Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 32, Number 4, 1 April 2015 — Seminal appeals court ruling continues to protect Hawaiians' interest in land ownership [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

Seminal appeals court ruling continues to protect Hawaiians' interest in land ownership

Contributed by the Native Hawaiian Legal Corporation

ow would you feel if your ownership interest in land onee owned by an ancestor was

extinauished

under the law without your knowledge? For Flawaiians, the loss of land is like the loss of a beloved family member. Foryears, something called a quiet title lawsuit was used

to strip Native Flawaiians of their ownership interest in family land without ever having to tell them

about it. Today, however, anyone who files a quiet title lawsuit to gain complete ownership of a parcel of land in klawai'i must make a dili-

gent effort to personally notify those who may have an ownership interest in that land. This is the law now because of a 1986 case

brought by the Native klawaiian Legal Corporation known as Hustace v. Kapuni.

in that case, oniy tour ot 25 defendants responded in time to the lawsuit because they were personally served with nohee of the case. The other 21 ! defendants, who did not receive personal notice of ; the lawsuit, lost any interest |

īn the iand they may have had because they failed to respond to the lawsuit by a set date. The Native

Llawaiian Legal Corporation argued that these 21 defendants should have been personally notified of the lawsuit and were denied their due process rights as a result of not receiving

such notice. The Llawai'i Intermediate Court of Appeals agreed. And so, today, when a quiet title aehon is filed, the plaintiff must engage in an extensive search of puhlie records for any and all individuals who mav have a elaim to the Dronertv

and personally notify or serve those I individuals with nohee of the lawsuit. This requirement ensures that anyone with an interest in land, I whieh is the subject of a quiet title lawsuit, has the opportunity to parI ticipate in that case to protect their I interest in the land. I In the words of Judge Walter i Heen, former judge of the Hawai'i Intermediate Court of Appeals and current NHLC board member, "Tlie consequences of quiet title actions are so severe that to have j one's interest in land summarily laken away without an opportunity 1 to respond is in violation of due process requirements and oursense i offairness and justice." This is the first of a seri.es of case ! highlights provided hy the Native Hawaiian Legal Corporation. M

Courtesy photo