ON July 30, 1993, Albert Jeyte (pronounced Yi-teh) placed a tiny ad in a Honolulu newspaper to rent the 600-foot rental cottage that he owned in Manoa Valley. A landlord’s tale
of uncivil treatmentSince he and his wife, Lorna, were on the Big Island, where they ran the Kilauea Lodge, Jeyte asked his 82-year-old mother-in-law, Jessie Wheelwright, to take messages from applicants.
One of those responding was Jack Hobbs, who told Wheelwright that he was looking for a place for himself, his wife, 7-year-old son and 4-year-old daughter.
The elderly woman told Hobbs she doubted that the cottage would work for him -- since there was only one small bedroom and bath in the Atherton Road unit. However, she wrote down his name anyway and passed it along with other inquiries to her son-in-law. He showed the rental to several prospective tenants, including Hobbs.
When Jeyte selected another applicant, a single male, it began a three-year, $200,000-in-legal-fees boxing match that is still not entirely over. In one corner are the Jeytes, Wheelwright and their attorney, Perry W. Confalone of the Torkildson, Katz law firm. In the other are Jack Hobbs, his family, and the Hawaii Civil Rights Commission (HCRC).
Talk about he-said/she-said versions of the truth! Is this a case of an unreasonably picky landlord or an out-of-control state agency?
According to the lawsuit, filed when Linda C. Tseu was HCRC executive director, Jeyte and Wheelwright (because she took the phone message) discriminated against the "familial status" of the Hobbses when they were rejected -- damaging their "feelings, emotional and mental well-being, personal integrity...and access to the quiet enjoyment of a home."
The HCRC believed that Jeyte could have rented the one-bedroom cottage to the family, theorizing that the parents could have slept in the bedroom while the kids slept in the living room.
According to Jeyte, however, his decision was merely based on common sense and the prerogative of a private landlord to decide how many individuals could comfortably and safely live within a rental. Later, his lawyer found that state health regulations prohibited using the cottage living room as a sleeping area if it meant having to pass through a bedroom to use a bathroom, which was the case at the Jeyte property.
The HCRC admitted not knowing about the health regulations when it initially filed suit. Instead of retreating, however, it dug in. The agency argued that the entire family of four could have slept together in the living room, thus avoiding a violation of the state health code, and that a trial was still necessary.
From the beginning, the HCRC kept tempting Jeyte with offers to settle. If he "just" handed over a few thousand dollars, they promised to drop the whole thing.
THEY didn't know Albert Jeyte. He was born in 1939 near Hamburg, Germany, and had seen what could happen when people didn't stand up to officials who abused their power. Every day of his life he pledged never to acquiesce to governmental arrogance and strong-arm tactics.
Jeyte knew he was right and HCRC was wrong.
He conferred with his wife. Despite the sobering prospect of hefty attorneys fees and months (which became years) of legal wrangling, they decided to fight.
(On Monday, how the case of HCRC v. Jeyte
was resolved -- or was it?)