De Los Santos Lat v. Woo

• Decision Date: 29 August 2022
• Docket Number: CAAP-18-0000017
• Parties: GORDIE DE LOS SANTOS LAT, Plaintiff-Appellee, v. GLENN F. WOO, Defendant-Appellant, and JOHN DOES 1-20, JANE DOES 1-20AND DOE ENTITIES, 1-20, Defendants
• Court: Hawaii Court of Appeals

GORDIE DE LOS SANTOS LAT, Plaintiff-Appellee, v. GLENN F. WOO, Defendant-Appellant, and JOHN DOES 1-20, JANE DOES 1-20AND DOE ENTITIES, 1-20, Defendants

No. CAAP-18-0000017

Intermediate Court of Appeals of Hawaii

August 29, 2022

NOT FOR PUBLICATION IN WEST'S HAWAII REPORTS AND PACIFIC REPORTER

APPEAL FROM THE CIRCUIT COURT OF THE FIRST CIRCUIT (CIVIL NO 17-1-1617)

On the briefs:

Alvin T. Ito,

for Defendant-Appellant

Dennis W. King,

Tristan S.D. Andres,

for Plaintiff-Appellee

Ginoza, Chief Judge, Wadsworth and Nakasone, JJ.

MEMORANDUM OPINION

Defendant-Appellant Glenn F. Woo (Woo) appeals from the "Final Judgment" filed on December 19, 2017, and challenges the "Order Granting In Part and Denying In Part Plaintiff Gordie De Los Santos Lat's Motion for Partial Summary Judgment" (Order Granting Partial Summary Judgment) filed on November 15, 2017, by the Circuit Court of the First Circuit (Circuit Court).^[1]

The parties dispute ownership of parking stall number 60 (Stall 60) at The Rosalei condominium in Waikiki. On appeal, Woo contends the Circuit Court erred in granting partial summary judgment to Plaintiff-Appellee Gordie De Los Santos Lat (Lat) on Count I (declaratory judgment), asserting that Lat's mother, Florence De Los Santos Lat Marton (Marton), purchased Unit 1113 (Unit 1113 or the Unit) at The Rosalei without Stall 60. Woo also contends the Circuit Court erred in granting partial summary judgment to Lat on Count II (injunctive relief), enjoining "Woo from using, possessing, or renting the Stall" because Lat cannot prove irreparable injury and because granting summary judgement to Lat on Count I rendered Count II moot. Further, Woo contends that Lat's Motion for Partial Summary Judgment (MSJ) was filed prematurely given the time limit prescribed by Hawai'i Rules of Civil Procedure (HRCP) Rule 56(a).

I. Background

A. Undisputed Facts

The Rosalei was converted to a condominium project in 2002. The Declaration of Condominium Property Regime for The Rosalei (Declaration), recorded in September 2002, provided as to Limited Common Elements:

4. Limited Common Elements. Certain parts of the Common elements, herein called the "Limited Common Elements," are hereby designated, set aside and reserved for the exclusive use of certain Apartments, and such Apartments shall have appurtenant thereto exclusive easements for the use of such Limited Common Elements as set forth herein. . . . Notwithstanding anything to the contrary contained in this Declaration, no amendment of this Declaration affecting the Limited Common Elements appurtenant to an Apartment or Apartments shall be effective without the consent of the Owner or Owners affected.

a. Parking. The parking stalls for the Project are located [in] the basement and first floors of the Project as shown on the Condominium Map. Each of the parking stalls is assigned to an Apartment as a limited common element as shown on Exhibit "B". Upon compliance with Section 514A-14 of the Act, each Owner shall have the right, from time to time, to assign and reassign the parking stall(s) assigned the Owner's Apartment to another Apartment in the Project, provided that the Association and Managing Agent shall be promptly notified of all assignments and reassignments of parking stalls. Any parking stalls assigned to the Resident Manager's Apartment that is owned by the Association may be used or transferred as the Board determines.

(Emphasis added.) In addition to the parking stall provision, section D of the Declaration provides:

The Common Interest and easements appurtenant to each Apartment shall have a permanent character and shall not be altered without the consent of all of the Apartment Owners affected, expressed in an amendment to this Declaration duly recorded or except as otherwise set forth in this Declaration. The Common Interest and easements shall not be separated from the Apartment to which they appertain, and shall be deemed to be conveyed, leased or encumbered with such Apartment even though such interest or easements are not expressly mentioned or described in the conveyance or other instrument. The Common Elements shall remain undivided, and no right shall exist to partition or divide any part thereof except as provided by [HRS § 514A-14].

(Emphasis added.)

At the time the Declaration was filed, HRS § 514A-14 (1993) provided:

Parking Stalls. Notwithstanding any provision of the declaration, apartment owners shall have the right to change the designation of parking stalls which are appurtenant to their respective apartments by amendment of the declaration and respective apartment leases or deeds involved. The amendment need only be signed and approved by the lessor (in the case of a leasehold project) and the owners (and their respective mortgagees if any) of the apartments whose parking stalls are being changed. The amendment shall be effective only upon recording or filing of the same of record with the bureau of conveyances.^[2]

(Emphasis added.)

