No. SCWC-20-0000286, Tuesday, March 25, 2025, 10:30 a.m.

In re MOLOAA FARMS LLC, Respondent/Claimant-Appellant, vs. PAUL C. HUBER, individually, Petitioner and Respondent/Respondent-Appellee, ASSOCIATION OF APARTMENT OWNERS OF MOLOAA HUI I, PAUL C. HUBER as President of the Association of Unit Owners of Moloaa Hui I, ASSOCIATION OF APARTMENT OWNERS OF MOLOAA HUI II, and NED Y. WHITLOCK, as President of the Association of Unit Owners of Moloaa Hui II, Respondents and Petitioners/Respondents-Appellees, MOLOAA HUI Lands, Inc., Respondent/Respondent-Appellee, CANDACE L. STRONG, individually, Respondent and Petitioner/Respondent-Appellee and ERIC M. STRONG, as President and Chief Executive Officer of Moloaa Hui Lands, Inc., Respondent/Respondent-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, 2^nd 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 ‘Ōlelo at olelo.org/tv-schedule/.

Attorney for Petitioner and Respondent/Respondent-Appellee PAUL C. HUBER: 
     Carl H. Osaki

Attorneys for Respondents and Petitioners/Respondents-Appellees AOAO OF MOLOAA HUI I and PAUL C. HUBER, as President of the AOAO of Moloaa Hui I:
     Matt A. Tsukazaki and Tyler A. Tsukazaki of Li & Tsukazaki

Attorneys for the Respondents and Petitioners/Respondents-Appellees AOAO of MOLOAA HUI II and NED Y. WHITLOCK, as President of the AOAO of Moloaa Hui II:  
     Michelle J. Chapman and James W. Rooney of Case Lombardi

Attorneys for Respondent and Petitioner/Respondent-Appellee CANDACE L. STRONG:  
     Jason G.F. Wong and Michel A. Okazaki

Attorneys for Respondent/Claimant-Appellant MOLOAA FARMS, LLC: 
     Paul Alston and Timothy H. Irons of Dentons US LLP

NOTE: Order accepting Applications for Writ of Certiorari, filed 12/26/24.

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

Brief Description:

On February 10, 1997, an Option Agreement was entered between Moloaa Hui Lands as “Seller” and Jeffrey S. Lindner as “Buyer”, with Michael R. Strong, Candace Strong, and Paul C. Huber listed as “Principals” of Moloaa Hui Lands (“MHL”).  The Option Agreement indicates Lindner loaned $500,000 to MHL to fund the purchase of the Moloaa Hui Lands property, with the option to acquire a portion of the property.  In March 1997, MHL recorded a Declaration that established covenants governing the Moloaa Hui Lands.  Both the Option Agreement and the Declaration include arbitration provisions requiring disputes to be resolved under the American Arbitration Association (“AAA”) Commercial Rules.

In 1998, Lindner exercised his option and purchased the lands known as Lot 2. In 2010, owners in Lot 1 formed the Moloaa Irrigation Cooperative to develop a new water system. Moloaa Irrigation Cooperative received state funding to complete the project.

On October 7, 2019, Moloaa Farms and Robert D. Lindner, Jr. filed a demand for arbitration against petitioners, along with Eric Strong, president and CEO of Moloaa Hui Lands. In the demand, Moloaa Farms asserted that the 1997 agreements entitle Lot 2 access to the new water system at cost and at terms akin to those of Lot 1 owners. 

Association of Apartment Owners of Moloaa Hui I and Paul C. Huber, as President of the Association of Unit Owners of Moloaa Hui I; Association of Apartment Owners of Moloaa Hui II and Ned Y. Whitlock, as President of the Association of Unit Owners of Moloaa Hui II, as well as Candace L. Strong and Paul C. Huber, separately, contested the arbitration, through Motions to Stay and/or Terminate Arbitration and a Motion to Determine Existence and Validity of an Agreement to Arbitrate.  The circuit court terminated the arbitration, granting all three motions. The ICA vacated the circuit court’s orders terminating arbitration, holding the arbitration agreements to be valid and the disputes arbitrable.

The questions raised concern whether the dispute falls within the scope of the arbitration clauses, and whether the clauses bind all the named parties.  In their petitions for certiorari, the petitioners argue the ICA erred when it divested the circuit court of jurisdiction over the dispute.  Additionally, the parties ask whether the dispute is one respecting water rights under Hawai‘i Revised Statutes § 664-32 and § 664-33, and whether these statutes confer exclusive jurisdiction over such disputes to the circuit court.