Blue Pacific Management Corp. v. Anderson

8 Am. Samoa 3d 87
CourtHigh Court of American Samoa
DecidedJanuary 12, 2004
DocketCA No. 76-01
StatusPublished

This text of 8 Am. Samoa 3d 87 (Blue Pacific Management Corp. v. Anderson) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering High Court of American Samoa primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Blue Pacific Management Corp. v. Anderson, 8 Am. Samoa 3d 87 (amsamoa 2004).

Opinion

OPINION AND ORDER

We separated the current action from a dispute between G.M. Meredith and Associates and Plaintiff Blue Pacific Management Corp. (“BPMC”) as agent for Pago Plaza. On May 16,1997, BPMC intervened on its own behalf and asserted distinct claims against Pago Plaza, with Defendant Martin Anderson (“Anderson”) as a real party in interest. BPMC alleged [90]*90that Anderson owed payment for lease commissions, construction services, and reimbursements. Anderson counterclaimed for an accounting of revenue earned by charging for parking, a return of some personal property, and a rent payment. On April 22, 2003, Anderson moved for summary judgment based on the statute of limitations and argued for a Rule 12(b)(6) partial dismissal of BPMC’s construction management service claims. After a May 8, 2003 hearing, the Court denied the summary judgment and dismissal motions, and deferred ruling on the statute of limitations issue until after trial.

For the reasons stated below, we find Anderson liable for the lease commissions, but the statute of limitations bars BPMC’s other claims. In addition, we find that BPMC sufficiently accounted for the parking lot fees, but is liable for the rent payment. Anderson did not present any evidence that BPMC still possessed Plaza property.

Factual Findings

A lawyer residing in Hawaii, Anderson constructed and owned Pago Plaza, a commercial properly. James McGuire (“McGuire”) of American Samoa, in his capacity as president of BPMC, acted as Anderson’s agent, managing the Plaza from November 13, 1986 until February 1997. Anderson supervised McGuire using intermediary agents. Warren Hamamoto (“Hamamoto”) supervised McGuire for approximately the first three years of the agency. Robert Kerley (“Kerley”) supervised McGuire after Hamamoto until the end of the agency.

On September 3, 1986, as construction finished on the Plaza, Anderson hired McGuire for a term of three months to broker Pago Plaza leases. For every lease, McGuire earned a commission of one month’s rent. McGuire performed his duties successfully, and the brokerage agreement developed into a long-tenn management agreement.

Agreeing orally, the parties embodied their management agreement in a detailed November 13, 1986 letter from McGuire to Hamamoto. McGuire promised 15 hours of management services a week, with specific duties including rent collection, complaint handling, security, maintenance, office and retail space leasing, and specific construction tasks. The letter detailed five forms of compensation: monthly salary; heavy equipment rental commissions; use of secretarial services; letter of recommendation; and lease commissions. McGuire received a salary of $1,000.00 per month and a lease commission worth the value of the lease’s first month of rent, including common area charges.

Anderson and McGuire initially seemed satisfied with the terms of the management agreement. On February 9, 1990, Anderson executed a [91]*91power of attorney that authorized McGuire to manage and execute leases for Pago Plaza. McGuire closed some lucrative leases for Anderson, including two leases with the Federal Emergency Management Agency (“FEMA”), a 15-month February 15, 1990 lease in evidence, and a 3-month January 4, 1992 lease. Among other documents in evidence, McGuire’s July 6, 1993 accounts receivable spreadsheet and February 16, 1994 letter show the existence and value of both leases. Including common area fees, monthly rent was $10,622.50 for the 15-month lease and $3,150.00 for the 3-month lease.

The agency relationship successively changed. McGuire managed obligations incurred by Anderson outside the scope of the established 1986 management agreement. The Plaza needed repair after a hurricane destroyed its original skylight. McGuire managed the construction of a sturdier replacement. Anderson’s business opportunities outside of the Plaza needed developing. McGuire responded by managing a Lotopesega property development project and an industrial park warehouse proposal. As a new commercial property, Pago Plaza needed additional capital improvements to complete its establishment. McGuire managed the installation of an elevator, improvement of the office, and preparation work for the Plaza Café.

Likely in reaction to the need for the additional management work, Anderson tried to expand McGuire’s duties on July 9, 1992, evidenced by a management responsibility outline. Though evidence implies that McGuire disputed the change in duties, the outline remains useful for demonstrating Anderson’s intent. With the outline, Anderson intended to increase and generalize the scope of McGuire’s construction management duties. Also, the outline shows that Anderson intended for McGuire to “charge non-tenants to park in the parking lot after 6 pm., seven nights a week.”

McGuire continued managing and leasing space at the Plaza without interruption. In 1993, he obtained a Government Services Administration (“GSA”) lease deal, requiring a monthly rent of $10,778.40 for 10 years. The February 16, 1994 letter from McGuire includes a copy of the lease.

Acting on Anderson’s behalf following GSA’s occupation of its rental space, Kerley visited McGuire in American Samoa to resolve some outstanding issues that had developed, including the scope of McGuire’s duties and his compensation. A July 20, 1993 letter of understanding written by Kerley summarized some results of the meeting and requested McGuire’s signed acknowledgement. McGuire did not sign Kerley’s letter, but he acknowledged the demands through performance. McGuire ceased using the services of H.F. McGuire Trust Corporation, a corporation in which his wife has interest, doing business as Mariani’s, at the Plaza. Practically copying the duty list from the 1992 management [92]*92responsibilities outline, McGuire wrote a description of his duties for Anderson on February 11, 1994. In doing so, McGuire excluded some duties listed on the 1992 management responsibility outline, such as the supervision of independent contractors or the collection of parking fees.

After Kerley’s July 1993 visit, McGuire’s compensation changed considerably. McGuire started receiving a salary of $2,000.00 per month, shown by February 1994 correspondence between Anderson and McGuire. Anderson would only pay lease commissions on a case-by-case basis, as admitted by McGuire in an August 1, 1994 letter. Anderson also agreed in writing, as reflected in Kerley’s December 19, 1995 letter, to pay McGuire for additional work beyond the scope of the Pago Plaza management duties, as long as McGuire received Anderson’s prior approval.

Approximately concurrent with the compensation change, McGuire began requesting compensation that he considered due from Anderson. McGuire repetitiously made the same compensation requests over several years — these requests are the claims now before us. Anderson consistently responded by denying any duty that he had to pay any additional compensation. On the record, McGuire communicated to Anderson a first clear request for payment of the compensation claims with the July 6, 1993 accounts receivable spreadsheet faxed on August 7, 1993. A few months later, on February 16, 1994, McGuire insistently sent an invoice for the lease commissions with a request to negotiate a higher commission for the GSA lease. Anderson responded unequivocally.

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8 Am. Samoa 3d 87, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/blue-pacific-management-corp-v-anderson-amsamoa-2004.