In 2003, Apartment Unit 1113 (Unit) and appurtenant Parking Stall 60 (Stall 60) were transferred to Rosalei Kaiolu Partners (RKP) via deed (2003 Deed) and accompanied by transfer certificate of title number 678003 (2003 TCT). The 2003 Deed states that the Declaration is incorporated "by reference with the same effect as though fully set forth herein, and as the same are or may hereafter be amended from time to time in accordance with law and the terms of the Declaration and Bylaws[.]" The 2003 Deed explicitly identifies the Stall in the description of the Unit:

ITEM XVII:

FIRST: Apartment No. 1113 of that certain condominium project known as "THE ROSALEI" (hereinafter called the "Project"), as described in and established by that certain Declaration of Condominium Property Regime of the Rosalei dated June 27, 2002, recorded in the Office of the Assistant Registrar of the Land Court of the State of Hawaii as Document No. 2843038, as noted on Certificate of Title No. 258,141, and by those certain Bylaws of the Association of Apartment Owners of the Rosalei dated June 27, 2002, and recorded in said Office as Document No. 2843039, as the same may be amended from time to time (hereinafter called the "Declaration" and "Bylaws", respectively), and as more fully shown on Condominium Map No. 1507, filed in said Office, as may be amended from time to time (hereinafter called the "Condominium Map").

TOGETHER WITH the following appurtenant easements:

a. Nonexclusive easements in the common elements designed for such purposes for ingress to, egress from, utility services for and support of said apartment and in the other common elements for use according to their respective purposes, all as set forth in said Declaration; and

b. Exclusive easements to use (i) Parking Stall No. 60, and (ii) the other limited common elements appurtenant to and designated for the exclusive use of said apartment in said Declaration.

(Emphasis added.) The 2003 TCT also references Stall 60 as part of the Unit.

In 2006, the Unit was deeded to Lat's mother, Marton (2006 Deed). The 2006 Deed incorporates by reference the 2003 Deed. The 2006 Deed does not explicitly identify Stall 60 as being conveyed with the Unit.

In 2015, following the passing of Marton, Marton's trust conveyed the Unit to Lat via trustees' deed (2015 Deed). The 2015 Deed also did not explicitly identify Stall 60 as being conveyed with the Unit. It did, however, incorporate by reference the 2006 Deed and provide a property description that stated in relevant part: "[t]ogether with appurtenant easements as follows: (A) Exclusive easements to use (i) Parking Space(s), if any, and (ii) the other limited elements appurtenant to and designated for the exclusive use of said Apartment, as shown in the Declaration, as amended." (Format altered.)

B. Woo's Contentions and Evidence

The dispute over whether Marton, and therefore Lat, owned Stall 60 arose as Lat was preparing the Unit for sale in 2017. On the same day an offer was made on the Unit with Stall 60, the resident manager for The Rosalei informed Lat that Woo was claiming ownership to the Stall. In opposition to Lat's MSJ, Woo submitted a declaration attesting that when Marton purchased the Unit, Marton "was aware Unit 1113 was being sold without a parking stall." Woo further alleged in his declaration that RKP "did not intend to convey [the Stall] as part of the Apartment Deed for Unit 1113." In an email to Lat's counsel, Woo stated "we rented out the parking spot for about 10 years" with no question from Lat. Woo further stated that RKP sold Stall 60 to a partner living in Hawai'i, who eventually sold the Stall to Woo. Importantly, Woo indicates the sale of Stall 60 to him "was not recorded in any deeds."

C. The Circuit Court Ruling

The Circuit Court granted summary judgment for Lat on Counts I and II. The Final Judgment states:

1. The Motion is granted as to Count I for Declaratory Relief of the Complaint filed on October 3, 2017, and the Court declares Parking Stall No. 60 at The Rosalei Condominium is Attached to Unit 1113 at The Rosalei Condominium as a matter of law.

2. The Motion is granted as to Count II of the Complaint filed on October 3, 2017, and Defendant is hereby enjoined from using, possessing, or renting Parking Stall No. 60 at The Rosalei.

3. The Motion is denied without prejudice as to Counts III, IV, and V of the Complaint filed on October 3, 2017.

II. Standard of Review

"This court reviews a circuit court's grant or denial of summary judgment de novo." Price v. AIG Hawai'i Ins. Co., Inc., 107 Hawai'i 106, 110, 111 P.3d 1, 5 (2005), as corrected on denial of reconsideration (Apr. 22, 2005) (citing Hawaii Cmty. Fed. Credit Union v. Keka, 94 Hawai'i 213, 221, 11 P.3d 1, 9 (2000))....