The statutory fees the subsidy sits on top of

Two numbers in the statute, and they are the ones a board will actually be quoted:

HRS § 514B-161(g) — a CETF-supported individual mediation “shall include a fee of $375 to be paid by each party to the mediator,” shall receive no more from the fund than is appropriate “and in no event more than $3,000 total,” may include additional issues and parties, and “may include an evaluation by the mediator of any claims presented.”

HRS § 514B-162.5 — voluntary binding arbitration supported by the fund carries a fee of $175 to be paid by each party, capped at $6,000 total from the fund, and is available only after the parties have first attempted evaluative mediation.

The 2026 session tried to cut both party fees to $150 and to set statutory qualifications for CETF-supported mediators and arbitrators. That bill died in conference, so the $375 and $175 figures stand.

Facilitative versus evaluative — and the trap in choosing

The difference is not stylistic. A facilitative mediator helps the parties reach their own agreement; an evaluative mediator will tell them what they think of the claims.

Section 514B-161(c) puts a hard edge on the choice: “If evaluative mediation is requested in writing… the other party cannot choose to do facilitative mediation instead, and any attempt to do so shall be treated as a rejection to mediate.”

A board that responds to a written evaluative request by offering facilitative mediation has, as a matter of statute, refused to mediate. That has consequences: under § 514B-161(d)–(e) a party may move to compel where the parties have not agreed on a mediator and a date within forty-five days, with fees to the prevailing party up to $1,500 — and Hawaii authority requires a court to consider an association’s refusal to mediate when deciding fees.

When mediation is mandatory, and when it is not

Mandatory on written request under § 514B-161(a) where all four conditions hold: the dispute involves interpretation or enforcement of the declaration, bylaws or house rules; it is outside the (b) carve-outs; the same or a substantially similar dispute has not already been mediated; and no action or arbitration has been commenced.

The carve-outs in (b) are threatened property damage or health or safety; assessments; personal injury claims; and matters affecting insurance coverage availability.

Note what “assessments” being carved out does not mean. Section 514B-146(g) separately gives an owner thirty days to demand mediation of contested fines, penalties, late fees, lien filing fees and attorneys’ fees — everything except common expense assessments — and bars the association from collecting the disputed charges until it has mediated.

The fee-shifting reason to mediate first

The most valuable sentence in Hawaii association fee law is in § 514B-157(b): where an owner’s claim is not substantiated, the association gets its fees — “unless before filing the action in court the owner has first submitted the claim to mediation, or to arbitration under subpart D, and made a good faith effort to resolve the dispute.”

An owner who mediates first is shielded from the association’s fees even on a losing claim. For a board, the mirror image is that the mediation it declines is the fee award it does not get.

What the Commission's own case summaries show

The recurring subsidised-mediation subjects, from the Bulletin’s December 2025 to mid-2026 summaries: common-element pipe leaks and water damage, special assessments, limited-versus-common element allocation, insurance and common-area damage, and house rules and enforcement. Several closed as “AOUO did not participate” or “Owner did not participate.”

Those non-participation entries are the cheapest available lesson: the money is on the table and parties leave it there.

What to watch

Whether a 2027 bill revives the fee reduction and mediator-qualification package that died in conference, and whether the state’s condominium task force recommendations — which centre on making statutory rights enforceable through the Real Estate Commission — reshape the ADR track entirely.