Robocall Help · Hawaii
Robocall Lawyer in Hawaii: $500 to $1,500 Per Illegal Call
Hawaii backs the federal TCPA with its own Telemarketing Fraud Prevention Act, Hawaii Revised Statutes chapter 481P, which bars sales calls to your home before 8 a.m. or after 9 p.m. Hawaii time and bars calling back once you have said stop. If illegal calls or texts are hitting your phone anywhere from Honolulu to Hilo, you may be owed $500 to $1,500 per call.
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Hawaii robocall law at a glance
The federal TCPA protects everyone in Hawaii. Here is how it fits with the state’s own telemarketing rules.
Hawaii does not keep a separate state no-call list. The Office of Consumer Protection at the Department of Commerce and Consumer Affairs sends residents to the national registry at donotcall.gov, and that registry is what a telemarketer has to check before calling a number in the 808 area code. Chapter 481P then adds state rules on top: calling hours tied to Hawaii local time, a ban on calling back after you have asked a seller to stop, and a limit on letting the phone ring more than ten times.
The money side of a robocall claim still comes from the federal law. The TCPA sets statutory damages of $500 per call or text, and up to $1,500 when the violation was willful, and it lets you bring the claim yourself. A Hawaii claim is usually filed in the United States District Court for the District of Hawaii in Honolulu, and the state-law issues, like a call at 7 a.m. Hawaii time from a mainland dialer, become supporting facts in that case.
Two laws protect Hawaii residents
A federal law covers everyone, and Hawaii’s own telemarketing statute can add to it.
The TCPA
The Telephone Consumer Protection Act, the nationwide law behind every claim.
- Protects everyone in Hawaii, no matter the state rules.
- Bars autodialed or prerecorded calls and texts to your cell without consent.
- $500 to $1,500 per call, stacking with every violation.
- You can sue personally, you don’t wait on the government.
Telemarketing Fraud Prevention Act (Haw. Rev. Stat. ch. 481P)
How Hawaii adds to your protection.
- Calling hours: no sales calls to a residence outside 8 a.m. to 9 p.m. at the consumer’s location (HRS § 481P-3(8)).
- Stop means stop: a seller may not call again after you say you do not want calls from them (HRS § 481P-3(7)).
- Do Not Call: no state list; Hawaii relies on the National Do Not Call Registry.
- A violation is treated as an unfair or deceptive practice under Hawaii consumer law, enforced by the Office of Consumer Protection (HRS § 481P-6).
How the law works in Hawaii
The federal Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA) is the law that makes a Hawaii robocall case worth money. It makes it illegal to call or text a cell phone with an autodialer or a prerecorded voice without your consent, and it makes it illegal to keep telemarketing a number on the Do Not Call Registry. Each call or text is a separate violation worth $500, and up to $1,500 if the caller acted willfully or knowingly. A month of collection robocalls about someone else’s account can add up to a real number, which is why wrong-number robocall claims are among the strongest cases we see.
Hawaii’s own statute is the Telemarketing Fraud Prevention Act, Hawaii Revised Statutes chapter 481P. Section 481P-3 lists the “abusive telemarketing acts,” and three of them matter most to people getting unwanted calls: a seller may not call a residence outside 8 a.m. to 9 p.m. local time, may not call again after you have told that seller you do not want its calls, and may not let the phone ring more than ten times. Because Hawaii is five or six hours behind the East Coast depending on the season, mainland call centers that start dialing at 9 a.m. Eastern are reaching Oahu and the Big Island well before 8 a.m. Hawaii time, and that is a state-law violation on its face. Chapter 481P does not create its own do-not-call list; the Office of Consumer Protection points residents to the national registry, which is the list that counts.
Enforcement of chapter 481P belongs to the Office of Consumer Protection, part of the Department of Commerce and Consumer Affairs in Honolulu, not the Attorney General. A private TCPA lawsuit is different: you bring it, and it is normally filed in the United States District Court for the District of Hawaii, which sits in Honolulu and covers every island. Where a state claim fits the facts, it can sometimes be added to the federal case as a second count, but the TCPA is the engine, whether you live in Honolulu, East Honolulu, Pearl City, Hilo, or Kailua.
Max Morgan, Esq. of The Weitz Firm reviews call records for Hawaii residents at no charge. Cases are handled nationwide under the federal TCPA. Local counsel is associated where Hawaii rules require it. There is no fee unless you recover, and the federal limitations period for a TCPA claim is generally four years, but older calls can fall off the table, so talk to us before assuming there is time.
