Court Opinion

ID: 9403263
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-06-20 19:04:43.0468+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T17:20:05.774561
License: Public Domain

NOT FOR PUBLICATION IN WEST'S HAWAI#I REPORTS AND PACIFIC REPORTER

                                           Electronically Filed
                                           Intermediate Court of Appeals
                                           CAAP-XX-XXXXXXX
                                           20-JUN-2023
                                           07:56 AM
                                           Dkt. 139 ODSD

           NOS. CAAP-XX-XXXXXXX AND CAAP-XX-XXXXXXX

             IN THE INTERMEDIATE COURT OF APPEALS

                    OF THE STATE OF HAWAI#I

                          CAAP-XX-XXXXXXX
   WILMINGTON SAVINGS FUND SOCIETY, FSB, DOING BUSINESS AS
 CHRISTINA TRUST, NOT IN ITS INDIVIDUAL CAPACITY, BUT SOLELY
      AS TRUSTEE FOR BCAT 2015-14BTT, Plaintiff-Appellee,
                                 v.
        ISABELO PACPACO DOMINGO; MICHELE ELANOR DOMINGO,
                      Defendants-Appellants,
                                and
BANK OF AMERICA, N.A.; HALEWILI PLACE COMMUNITY ASSOCIATION,
                       Defendants-Appellees,
                                and
    JOHN DOES 1-50; JANE DOES 1-50; DOE PARTNERSHIPS 1-50;
       DOE CORPORATIONS 1-50; DOE ENTITIES 1-50; and DOE
               GOVERNMENTAL UNITS 1-50, Defendants

                               AND

                          CAAP-XX-XXXXXXX
   WILMINGTON SAVINGS FUND SOCIETY, FSB, DOING BUSINESS AS
 CHRISTINA TRUST, NOT IN ITS INDIVIDUAL CAPACITY, BUT SOLELY
      AS TRUSTEE FOR BCAT 2015-14BTT, Plaintiff-Appellee,
                                 v.
        ISABELO PACPACO DOMINGO; MICHELE ELANOR DOMINGO,
                      Defendants-Appellants,
                                and
BANK OF AMERICA, N.A.; HALEWILI PLACE COMMUNITY ASSOCIATION,
                       Defendants-Appellees,
                                and
    JOHN DOES 1-50; JANE DOES 1-50; DOE PARTNERSHIPS 1-50;
       DOE CORPORATIONS 1-50; DOE ENTITIES 1-50; and DOE
               GOVERNMENTAL UNITS 1-50, Defendants

     APPEAL FROM THE CIRCUIT COURT OF THE THIRD CIRCUIT
                    (CIVIL NO. 13-1-202K)
  NOT FOR PUBLICATION IN WEST'S HAWAI#I REPORTS AND PACIFIC REPORTER

                     ORDER DISMISSING APPEAL AS MOOT
         (By:   Ginoza, Chief Judge, Leonard and Nakasone, JJ.)

          On April 1, 2022, Plaintiff-Appellee Wilmington Savings
Fund Society, FSB, doing business as Christiana Trust, Not in Its
Individual Capacity, but Solely as Trustee for BCAT 2015-14BTT
(Wilmington) filed a Motion to Dismiss Appeal contending the
appeal is moot because Defendants-Appellants Isabelo Pacpaco
Domingo and Michele Elanor Domingo (together, the Domingos)
failed to obtain a stay and the subject property has been sold
and conveyed to a third-party good-faith purchaser, BBNY REO LLC,
a Florida Limited Liability Company (BBNY).
           On August 26, 2022, this court entered an Amended
Summary Disposition Order concluding the appeal is moot because
the Domingos failed to obtain a stay pending the appeal and no
effective relief can be granted to the Domingos given the sale of
the property to BBNY.
           The Hawai#i Supreme Court granted the Domingos'
application for writ of certiorari. On February 15, 2023, the
Hawai#i Supreme Court vacated the Amended Summary Disposition
Order with instructions to temporarily remand the case to the
Circuit Court of the Third Circuit (Circuit Court) for an
evidentiary hearing to determine whether BBNY is a third-party
good-faith purchaser. Wilmington Sav. Fund Soc'y, FSB v. Domingo,
SCWC-XX-XXXXXXX, 2023 WL 2017392 (Haw. Feb. 15, 2023) (Mem. Op.).
          On February 24, 2023, pursuant to the supreme court's
memorandum opinion, we entered an Order for Temporary Remand to
the Circuit Court.
          After an evidentiary hearing on April 11, 2023, the
Circuit Court entered "Findings of Fact and Conclusions of Law
Regarding Evidentiary Hearing to Determine Good Faith of
Purchaser" on April 12, 2023. The Circuit Court found, inter
alia, that BBNY purchased the subject property from Wilmington
for a fair price under the circumstances;1 BBNY is not related or

