U.S. Bank National Association v. Spence

Opinion

NOT FOR PUBLICATION IN WEST'S HAWAI I REPORTS AND PACIFIC REPORTER

Electronically Filed

Intermediate Court of Appeals CAAP-XX-XXXXXXX

20-JUN-2025

08:58 AM

Dkt. 63 OGMD

NO. CAAP-XX-XXXXXXX

IN THE INTERMEDIATE COURT OF APPEALS OF THE STATE OF HAWAI I

U.S. BANK NATIONAL ASSOCIATION, AS TRUSTEE FOR NEW CENTURY ALTERNATIVE MORTGAGE LOAN TRUST 2006-ALT2, Plaintiff-Appellee, v.

DANIEL JOSEPH SPENCE; ELAINE DUMLAO SPENCE, Defendants-Appellants,

and

WILMINGTON SAVINGS FUND SOCIETY, FSB, NOT IN ITS INDIVIDUAL CAPACITY BUT SOLELY AS TRUSTEE FOR EASTERN SAT TRUST;

MILILANI TOWN 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 FIRST CIRCUIT (CIVIL NO. 1CC141000573)

ORDER GRANTING MOTION TO DISMISS APPEAL (By: Leonard, Acting Chief Judge, Hiraoka, Wadsworth, JJ.)

Upon consideration of the Motion to Dismiss Appeal as

Moot filed by Plaintiff-Appellee U.S. Bank National Association, as Trustee for New Century Alternative Mortgage Loan Trust 2006-ALT2 on June 6, 2025, the response filed by Defendants- Appellants Daniel Joseph Spence and Elaine Dumlao Spence on June 13, 2025, and the record, it appears that:

1. On April 29, 2025, we temporarily remanded this appeal to the Circuit Court in accordance with Wilmington Savings Fund Society, FSB v. Domingo, SCWC-XX-XXXXXXX & SCWC-XX-XXXXXXX,

NOT FOR PUBLICATION IN WEST'S HAWAI I REPORTS AND PACIFIC REPORTER 2023 WL 2017392 (Haw. Feb. 15, 2023) (mem. op.) to determine whether the Property at issue in the foreclosure proceeding had been sold to a good-faith purchaser;

2. The Circuit Court conducted an evidentiary hearing and, on May 23, 2025, entered Findings of Fact, Conclusions of Law, and Order as to Third-Party Purchasers' Good Faith Purchaser Status in Accordance with Temporary Remand to Circuit Court;

3. The Circuit Court's findings of fact were supported by substantial evidence in the record and were not clearly erroneous, see Est. of Klink ex rel. Klink v. State, 113 Hawai i 332, 351, 152 P.3d 504, 523 (2007);

4. The Circuit Court's conclusions of law were right, see Wilmington Sav. Fund Soc'y, FSB v. Domingo, 155 Hawai i 1, 9, 556 P.3d 347, 355 (2024);

5. The Circuit Court's conclusion that "(1)

Mark Nicholas Chin and Jeanie Chi Hyon Chin, as tenants by the entirety; (2) Properinvest, LLC; (3) Kelakela 1069 LLC; (4) Zenith Realty Group, LLC; and (5) Small Pond Partners, LLC), were and are good faith purchasers of the Property under Hawai i law" was supported by its findings of fact and reflected an application of the correct rule of law, Domingo, 155 Hawai i at 9, 12, 556 P.3d at 355, 358; and 6. The Spences' appeal is moot, Bank of New York Mellon v. R. Onaga, Inc., 140 Hawai i 358, 370, 400 P.3d 559, 570 (2017) (holding that if no stay is obtained and the foreclosed property is sold to a good faith purchaser, the appeal should be dismissed as moot).