§657-7  Damage to persons or property. 
Actions for the recovery of compensation for damage or injury to persons or
property shall be instituted within two years after the cause of action
accrued, and not after, except as provided in section 657-13. [L 1907, c 113,
§1; am L 1913, c 19, §1; RL 1925, §2645; RL 1935, §3916; RL 1945, §10427; RL
1955, §241-7; am L 1957, c 138, §1; HRS §657-7; am L 1972, c 105, §1(e)]



 



Attorney General Opinions



 



  Statute does not run against State.  Att. Gen. Op. 63-36.



 



Law Journals and Reviews



 



  Where complaint is filed on last day of two-year limitation
period and counterclaim is filed within three months thereafter, counterclaim
is late and subject to dismissal.  Haw. Supp, 4 HBJ, Nov 1966, at 32.



  Tort and Insurance "Reform" in a Common Law Court.  14 UH L. Rev. 55.



  Latent Disease and Toxic Torts in Hawai`i:  Analysis of the
Statute of Limitations, the Rule Against Splitting Causes of Action and
Nonidentification Theories of Liability.  15 UH L. Rev. 137.



  Interspousal Torts:  A Procedural Framework for Hawai`i.  19 UH L. Rev. 377.



 



Case Notes



 



  When claim accrues, discussed.  818 F.2d 210.



  Claim against asbestos manufacturer was not time-barred
because action accrued when plaintiff had knowledge that defendant's negligence
may have caused injury.  871 F.2d 891.



  Counterclaim filed more than two years after accident not
barred, where arising from the incident which gave rise to the complaint.  252
F. Supp. 988.



  Not applicable to action for taking and converting personal
property.  256 F. Supp. 204, 214, aff'd 378 F.2d 888.  See also 78 F. Supp.
421.



  Statute of limitations begins to run the moment person
discovers or should have discovered the negligent act, the damage, and the
causal connection; certification of other plaintiffs' claims as class action
did not toll statute of limitations.  611 F. Supp. 1285.



  Where plaintiff knew all that was necessary to trigger the
statute of limitations on plaintiff's strict liability claims on date that
plaintiff filed worker's compensation claim, plaintiff's strict liability
claims were not filed within two years of that date and were accordingly
time-barred under this section; defendants' motions for summary judgment on
issue of statute of limitations denied as to plaintiff's negligence action,
where defendants failed to show that plaintiff had actual or imputed knowledge
of defendants' negligence or breach of duty.  854 F. Supp. 702.



  Two-year limit applied to personal injury claims of negligent
and intentional infliction of emotional distress and negligence, claims of
discriminatory employment practices under §§378-2 and 378-62, 42 U.S.C.  §1983
claim, and claim of discrimination under Title IX.  Plaintiff's 42 U.S.C.
§1983, Title IX, and state law claims barred, where neither the collective
bargaining proceedings nor the equal employment opportunity proceedings tolled
the statute of limitations.  874 F. Supp. 1095.



  If plaintiff's multiple sclerosis was a separate and distinct
disease from optic neuritis or plaintiff's earlier demyelination, plaintiff's
cause of action did not accrue until plaintiff discovered or should have
discovered that plaintiff had multiple sclerosis and that injections of
vaccine, negligently manufactured by defendant or containing a dangerous defect,
caused the multiple sclerosis.  875 F. Supp. 701.



  Retaliatory discharge claim dismissed as untimely where no
genuine issue of equitable tolling on basis of mental incapacity found.  938 F.
Supp. 1503.



  Accrual of plaintiff's causes of action and tolling of
limitations period discussed, where plaintiff's claims for personal injury
against defendant were barred by operation of two-year statute of limitations. 
945 F. Supp. 1334.



  Where defendant contended that claim for breach of implied
covenant of good faith and fair dealing was barred by two-year statute of
limitations governing damage to persons and property (§657-7), since there is
no element in the cause of action for bad faith that requires a plaintiff to
suffer personal injury, it is not in reality a cause of action based upon a
"personal injury", and the applicable statute of limitations is six
years and is found in the catchall provision of §657-1 (§657-1(4)).  986 F.
Supp. 1334.



