Justia Hawaii Supreme Court Opinion Summaries

Articles Posted in Real Estate & Property Law
by
The Supreme Court vacated in part and affirmed in part the judgment of the intermediate court of appeals (ICA) affirming the judgment of the circuit court and granting Plaintiffs' motion for attorney's fees on appeal, holding that the ICA should have limited its appellate attorney's fees.Plaintiffs alleged that their neighbor, Defendant, was in breach of a restrictive covenant contained in the parties' subdivision's declaration of covenants, conditions and restrictions stating that trees and shrubs on every lot shall be maintained at a reasonable height. After a trial, the circuit court ordered Defendant not to maintain any plants on her property at a height not to exceed the roofline of her residence. The court awarded Plaintiffs $40,000 in damages plus attorney's fees. The ICA affirmed and granted Plaintiffs' motion for attorney's fees on appeal. The Supreme Court vacated the ICA's judgment in part, holding (1) the ICA should have limited its appellate attorney's fees to twenty-five percent of the damages award Plaintiffs received; and (2) the ICA did not otherwise err. View "Gailliard v. Rawsthorne" on Justia Law

by
The Supreme Court held that wrongful foreclosures in violation of the power of sale are voidable, rather than void, and to the extent Silva v. Lopez, 5 Haw. 262 (1884), is to the contrary, it is overruled.Plaintiffs' property was foreclosed by nonjudicial foreclosure. Several years later, Plaintiffs sued for wrongful foreclosure and quiet title against various defendants. The circuit court granted Defendants' motion for dismissal of all claims. The intermediate court of appeals (ICA) affirmed as to one defendant and otherwise reversed. Plaintiffs subsequently filed an application for a writ of certiorari. The Supreme Court vacated the ICA's judgment as to the one defendant, holding (1) the "tender rule" was inapplicable on the facts, and as to the defendant who sought to assert the tender rule was not Plaintiffs' mortgagee, Plaintiffs did not need to plead tender to establish superior title as to that defendant; and (2) wrongful foreclosures in violation of the power of sale are voidable, not void. View "Delapinia v. Nationstar Mortgage LLC" on Justia Law

by
The Supreme Court vacated in part the judgment of the intermediate court of appeals (ICA) vacating the final judgment order of the circuit court in connection with a dispute over whether Hitoshi Yoshikawa was allowed to moor his boat in the Kalele Kai marina, holding that when a judgment upon which attorneys' fees and costs were based has been vacated, the attorneys' fees and costs should also be vacated.The circuit court granted summary judgment in favor of the Association of Owners of Kalele Kai, awarded attorneys' fees and costs, and entered final judgment in favor of the Association. The ICA vacated the summary judgment but affirmed the related attorneys' fees and costs award. The Supreme Court vacated the ICA's judgment to the extent it affirmed the attorneys' fees and costs award, which arose from the vacated summary judgment and vacated the order of the circuit court awarding fees and costs, holding that the ICA abused its discretion by limiting the issues on remand to prevent the circuit court from considering attorneys' fees and costs awarded based on the vacated summary judgment. View "Association of Owners of Kalele Kai v. Yoshikawa" on Justia Law

by
In this case concerning the admissibility and evidentiary weight of documents and declarations in a foreclosure proceeding the Supreme Court affirmed the amended judgment and order of the circuit court granting Plaintiff's motion for summary judgment and for interlocutory decree of foreclosure, holding that promissory notes are not hearsay.Plaintiff, U.S. Bank, brought this foreclosure action. The circuit court granted Plaintiff's motion for summary judgment, but the intermediate court of appeals (ICA) remanded the case. At issue on remand was whether U.S. Bank possessed the promissory note when it filed its complaint. The circuit court concluded that U.S. Bank possessed the promissory note at the time it brought suit. The ICA vacated the circuit court's judgment, concluding that U.S. Bank lacked standing because it had not established it possessed the promissory note at the time it filed the foreclosure action. The Supreme Court vacated the ICA's judgment and affirmed the judgment of the circuit court, holding (1) promissory notes are not hearsay; (2) copies of promissory notes are not self-authenticating under Haw. R. Evid. 902(9); (3) under the incorporated records doctrine, business records may be admissible even absent testimony concerning the business practices or records of their creator; and (4) U.S. Bank was entitled to summary judgment. View "U.S. Bank Trust, N.A. v. Verhagen" on Justia Law

by
In this case involving the binding effect of a stipulation, the Supreme Court vacated in part the judgment of the intermediate court of appeals (ICA) and the circuit court's judgment with respect to the circuit court's order denying sanctions, but otherwise affirmed, holding that the lower courts erred by failing to treat the stipulation at issue as a binding agreement.Plaintiff brought a complaint for foreclosure against Defendants. After summary judgment was granted to Plaintiff but before any foreclosure sale, the parties entered into a stipulation filed with the court providing that the foreclosure sale would be continued while Defendants pursued a private sale. One defendant later filed a motion to compel and for sanctions, asserting that other defendants had blocked the transaction in contravention of the stipulation. The court denied the motion, and the property was subsequently sold at auction. The ICA affirmed, concluding that the circuit court's finding that there was no agreement for a private sale was not clearly erroneous. The Supreme Court reversed in part, holding that a stipulation made during the course of litigation that is reduced to writing, agreed to by all parties, and filed with the court generally operates like a contract and generally binds the parties to its terms. View "Provident Funding Associates, L.P. v. Gardner" on Justia Law

