[Second in a series. Click here to read Part 1.]

The house is flipped again

On September 24, 2018, Dubin sold his 100% interest in Greentree Properties LLC (the Nevada company which held title to the property at 91 Coelho Way) to James Harold Hall, real estate records show. In a later court filing, Dubin claimed the selling price was $3 million. 

It is hard to imagine a more unqualified buyer than James Hall. Less than nine months previously, Hall had been awaiting eviction from a Hawaii Kai home which he had occupied, without payment of rent and without permission, for 4-1/2 years. And, because Dubin had represented Hall  in opposing foreclosure proceedings and stalling Hall’s eviction, the attorney must have been well aware of the dire state of Hall’s finances.

The purported sale came just two months after the Office of Disciplinary Counsel filed a petition before the Hawaii Supreme Court recommending Dubin be suspended from the practice of law on an interim basis, while a hearing officer’s recommendation Dubin be disbarred was considered.

The court declined that recommendation, but Dubin was subsequently disbarred from the practice of law in state courts by order of the court effective in November 2020. A similar disbarment order was later issued by Hawaii’s US District Court following a reciprocal discipline proceeding. 

Dubin has appealed of both orders to the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals, although an earlier attempt to obtain relief from the US Supreme Court was rejected. The appeals, and related civil lawsuits against the Office of Disciplinary Counsel, are pending.

Just one week after Hall took over as the sole owner and manager of Greentree Properties, the company filed a lawsuit seeking to evict Jeffrey Dunster, who had been residing in the home since 1993, a total of 25 years.

The lawsuit “came as a complete shock,” according to Dunster’s answer to the lawsuit.

Dunster said he had occupied the property since 2007 with the consent of Gary Dubin, who had been the sole represenative of Greentree during the entire period. Further, Dunster said he communicated with Dubin just days before the lawsuit was filed, and that Dubin made no demand that he move out, and made no mention that a lawsuit was to be filed “on the next business day.”

“There is a genuine issue of material fact as to whether Mr. Hall has authority to act on behalf of Greentree,” Dunster’s attorneys argued, saying Hall presented no evidence of his takeover of Greentree.

Neither Dunster nor Hall could be reached for comment.

Hall responded to Dunster in court by filing  a document appearing to show 100% of Dubin’s interests in Greentree Properties, along with all voting rights, had been assigned to Hall as of September 24, 2018.

Dubin was left “with no interest in the LLC,”  according to the document, which was signed by both Dubin and Hall. It was not notarized.

In addition, Hall filed a declaration in court saying he had gone to the Coelho property several times attempting to talk to Dunster, but it had proved “impossible to make contact with him or to gain entry” to the property.

“Mr. Dunster has completely gated off the entire Subject Property and it is impossible to make contact with him or to gain entry,” Hall said.

Hall said the delay in taking possession of the property was costing him about $1,000 per day, citing monthly carrying costs of $20,465 in mortgage payments, $827 in homeowner’s insurance, and $2,635 in property taxes.

On November 26, 2018, District Court Judge Michael Tanigawa ruled in favor of Hall and approved issuance of a writ of possession, ending Dunster’s more than two decades association with the property. On the same day, Hall executed a quitclaim deed transferring title from Greentree Properties LLC to himself as an individual.

But, once again, that is not the end of the story.

Smoke and mirrors

According to the sworn declarations filed by Dubin and Hall during the proceedings leading to Dunster’s eviction from the Coelho Way property, the sale of Greentree left Hall as the sole member and manager of the company, and the only person with an ownership interest in it.

But for more than two years after the sale of Greentree, Dubin continued to sign financial documents as member and manager of Greetree Properties LLC with authority to act on its behalf.

Between May 2019 and December 2020, Dubin signed off on four amendments to the $500,000 2nd mortgage loan from Gregg Kamm to Greentree.  All four amendments were made well after the reported September 24, 2018 transfer of all ownership interest in Greentree from Dubin to Hall.

Each of the amendments was filed with the Bureau of Conveyances. The first amendment was filed on May 30, 2019, extending the repayment deadline to December 31, 2019. Dubin signed the second amendment on January 7, 2020, further extending the deadline to June 30, 2020.

A third amendment dated June 12, 2020, deferred the repayment again to December 28, 2020. And a fourth amendment, dated December 8, 2020, put off the loan repayment again until December 28, 2021.

In each case, Dubin signed for Greentree as its “member” or “manager,” apparently contradicting the sworn statements filed in court that said Dubin had no further connection to the company. 

The deal goes bad

On April 1, 2021, a foreclosure lawsuit was filed alleging Dubin and Greentree Properties had defaulted on the $2 million mortgage loan made by Wells Fargo Bank in 2007.

The bank’s lawsuit also names Hall  as a defendant, identifying him as someone who “may claim an interest in the Property as a present or former owner.” 

Documents filed in the case allege the loan was in default “for failure to make required payments due as of March 1, 2019.”

As of May 1, 2020, past due amounts came to $204,652.95, according to copies of statements filed in court.  Interest, legal fees, and other charges drove the total due at that time to $244,950.97.

In an answer to the foreclosure complaint, Dubin denied most allegations, and blamed the bank, broadly alleging without evidence that it committed fraud  and engaged in “intentional falsification” of documents.

Then, several weeks later, Dubin filed a counterclaim, repeating allegation of fraud against the bank, but now also alleging he had been swindled by Hall’s failure to continue making the required payments on Greentree’s behalf. 

Here Dubin is in his element, painting himself as the victim of a conspiracy of bankers seeking revenge because of his law practice repesenting debtors in foreclosure cases, and then victimized again by Hall’s failure to fulfill the terms of the Greetree sale agreement. 

According to Dubin’s account of the $3 million transaction, Hall agreed pay an unspecified amount over the outstanding debt, and then to continue paying off the outstanding mortgage debts, along with property taxes and other expenses. 

However, Dubin alleges, Hall quickly stopped making the promised payments, and began illegal short-term rentals while keeping the proceeds to himself, prompting the bank to file its foreclosure action. 

Dubin’s counterclaim does not address the question of why he would have entered into a sales contract with any party having a financial and personal history akin to Hall.  As Hall’s former attorney, he should not have been suprised by this turn of events.

In his counterclaim, Dubin also walked back his statement that he retained no interest in Greentree Properties following the sale to Hall, a claim previously made repeatedly in court proceedings. 

Instead, Dubin now claims to have retained a minority interest in the LLC, and is asking the court to partition the Coelho Way property and return a portion to him, along with claimed damages resulting from Hall’s alleged failure to fulfill the terms of their contract.

The foreclosure lawsuit against Dubin and Greentree, along with Dubin’s counterclaim, remain pending in First Circuit Court, while Dubin and Hall continue pointing fingers at the other.