Opinion
SCRQ-23-0000331
05-01-2024
JUAN ANGEL RUBALCABA, Plaintiff-Appellant, v. ASSOCIATION OF APARTMENT OWNERS OF MAKAKILO CLIFFS, by and through its Board of Directors, Defendant/Third-Party Plaintiff-Appellee, and PORTER McGUIRE KIAKONA, LLP, fka Porter Tom Quitiquit Chee & Watts, LLP and Porter McGuire Kiakona & Chow, LLP; and EKIMOTO & MORRIS LLLC, Third-Party Defendants.
Steven K.S. Chung and Anthony F.T. Suetsugu for appellant Gene K. Lau for appellee
NOT FOR PUBLICATION IN WEST'S HAWAI'I REPORTS AND PACIFIC REPORTER
RESERVED QUESTION FROM THE CIRCUIT COURT OF THE FIRST CIRCUIT (CASE NO. 1CCV-22-0000743)
Steven K.S. Chung and Anthony F.T. Suetsugu for appellant
Gene K. Lau for appellee
Recktenwald, C.J., McKenna, and Eddins, JJ., Circuit Judge Remigio and Circuit Judge Johnson, assigned by reason of vacancies
SUMMARY DISPOSITION ORDER
This court agreed to answer a reserved question from the Circuit Court of the First Circuit. The circuit court asked:
In a wrongful foreclosure case brought by a homeowner against a homeowners' association, should the mortgage debt of the homeowner to a third-party lender(s) that was discharged by the third-party lender's subsequent foreclosure be considered in determining/calculating the Plaintiff's damages?
We accepted the reserved question, advising that we intended to answer it through Wong v. Ass'n of Apartment Owners of Harbor Square, SCAP-22-0000552, a case then pending before us .
We decided Wong on February 29, 2024 and entered final judgment on April 2, 2024. 154 Hawai'i 58, 545 P.3d 547 (2024). Our decision describes how a plaintiff may calculate damages in a lawsuit against a condominium association for wrongful foreclosure.
Accordingly, we remand the case to the circuit court for further proceedings consistent with Wong.