by
The Supreme Court affirmed the judgment of the intermediate court of appeals (ICA) vacating the circuit court's judgment affirming the decisions of the Maui Planning Commission approving an application for a special management area (SMA) use permit to build affordable housing and denying a petition to intervene in the SMA use permit application proceedings, holding that further proceedings were necessary.The SMA use permit was sought by Stanford Carr Development, LLC's (Carr), which sought to build affordable housing within the County of Maui's SMA. The Protect and Preserve Kahoma Ahupua'a Association (PPKAA) filed a petition to intervene in the proceedings. The Commission denied PPKAA's petition on the grounds that PPKAA failed to demonstrate that its interests were different from those of the general public and then approved the SMA use permit application. The ICA vacated the judgment. The Supreme Court affirmed, holding (1) PPKAA had standing to intervene as a matter of right and was denied procedural due process to protect its constitutional right to a clean and healthful environment; and (2) the Commission was required to make findings on the project's consistency with the general and community plans pursuant to Haw. Rev. Stat. 205A-26(2)(C). View "Protect & Preserve Kahoma Ahupua'a Ass'n v. Maui Planning Commission" on Justia Law

by
The Supreme Court vacated the judgment of the intermediate court of appeals (ICA) affirming the circuit court's order granting summary judgment in favor of Wells Fargo Bank, N.A. on its complaint seeking judicial foreclosure of the residence of Marianne Fong, holding that genuine issues of material fact precluded summary judgment.In order to prove that Fong had defaulted, Wells Fargo submitted a ledger without providing an explanation as to how to read the ledger. The Supreme Court reversed, holding (1) in the absence of any explanation, the ledger was subject to interpretation and therefore presented a genuine issue of material fact; and (2) there was a genuine issue of material fact regarding whether Fong actually owed the amounts that forced her into her alleged default. View "Wells Fargo Bank v. Fong" on Justia Law

by
The Supreme Court affirmed in part and vacated in part the intermediate court of appeals' (ICA) judgment on appeal with respect to defendant Nicole Jadan's counterclaim and vacated the district court's judgment, holding that the district court erred by failing to determine whether Jadan's participation in the court proceedings would be meaningful absent language assistance when it resolved her repeated requests for an interpreter.Cambridge Management filed a complaint for writ of possession against Jadan. Jadan counterclaimed for damages. The district court held nine hearings on the complaint and counterclaim. At eight of those court dates, Jadan either requested the assistance of a Polish interpreter or indicated to the court that she struggled with understanding and communicating in English. One judge agreed to appoint an interpreter midway through the district court proceedings, but subsequent court dates proceeded without the service of an interpreter. The court ruled in favor of Cambridge. The ICA affirmed. The Supreme Court vacated in part, holding that the district court's failure adequately to inquire into Jadan's language access needs was not harmless. View "Cambridge Management Inc. v. Jadan" on Justia Law

by
In this foreclosure action, the Supreme Court vacated the judgment of the intermediate court of appeals (ICA) concluding that the circuit court did not abuse its discretion by denying Appellants' motion to extend time to file notice of appeal, holding that the circuit court abused its discretion by denying Appellants' appeal extension motion.On appeal, Appellants asserted that they were deprived of an opportunity to timely file a notice of appeal from the order denying foreclosure reconsideration because the circuit court staff provided incorrect information leading Appellants to believe that the thirty days to file the notice of appeal had not yet begun tolling. The ICA affirmed. The Supreme Court vacated the ICA's judgment, holding (1) Haw. R. App. P. 4(a)(4)(B) motions to extend time for filing a notice of appeal are not properly filed as ex parte motions; (2) under the circumstances of this case, Appellants' motion to advance the hearing on their HRAP Rule 4(a)(4)(B) hearing motion should have been granted; and (3) therefore, Appellants' notice of appeal was effective as to all issues on appeal over which the ICA had appellate jurisdiction based on Appellants' timely appeal of the circuit court's order denying reconsideration of the order granting summary judgment and foreclosure judgment. View "Wilmington Savings Fund Society v. Ryan" on Justia Law

by
The Supreme Court reversed the judgment of the intermediate court of appeals (ICA) in this appeal, holding that the ICA erred when it vacated the jury's civil conspiracy verdict, when it vacated an order of the circuit court on judicial admissions and judicial estoppel, and when it vacated the jury's verdict on Plaintiff's nuisance, invasion of privacy, and malicious prosecution claims.In this dispute between Plaintiff and Defendants over an easement located on Defendants' property that escalated into numerous incidents of alleged wrongful conduct by both parties, both parties appealed a $616,000 jury verdict in favor of Plaintiff. The ICA vacated the circuit court's judgment, vacated the entire jury award, and remanded the case for a new trial, holding that the circuit court made numerous errors. The Supreme Court reversed and reinstated the jury's award, holding (1) the ICA erred in vacating the circuit court's determination that Defendants judicially admitted to the existence of the easement and that its scope included vehicular ingress and egress; and (2) the ICA erred in several other respects. View "Ching v. Dung" on Justia Law