 18 years old and is not involved with the law suit hand deliver to your landlord or his/her attorney, or you can hire a civil service process server (this will cost you money). Serve the documents on the same day they were file-stamped in District Court. At the very latest, you may serve your landlord or his/her attorney on the day of your Answer Date hearing.