Getting illegal calls in Hawaii? Do this.
- Keep the evidence.Do not delete the calls, voicemails, or texts. Screenshots of your call log with the 808 or out-of-state number showing are what these cases run on.
- Note the Hawaii time.Write down the local time of each call. Anything before 8 a.m. or after 9 p.m. HST is worth flagging, along with the caller and what the message said.
- Report it to the state and the FTC.File a Consumer Protection complaint with the Office of Consumer Protection at cca.hawaii.gov/file-a-complaint, and report the number at donotcall.gov and to the FCC. Our guide on how to report a robocall walks through each form.
- Say stop, then get a free review.If it is safe, tell the caller to stop. Calls that keep coming after you said stop can be worth up to $1,500 each. Then send us your records and we will tell you, free, whether you have a case.
Why Hawaii residents reach out
If any of these sounds like your phone, it is worth a free look.
What we help Hawaii residents with
Each of these is a real, recoverable claim under the TCPA.
Wrong-number robocalls
Prerecorded or auto-dialed calls meant for someone else. You can have a claim even though you’re not a customer.
About wrong-number robocall claimsWrong-number debt collection
Auto-dialed collection calls for a debt that was never yours. Illegal twice over, and it pays.
About wrong-number debt collection claims“Stop calling me”
You told them to stop and the calls kept coming. Each one can be a separate violation.
About claims for calls after you said stopSpam text messages
Marketing texts you never agreed to count under the TCPA too. Screenshots are often all the proof you need.
About spam text message lawsuitsDo-Not-Call violations
Registered your number and the calls didn’t stop? Continued telemarketing may entitle you to damages.
About Do Not Call violation claimsPrerecorded cell calls
Robotic or artificial-voice calls to your cell without consent are a clear TCPA violation.
About prerecorded cell call claimsHow it works
Three steps. No cost to find out. No obligation to go further.
Tell us what happened
Answer a few plain-English questions about the calls or texts. It takes about two minutes.
Max reviews it free
Max Morgan’s team looks at your answers and tells you, honestly, whether you have a claim worth pursuing.
If you qualify, he fights for it
You pay nothing up front and nothing unless you recover. Max handles the case.
Real cases Max has helped win
The TCPA is federal, so these results apply to Hawaii residents too.
Wrong-number prerecorded debt-collection calls.
Lucas v. Synchrony Bank (N.D. Ind.)
Telemarketing to Do-Not-Call list & after opt-out.
Campbell v. Everything Breaks (D. Nev.)
385 wrong-number calls at $1,500 each.
Higgs v. Golden Title Loans (W.D. Tenn.)
Prerecorded calls to cell phones without consent.
Key v. Miracle Faith Center (N.D. Fla.)
Prior results do not guarantee a similar outcome. Every case is different.
Hawaii robocall FAQs
Does Hawaii have its own Do Not Call list?
No. Hawaii does not run a separate state registry. The Office of Consumer Protection directs residents to the National Do Not Call Registry at donotcall.gov, and a telemarketer who keeps calling a registered number can be liable under the federal TCPA. Our page on Do Not Call violations explains what counts.
Which court hears a Hawaii robocall case?
TCPA claims are federal, so a Hawaii case is usually filed in the United States District Court for the District of Hawaii in Honolulu, which covers all the islands. Some claims can also be brought in state court. Where you file depends on the facts, and that is part of the free review.
What are Hawaii’s telemarketing calling hours?
Under HRS § 481P-3(8), a seller may not place a sales call to your residence outside 8 a.m. to 9 p.m. in your local time. Because Hawaii does not observe daylight saving time, mainland dialers often break this rule early in the morning. An early call is not itself a TCPA claim, but it is strong evidence of a careless calling operation.
Do I need a Hawaii lawyer for a robocall case?
Not necessarily. The TCPA is a federal law, so an attorney does not have to be based in Hawaii to handle the claim. Cases are handled nationwide under the federal TCPA, and local counsel is associated where Hawaii rules require it. The review is free and there is no fee unless you recover.
Does Hawaii law add anything to a federal claim?
It can. Chapter 481P makes calling after you said stop and calling outside permitted hours an unfair or deceptive practice, and those facts can support a willfulness finding that moves a TCPA award from $500 toward $1,500 per call. Whether a separate state count is worth adding depends on the caller and the record, so we look at that case by case.
Explore: Wrong-number robocalls · How to sue a telemarketer · The state-by-state robocall law guide · Settlements
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