There was a section down a ways in Ken Conklin’s essay referred to here yesterday yesterday was a brief description of the latest foreclosure flim-flam being sold to Hawaiians. It’s an important reference.

In summer 2011 people are reportedly paying $2900 to a real estate firm “Laulima LLC” which then gives them a slightly individualized printed standard document the size of a book which, the customers are told, they can submit in court as evidence that they own their property under the laws of the Hawaiian Kingdom with no need to pay any mortgage to modern “owners” whose land title is not valid, due to the overthrow of the monarchy.

Actually, as I read their materials, the company’s “research” is designed to support claims against title insurance policies based on alleged faulty title.

The company’s claims were described by its president, Kale Gumapac, in legislative testimony in February 2011.

Here’s the beginning and ending of their theory:

Deeds of conveyance of real property and mortgages afterJanuary 17, 1893 cannot be considered lawfully executed because the Registrar of Conveyances or notaries public were not lawfully vested with the authority to acknowledge the execution of deeds of conveyance and mortgages because they were insurgents and members of the so-called provisional government and its successor the Republic of Hawai’i–not officers of the Hawaiian Kingdom. Since August 12″ 1898, execution of deeds of conveyance of real estate and mortgages also cannot be considered lawfully executed because these insurgents were maintained under the Territory of Hawai’i government, and only Hawaiian subjects can serve as the Registrar of Conveyance and notaries public. Because Hawaiian Kingdom law was not being administered, it in effect, renders all conveyances of real estate and mortgages securing the repayment of loans within Hawaiian territory since January 17, 1893 to the present null and void. The notary public and Registrar of of Conveyances were not competent to execute deeds or mortgages.

It’s not a new theory. It was promoted by Perfect Title back in the 1990s, which led to criminal charges. Keanu Sai, one of the Perfect Title principals, is now a consultant to Laulima.

Recently Laulima has been crowing about several district court decisions in favor of owners fighting foreclosures, including a case involving Laulima president Kale Gumapac.

Gumapac writes on facebook:

I just received the signed order from Judge Harry Freitas that dismisses the foreclosure on my house and renders the writ of possession by Deutsche Bank moot. I have attached the order to this note at the bottom. Laulima Title and Search Claims LLC has won 3 precedent setting cases in Hawaii and this is one of them. Mahalo to Dr. Keanu Sai, Dexter Kaiama and Momi Kapahu-Glushenko for their dedication and hard work. We will submit a claim for a defect in title on my owner’s title insurance policy with this order order attached signed by the judge. The title insurance company will have to pay on 2 policies. One to the lender and one to the owner. “Pupukahi i holomua!”

The implication is that the courts have given some credence to the theory that all post-1898 land transactions are flawed, but a look at the details shows this isn’t true at all.

These recent district court decisions follow a ruling by the Intermediate Court of Appeals in May (DEUTSCHE BANK NATIONAL TRUST COMPANY v. WAYNE PEELUA).

In this case, the bank had been granted a writ of possession, and the owner appealed.

The court cited a statute providing, in part, that district courts do not have jurisdiction where there are questions about the validity of the title to the property are at issue. The appeal court didn’t address the specific claims. It’s limited finding was simply that the district court could not rule on the disputed title.

I’ll underscore that point. The court did not address whether any of the title claims raised were valid or not, but simply that they had been put forward. The appeals court concluded that, as a result, the district court should not have granted the writ of possession. The writ and judgement were vacated.

Although Gumapac and Laulima appear to be saying the court’s decision validates their claims, it appears that is far from the case. The decision was procedural only.

What’s also interesting here is the persistence of this kind of claim even while the criminal cases against another group which pushed a similar Kingdom-based theory are pending in federal court.

By the way, a superseding indictment was issued September 1 in the pending case against Mahealani Ventura-Oliver, John Oliver, and their co-defendants.