Opinion ID: 2550107
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Ault and the Dixons Units 241 and 441

Text: The circuit court ruled that applicants Ault and the Dixons were not qualified because they owned fee simple property suitable for residential purposes within the City and County of Honolulu that was quitclaimed for no consideration to relatives shortly before or at the time they applied to participate in the condemnation proceedings. The circuit court explained that it did not believe Ault and the Dixons were qualified because the property that they had quitclaimed in order to qualify for the condemnation proceedings could be quitclaimed back to them. Appellants contend that the circuit court's ruling that Ault and the Dixons were not qualified is not supported by the plain language of ROH § 38-2.4. The Trustees argue that the circuit court was correct because the transactions by Ault and the Dixons were similar to the creation of false poverty to become eligible for government assistance programs or fraudulent conveyances. The clear and unambiguous language of ROH § 38-2.4 provides that applicants are not eligible to participate in condemnation proceedings under ROH chapter 38 unless they [d]o not own property in fee simple lands suitable for residential purposes within the City and County of Honolulu or have pending ... an unrefused application to lease or purchase residential real property for dwelling unit purposes. In the instant case, it is undisputed that, at the time they applied and throughout the condemnation proceedings, neither Ault nor the Dixons owned fee simple property suitable for residential purposes within the City and County of Honolulu or had a pending, unrefused application to lease or purchase residential real property for dwelling unit purposes. Based on the plain language of the ordinance, we hold that the circuit court erred in ruling that Ault and the Dixons were not qualified to participate in condemnation proceedings under ROH chapter 38.