No. SCWC-19-0000047, Thursday, December 5, 2024, 9 a.m.

FREDERICK T. CAVEN, JR., on behalf of himself and a class of similarly situated persons, Respondent/Plaintiff-Appellant, vs. CERTIFIED MANAGEMENT, INC., DBA ASSOCIA HAWAI‘I, Petitioner/Defendant-Appellee.

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The above-captioned case has been set for oral argument on the merits at:

Supreme Court Courtroom
Ali‘iōlani Hale, 2nd Floor
417 South King Street
Honolulu, HI 96813

The oral argument will also be livestreamed for public viewing via the Judiciary’s YouTube channel at YouTube.com/hawaiicourts and ʻŌlelo Community Television olelo.org/tv-schedule/.

Attorneys for Petitioner/Defendant-Appellee CERTIFIED MANAGEMENT, INC. dba ASSOCIA HAWAI‘I:
     David M. Louie, Nicholas R. Monlux and Ryan D. Louie of Kobayashi Sugita & Goda, LLP

Attorneys for Respondent/Plaintiff-Appellant FREDERICK T. CAVEN, JR.:
     Margery S. Bronster, Robert M. Hatch and Kelly A. Higa of Bronster Fujichaku Robbins

NOTE: Order accepting Application for Writ of Certiorari filed 09/06/24.

NOTE: Order granting motion to reschedule Oral Argument to Thursday, December 5, 2024, at 9:00 AM, filed 09/26/24.

COURT: Recktenwald, C.J., McKenna, Eddins, Ginoza and Devens, JJ.

Brief Description:

This appeal addresses fees charged for documents related to the sale of a condominium unit.  Respondent Frederick T. Caven, Jr. (Caven) was co-owner of a condominium unit that was part of Poipu Kai Association (PKA), a planned community association, and Regency at Poipu Kai AOAO (Regency AOAO), a condominium association.  Petitioner Certified Management, Inc., dba Associa Hawaii (Associa) was managing agent for PKA and Regency AOAO.

Related to the sale of his unit, Caven requested documents pertaining to the PKA and Regency AOAO, including (a) Project Information Form RR105c (Form RR105c), a document containing disclosure information for a buyer and (b) a Statement of Account (SOA), which provided an estimate of association charges and information on the unit owner’s account.  Associa prepared the Form RR105c and SOA for the sale of Caven’s unit.  Caven’s realtor ordered and downloaded documents from a website maintained by Associa and was charged for them.

Pertinent to this appeal, Caven’s First Amended Complaint asserts that Associa violated Hawai‘i Revised Statutes (HRS) Chapter 514B (Count I).  In addressing Count I, the Circuit Court granted summary judgment in favor of Associa, holding that Form RR105c and SOA are not subject to the provisions of HRS Chapter 514B, and that Associa did not violate HRS §§ 514B-154(g) and 514B-154.5(e) when it charged fees for documents made available electronically for download. 

Caven appealed to the Intermediate Court of Appeals (ICA), which issued a Summary Disposition Order vacating the Circuit Court’s rulings on Count I.  This court then granted Associa’s Application for Writ of Certiorari, which presents three questions:

1. Whether the ICA gravely erred . . . when it applied the definition of “Association” to “Managing agent” — which are separately defined terms that apply to separate entities in HRS Chapter 514B — to . . . apply “Association” obligations under HRS § 514B-154.5(e) to a “Managing agent.”
2. Whether the ICA gravely erred when it read entirely new requirements into HRS Chapter 514B . . . by concluding that disclosures and documents required to be made available under HRS § 514B-154.5(a) are “not limited to what the condominium association keeps” and are “not limited to pre-existing documents.”
3. Whether the ICA gravely erred when it read entirely new requirements into HRS Chapter 514B . . . by concluding that the “Managing agent” in this case “had a duty” to provide the “Form RR105c” . . . and “Regency AOAO SOA” . . . , which are documents prepared by the “Managing agent” and are not documents, information, or records kept by the “Association” pursuant to HRS §§ 514B-105, -152, -154.5.