Oceanside Properties, Inc. v. City & County of Honolulu (In re Oceanside Properties, Inc.)

1 B.R. 747, 1980 Bankr. LEXIS 5748
CourtUnited States Bankruptcy Court, D. Hawaii
DecidedJanuary 7, 1980
DocketBankruptcy No. 78-00474(1)
StatusPublished
Cited by1 cases

This text of 1 B.R. 747 (Oceanside Properties, Inc. v. City & County of Honolulu (In re Oceanside Properties, Inc.)) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering United States Bankruptcy Court, D. Hawaii primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Oceanside Properties, Inc. v. City & County of Honolulu (In re Oceanside Properties, Inc.), 1 B.R. 747, 1980 Bankr. LEXIS 5748 (Haw. 1980).

Opinion

ORDER

JON J. CHINEN, Bankruptcy Judge.

The issue before this Court is whether or not this Court should reconsider or alter the Judgment entered herein on October 31, 1979.

FINDINGS OF FACT

On October 23, 1979, this Court entered its Findings of Fact and Conclusions of Law and directed that Summary Judgment be entered in favor of Oceanside Properties, Inc., hereafter “OPI”. The Judgment was filed on October 31,1979. On November 13, 1979, the City and County, hereafter “City”, filed its Motion For Reconsideration or in the Alternative for Alteration of Judgment.

A hearing was held on City’s motion on December 7, 1979. At said hearing, City asserted that this Court should reconsider or alter its Judgment filed on October 21, 1979, for the following main reasons:

1. That, even though there is a Second Amended Declaration of Horizontal Property Regime filed with the State Land Court and noted on the pertinent Transfer Certificate of Title, hereafter “TCT”, the original Declaration of Horizontal Property Regime was still part of the TCT, with notice to the world that 900 parking stalls were “Reserved for the City and County of Honolulu”. (The Horizontal Property Regime is hereafter referred to as “HPR”.)

2. That, because the State had not filed its certificate of tax lien (excise tax), OPI cannot rely on the tax lien to set aside the Condominium Conveyance Document, hereafter “CCD”.

3. That, because the CCD was held in escrow for the benefit of only the City, there was a trust in favor of City.

4. That, because Banker’s Trust had participated in preventing the CCD from being recorded, OPI cannot rely on the Additional Charge Mortgage of Banker’s Trust to set aside the CCD. Also, because the Additional Charge Mortgage covered a preexisting debt, Banker’s Trust is not a purchaser for valuable consideration.

5. OPI was not insolvent at the time of filing of the Petition.

CONCLUSIONS OF LAW

1. Effect of the Second Amended HPR

The city contends that the Second Amended HPR did not replace the Original [749]*749HPR and the First Amended HPR, but that the Second Amended HPR merely amended the previous HPRs. The City relies on Greenville v. Community Hotel Corporation, 230 S.C. 239, 95 S.E.2d 262 (1956) to support its contention.

However, the Court finds that the City’s reliance on the Greenville case is misplaced. In the first instance, Greenville involves an amendment to pleadings and not an amendment to a Horizontal Property Regime. Furthermore, with respect to pleadings under the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, the 9th Circuit Court has held that an amended pleading supercedes a prior pleading. In Bullen v. De Bretteville, 239 F.2d 824 (9th Cir. 1956), the Court stated:

It is Hornbook law that an amended pleading supercedes the original, the latter being treated thereafter as non-existent. (citations omitted). Once amended, the original no longer performs any function as a pleading and cannot be utilized to aid a defective amendment. Id at 833.

The Hawaii Supreme Court also has held that an amended pleading replaced the previous pleading. In Wight v. Lum, 41 Haw. 504 (1956), the Court held that:

The filing of the amended petition, complete in itself and not referring to any prior pleading, without objection by respondents, took the original out of the record and the amended petition became the' sole statement of the petitioner’s case. Id at 507-08.

See also Wolbert v. Reif, 194 Md. 642, 71 A.2d 761 (1950); Wichman v. United States, 553 F.2d 1104 (8th Cir. 1977); Gravitt v. Southwestern Bell Telephone Co., 396 F.Supp. 948, 950 (W.D.Tex.1975).

The purpose of the Second Amended HPR, as shown in the document itself, was to consolidate all of the changes made up to date in a single instrument. If so, it is only logical to assume that the governing document would be the one containing all of the changes.

The facts show that the Second HPR was a document complete in itself. It contained just as many pages as the original HPR, which further shows that the Second Amended HPR was intended to supercede the original HPR. The only reference of the original HPR in the Second Amended HPR occurs in the “Whereas clause”, where a history of the transaction is given. •

The subsequent conduct of the parties, OPI and City, indicates that the Second Amended HPR superceded the previous HPRs.

Amendments subsequent to the Second HPR provide that those amendments were being made pursuant to the terms of the Second Amended HPR and not the original HPR. This shows that the governing document was the Second Amended HPR.

In addition, in seeking execution and recording of the CCD conveying the 960 parking stalls to City, the City acknowledged that it then had no interest in the parking stalls and that it wanted a conveyance to itself of those stalls. If the City owned the parking stalls under the original HPR even after execution and recording of the Second Amended HPR, the CCD was not necessary. However, the facts show a long period of negotiation and work leading to the drafting and execution of the CCD, indicating that the City felt that the CCD was necessary for it to obtain title to the parking stalls.

There is a difference between a “First Amendment to HPR ” and a “First Amended HPR”. The first shows merely an intent to change some provisions in the original document, whereas the second shows an intent to supercede the original document with the amended document.

Based on all of the foregoing, the Court finds that the Second Amended HPR super-ceded all previous HPRs.

2. The State Tax Lien

City contends that, because the State Tax Lien was not recorded, OPI cannot rely on such tax lien to set aside the CCD. OPI contends that since the CCD is still not recorded, OPI may rely on the tax lien to set aside the CCD under Section 70(c) of the Bankruptcy Act.

[750]*750The City has admitted that it has never owned and does not own the parking stalls. It has also admitted that the CCD is a conveyance document. In its Memorandum in Opposition to Motion for Summary Judgment, filed in the First Circuit Court on February 3, 1978, Exhibit E to its Memorandum in Opposition to Motion For Summary Judgment, the City stated:

“The stalls involved here are not now and never owned by the City. . . . ”
“The language of the CCD clearly indicates, however, that it is a conveyance document, intended to serve as a deed to convey the stalls to the City when certain conditions have been met.”

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1 B.R. 747, 1980 Bankr. LEXIS 5748, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/oceanside-properties-inc-v-city-county-of-honolulu-in-re-oceanside-hib-1980.