Opinion ID: 2622549
Heading Depth: 4
Heading Rank: 4

Heading: Barbara Renquinha

Text: Barbara Renquinha, one of Beneficial Hawaii's managers, testified that Beneficial Hawaii owned the note and mortgage at issue in the present matter. The note and mortgage were dated July 11, 1994 and reflected that the original lender had been The Mortgage Warehouse, that the mortgage had been recorded on July 29, 1994, and that the note had been assigned from The Mortgage Warehouse to Novus Financial, which assigned it to Beneficial Mortgage, which assigned it to Beneficial Hawaii. The loan documents were transferred from Beneficial Mortgage to Beneficial Hawaii in August 1996, and the assignment was recorded on October 8, 1996. Renquinha testified that, beginning on May 24, 1996, Beneficial Mortgage had sent Kida several collection letters, including, on June 4, 1996, a notice of intent to foreclose. In a letter dated July 16, 1996, Beneficial Mortgage informed Kida that Beneficial Hawaii would be servicing his loan commencing on August 15, 1996. Renquinha was familiar with Kobayashi as a Beneficial Hawaii broker since the time that Renquinha had transferred to Hawaii in 1994 from another of Beneficial's offices. At Beneficial's request, she had contacted Kobayashi regarding the loan several times before Beneficial's collection efforts were transferred to Hawai`i. Thus, on July 26, 1996, Renquinha had telephoned Kobayashi to request that she appear at Beneficial Hawaii's office in order to execute a check in the amount of $2,300.00 that had been received unsigned from Kobayashi. On August 8, 1996, Kobayashi contacted Beneficial Mortgage and stated that she would be in touch with Renquinha. Beneficial Mortgage sought Renquinha's assistance, and Renquinha telephoned Kobayashi to request payment. Renquinha had her first contact with Kida on August 15, 1996, when he telephoned to ask for copies of two mortgage documents, one of which was the mortgage at issue in the present matter. On August 21, 1996, Kobayashi telephoned Renquinha, who explained to Kobayashi that she needed $5,606.00 to eliminate the loan's delinquency. Kobayashi stated that she had several mortgage closings scheduled and ought to have the requested funds available by August 27, 1996. Following her conversation with Kobayashi, Renquinha telephoned Karen Arakawa of Island Title, an escrow company, to arrange to have Kobayashi's commissions assigned to Beneficial Hawaii. Renquinha's next contact with Kida was on August 29, 1996, when she telephoned to inform him that he owed her company over half a million dollars on two loans, that he was delinquent in his payments, that there had been numerous broken promises to pay, and that Kobayashi was not a signatory to either of the loans. According to Renquinha, Kida stated that Kobayashi was paying his mortgage. Renquinha informed Kida that she had learned from Kobayashi that Kobayashi had been trying to obtain a mortgage to pay off the loans. Kida agreed to speak with Kobayashi and to advise Renquinha of the outcome of the conversation. The next day, August 30, 1996, Renquinha telephoned Kida once more. Kida stated that Kobayashi would make a payment by the end of the day, but no payment was tendered to Beneficial Hawaii. Renquinha informed Kida that Beneficial Hawaii was commencing a foreclosure action against the two properties that were securing his loans. Renquinha noted that Kida did not seem to her to be concerned. She asked Kida why Kobayashi was making his loans payments, to which Kida responded that Kobayashi had promised to do so. Renquinha testified that, on September 10, 1996, Gary Yonamine, Beneficial Hawaii's senior manager, had personally visited Kida at his store. Yonamine informed Kida that a payment of $2,226.00 was required at that time and that a foreclosure proceeding was imminent. Kida promised to confer with Kobayashi. Yonamine informed Kida that Beneficial Hawaii wished to work with Kida directly without the involvement of any third parties. On October 16, 1996, Beneficial Hawaii's attorneys sent Kida a notice of default and a demand for payment, both by registered and first class mail, identifying November 18, 1996 as the deadline for payment. Renquinha testified that, according to Beneficial Hawaii's records, Kida telephoned Yonamine on October 23, 1996 in order to inquire whether Kobayashi had made payment. Yonamine apprised Kida that Kida's attorney did not wish Beneficial Hawaii to communicate with Kida. Kida insisted that he wished to discuss the situation because he was concerned about the demand letter that he had received from Beneficial Hawaii's attorneys, notwithstanding that, on his attorney's advice, he had not accepted the copy sent by registered mail. Yonamine advised Kida that Beneficial Hawaii had received a payment in the amount of $2,803.40, which, however, was insufficient to bring the loan into good standing. Yonamine telephoned Kida on November 14, 1994 to inquire whether any further payments would be forthcoming. Kida returned the call the next day to state that he would check with Kobayashi about the payments.