  It could not be disputed that by the time the underinsured
motorist benefits were paid, plaintiff either knew or should have known that
defendant's alleged refusal to engage in settlement negotiations caused
plaintiff injury; any claims for emotional distress were time-barred. 11 F.
Supp. 2d 1204.



  Plaintiff may rely on events which occurred prior to the
limitations period in order to establish intentional infliction of emotional
distress claim, as long as the incidents are constant and closely related to
the violations which occurred within the period of limitations.  75 F. Supp. 2d
1113.



  Where plaintiff alleged violations of 42 U.S.C. §198l which
occurred within two-year statute of limitations period, plaintiff may rely on
events which occurred outside the limitations period in order to establish a
pattern of conduct and/or intent of defendant. 75 F. Supp. 2d 1113.



  Limitations period applicable to cause of action for bad
faith, discussed; where complaint was not filed until almost one year after the
limitations period had lapsed, to the extent that complaint alleged a claim for
the tort of bad faith denial of benefits, summary judgment granted in favor of
defendant as to plaintiff's claim for tort of bad faith.  11 F. Supp. 2d 1204. 



  Plaintiff brought forth evidence of a continuing series of
conduct which affected plaintiff and plaintiff's work environment; plaintiff's
sexual harassment claims may proceed using the evidence, even though much of it
predated limitations period; plaintiff may not rely on other proffered evidence
because to extent those actions raised claims, statute of limitations had
passed.  125 F. Supp. 2d 1224.



  Applying Hawaii's statute of limitations for personal injury
claims, which court found was most analogous to plaintiffs' claims under, inter
alia, Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, and where limitations period
began at conclusion of administrative proceedings, plaintiffs were within
limitations period.  141 F. Supp. 2d 1243.



  Plaintiff's 42 U.S.C. §1983 cause of action for false arrest
did not accrue while the criminal charges were pending against plaintiff.  165
F. Supp. 2d 1149.



  Two-year statute of limitations applied in Individuals with
Disabilities Education Act case, where plaintiff sought only attorney's fees
and costs for prevailing at the administrative level, not a substantive review
of the administrative proceedings.  234 F. Supp. 2d 1156.



  Where plaintiffs contended that most of their claims were
governed by this section, all of plaintiffs' claims were governed by the
limitations period established in §663-3; the statute of limitations began to
run, as per the terms of §663-3, upon the death of plaintiffs' wife and
mother.  396 F. Supp. 2d 1150.



  Plaintiff neglected to file the intentional infliction of
emotional distress claim against defendants within the two-year tort statute of
limitations; among other things, the charge plaintiff filed with the Equal
Employment Opportunity Commission and the Hawaii civil rights commission charge
did not toll the statute of limitations for the claim.  468 F. Supp. 2d 1210.



  Where defendants argued that the intentional infliction of
emotional distress/negligent infliction of emotional distress claims were
time-barred because the time began to run on the date of discharge, there was a
triable issue of fact as to when plaintiffs-intervenors discovered the cause of
their alleged emotional distress.  535 F. Supp. 2d 1149.



  Under prior law, action for injury to person barred without
exception for disability of infancy.  20 H. 170.



  Applies to trespass on land.  20 H. 237.



  Amendment to complaint concerning punitive damages may be
made, when.  30 H. 17.



  Action to cancel release and prevent its use in action for
injuries not subject to defense of laches when action for the injuries not
barred.  32 H. 936, aff'd 75 F.2d 74.



  Revival of cause of action by statute, whether intended.  33
H. 379, reh'g den.  33 H. 409.



  In malpractice action statute begins to run when plaintiff
discovers, or acting reasonably should have discovered, defendant's alleged
negligence.  50 H. 150, 433 P.2d 220; 2 H. App. 506, 635 P.2d 244.



