Maui woman alleges
legal retaliationMomi Haili says her case is due
to her role in a suit vs. a bank
A plaintiff in a lawsuit challenging Bank of America's merger with FleetBoston is being cited for not maintaining her Hawaiian Homes lot on Maui, a move supporters say is an attempt to evict her in retaliation for her role in the case.
But a Hawaiian Home Lands official says there is no connection between the citation of 65-year-old Momi Haili, of Paukukalo, and her lawsuit.
Haili was one of three Hawaiians who sued the Federal Reserve Board, seeking to halt the banks' merger. The lawsuit was dismissed, and the board has since approved the merger.
Two days after the suit's dismissal on Feb. 25, Hawaiian Homes officials informed Haili that she was in violation of her homestead lease for not complying with Maui County beautification laws to maintain her property.
Ben Henderson, a deputy in the state Department of Hawaiian Home Lands, said his office has been unsuccessful in its attempts over the last year and a half to correct the situation on Haili's property. The citation had nothing to do with the lawsuit, he said.
A contested case hearing is scheduled for April 6 on Maui. But attorney Eric Seitz, who will represent Haili, is seeking a postponement, according to David Po, a Haili supporter.
The hearing will address the questions of whether junked cars and trash on Haili's lot violate the Maui beautification ordinance, whether such conditions constitute a violation of her Hawaiian Homes lease and whether the lease should be canceled, according to an enclosure in a letter to Haili.
Haili said her sons have four nonrunning cars on her property which they use for parts. She said her sons are working to get the cars running so they can move them off the property.
"Other families have cars in their yards that are not running," said Haili, who moved into her home in 1974. "Why are they picking on me?"
Po said he has driven through the neighborhood and photographed several homes that have cars on their lots.
"I feel it's a retaliatory gesture," he said.
While the hearing could lead to cancellation of Haili's lease, that rarely happens, Henderson said.
"Eviction is a last resort," he said.
A contested case hearing is a standard procedure when there is violation of ordinances or the homestead lease, Henderson said.
The lawsuit Haili was a part of asked that the bank merger not be approved until Bank of America met its commitments to provide tens of millions of dollars for loans and low-income housing in Hawaii. Although U.S. District Judge David Ezra dismissed the lawsuit for lack of jurisdiction, he agreed that Bank of America had failed to meet those commitments.
Bank of America began a lending program for Hawaiian Home Lands homesteaders in 1994 after the Hawaii Fair Lending Coalition accused it of discriminating against Hawaiians in its lending practices.