     1
          The sale price was $400,000.

                                         2
  NOT FOR PUBLICATION IN WEST'S HAWAI#I REPORTS AND PACIFIC REPORTER

connected to Wilmington or its loan servicer Selene Finance, LP
in any way; the sale of the subject property was completed after
negotiations with other interested parties failed; the sale of
the property from Wilmington to BBNY was negotiated in good faith
and at arms-length; in purchasing the property, BBNY noted that
the Domingos did not obtain a stay of proceedings and did not
post any bond in connection with this consolidated appeal; and a
Special Warranty Deed and Corrective Special Warranty Deed was
recorded in the Land Court. The Circuit Court determined, inter
alia, that without a supersedeas bond, BBNY's knowledge of the
Domingos' claims against Wilmington, including the pending
consolidated appeal did not prohibit Wilmington from selling the
property to BBNY; and BBNY was a good-faith third-party purchaser
of the subject property.
           The Circuit Court also found that after purchasing the
property from Wilmington, BBNY took possession of the property,
marketed the property for sale, and re-sold it to another third-
party purchaser; the sale of the property from BBNY to the
subsequent purchasers was also negotiated in good-faith and at
arms-length; and a Special Warranty Deed was executed and
recorded in the Land Court. The Circuit Court determined the
subject property is currently owned by the subsequent purchasers
who are also third-party, good-faith purchasers of the property.
           Pursuant to the Order for Temporary Remand,
jurisdiction automatically reverted to this court on April 14,
2023, upon the filing of the supplemental record on appeal.
           Given the Circuit Court's findings and determination
that BBNY is a good-faith third-party purchaser of the subject
property and the property is no longer in Wilmington or BBNY's
possession, the appeal is moot because no effective relief can be
granted. See Bank of New York Mellon v. R. Onaga, Inc., 140
Hawai#i 358, 370, 400 P.3d 559, 571 (2017) (holding appeal should
be dismissed as moot because no effective relief can be granted
where appellant failed to post a supersedeas bond or otherwise
obtain a stay and a third-party lawfully purchased the property
in good faith).

                                  3
  NOT FOR PUBLICATION IN WEST'S HAWAI#I REPORTS AND PACIFIC REPORTER

          Moreover, none of the recognized exceptions to the
mootness doctrine apply here. See Hamilton ex rel. Lethem v.
Lethem, 119 Hawai#i 1, 5-11, 193 P.3d 839, 843-49 (2008)
(explaining the Hawai#i Supreme Court has recognized the public
interest exception, the "capable of repetition, yet evading
review" exception, and adopting the collateral consequences
exception).
          THEREFORE, IT IS HEREBY ORDERED that this appeal is
dismissed as moot.
          DATED: Honolulu, Hawai#i, June 20, 2023.

                                      /s/ Lisa M. Ginoza
                                      Chief Judge

                                      /s/ Katherine G. Leonard
                                      Associate Judge

                                      /s/ Karen T. Nakasone
                                      Associate Judge

                                  4