  Statute begins to run for negligent injury to real property
when the plaintiff knows or should have discovered that an actionable wrong has
been committed.  50 H. 397, 441 P.2d 636.



  Under HRCP 15(c), claim asserted in amended pleadings after
statute has run will not be barred if it arose out of a timely pleaded factual
situation.  52 H. 563, 481 P.2d 310.



  Waiver of statute; where one lulls another as by a
stipulation into allowing the statute to run out, one cannot assert the statute
as a bar.  52 H. 563, 481 P.2d 310.



  Statute of limitations begins to run the moment person
discovers or should have discovered the negligent act, the damage, and the
causal connection.  65 H. 84, 648 P.2d 689.



  Two-year statute of limitations governs actions brought under
42 U.S.C. §1983 rather than six-year "catchall" limitations period of
§657-1(4).  73 H. 578, 837 P.2d 1247.



  Claim of breach of implied warranty of merchantability for
personal injury from pacemaker governed under statute of limitations in
§490:2-725 rather than this section.  74 H. 1, 837 P.2d 1273.



  Plaintiff's lack of knowledge regarding a legal duty, the
breach of which may have caused plaintiff's injury, did not justify application
of "discovery rule"; plaintiff's failure to seek legal advice from an
attorney did not toll statute of limitations.  81 H. 391, 917 P.2d 718.



  Where all that had not been discovered by plaintiff was
identity of defendant, discovery rule did not apply to toll this section.  82
H. 461, 923 P.2d 403.



  Issue of when childhood sexual abuse victim discovered, or
should have discovered, that alleged injuries were caused by defendant's
alleged actions was question of fact for jury; reasonable jury could find that
victim filed suit within two years of discovering alleged injuries and cause of
those injuries.  83 H. 28, 924 P.2d 196.



  Reading this section in pari materia with §1-29, the
computation of time under the prescribed two-year statute of limitations would
exclude the first day on which the cause of action accrues and include the last
day, two years thereafter; thus, plaintiff's complaint, filed on the second
anniversary of plaintiff's alleged injury, was "within two years after the
cause of action accrued", and therefore, timely.  99 H. 281, 54 P.3d 452.



  Where genuine issues of material fact existed as to whether
association of apartment owners, through the use of reasonable diligence,
should have discovered the negligent act, the damage, and the causal connection
between the two more than two years prior to the initiation of the action, and
whether the association exercised reasonable diligence in pursuing its claims,
trial court erred in granting summary judgment in favor of defendants on the
association's negligence claims based on this section.  115 H. 232, 167 P.3d
225.



  Section 657-5 controls over HRCP rule 5(a); thus, notice of a
proposed extension of a judgment pursuant to §657-5 must be provided to the
judgment debtor prior to the granting of the extension, even if the debtor is
in default and is not required under rule 5(a) to be served with pleadings;
although failure to provide notice under this section was error, error was
harmless where debtor never appeared to defend debtor's self, had an
opportunity to be heard at a HRCP rule 60(b) hearing, and offered no defense on
the merits to the original judgment or extension, and thus failed to
demonstrate any prejudice.  120 H. 1, 200 P.3d 370.



  As action for bad faith against insurer is an independent
tort, the proper limitation provision for bringing an action should not be that
provided in the insurance policy, but rather that provided in this section,
which limits causes of action for torts to two years.  88 H. 442 (App.), 967
P.2d 639.



  Plaintiff's lawsuit for injuries to plaintiff's person while
a passenger on defendant's plane was governed and barred by the personal injury
statute of limitations embodied in this section notwithstanding that the form
of the pleading was a claim in contract.  111 H. 67 (App.), 137 P.3d 381.



  Cited:  978 F.2d 493; 198 F. Supp. 78, 90; 22 H. 140, 141; 24
H. 258.



 



Hawaii Legal Reporter Citations



 



  Two-year statute of limitations.  79 HLR 79-0163.