Court Opinion

ID: 9952800
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2024-03-20 19:05:50.640833+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T14:40:30.787401
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NOT FOR PUBLICATION IN WEST'S HAWAI#I REPORTS AND PACIFIC REPORTER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-MAR-2024
                                            08:25 AM
                                            Dkt. 76 ODSLJ
                         NO. CAAP-XX-XXXXXXX

                 IN THE INTERMEDIATE COURT OF APPEALS

                       OF THE STATE OF HAWAI#I

            THE BANK OF NEW YORK MELLON TRUST CO., N.A.,
            F/K/A/ THE BANK OF NEW YORK TRUST CO., N.A.,
         AS TRUSTEE FOR MULTI-CLASS MORTGAGE PASS-THROUGH
            CERTIFICATES CHASE FLEX TRUST SERIES 2007-1,
      Plaintiff-Appellee, v. HENRY WILSON TOROMORENO, JR.;
            ROSE MARY MENDONCA; JACQUELINE WALL DENISON,
         Defendants-Appellees; LELAND H.Y. LOUIE, Trustee
           of the Leland H.Y. Louie Revocable Trust dated
       December 17, 1994 and ROSA Y. LOUIE, Trustee of the
     Rosa Y. Louie Revocable Trust dated December 17, 1994,
          Defendants-Appellants; ASSOCIATION OF APARTMENT
       OWNERS OF PALMS AT WAIKIKI, Defendant-Appellee; and
             John and Mary Does 1-20; Doe Partnerships,
           Corporations or Other Entities 1-20, Defendants

          APPEAL FROM THE CIRCUIT COURT OF THE FIRST CIRCUIT
                        (CASE NO. 1CC161002272)

                       ORDER DISMISSING APPEAL
   (By:    Hiraoka, Presiding Judge, Nakasone and McCullen, JJ.)

          Upon review of the record, it appears that:
          1.   Leland Louie and Rosa Louie, representing
themselves, filed the notice of appeal creating this case on
March 12, 2019, purportedly on behalf of Leland H.Y. Louie,
Trustee of the Leland H.Y. Louie Revocable Trust dated
December 17, 1994, and Rosa Y. Louie, Trustee of the Rosa Y.
Louie Revocable Trust dated December 17, 1994;
          2.   Neither Leland Louie nor Rosa Louie are licensed
to practice law in Hawai#i;
  NOT FOR PUBLICATION IN WEST'S HAWAI#I REPORTS AND PACIFIC REPORTER

          3.   A non-lawyer trustee may not represent the trust
in litigation unless they are the real party in interest — that
is, the sole beneficiary of the trust, Tradewinds Hotel, Inc. v.
Cochran, 8 Haw. App. 256, 265, 799 P.2d 60, 66 (1990);
          4.   The Louies have the burden to show that they are
the sole beneficiaries of their respective trusts, id.;
          5.   On May 5, 2021, we entered an order for
supplemental briefing on "whether the Louies are entitled to
assert the appeal on behalf of their respective trusts";
          6.   The Louies filed their supplemental brief on
June 8, 2021, to which they attached copies of the "Short Form
Trust Agreement of Leland H.Y. Louie" and the "Short Form Trust
Agreement of Rosa Y. Louie";
          7.   The Short Form Trust Agreement of Leland H.Y.
Louie does not identify the trust's beneficiaries;
          8.   The Short Form Trust Agreement of Rosa Y. Louie
does not identify the trust's beneficiaries; and
          9.   The Louies have not sustained their burden to show
that they are the sole beneficiaries of their respective trusts.
          Therefore, IT IS HEREBY ORDERED that this appeal is
dismissed for lack of appellate jurisdiction.
          DATED: Honolulu, Hawai#i, March 20, 2024.

                                      /s/ Keith K. Hiraoka
                                      Presiding Judge

                                      /s/ Karen T. Nakasone
                                      Associate Judge

                                      /s/ Sonja M.P. McCullen
                                      Associate Judge

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