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Bank files to foreclose
on Waihee’s house
The former governor owes Bank
of Hawaii $828,598, according to
a suit, and $122,905 in taxes
Bank of Hawaii has sued to foreclose on the million-dollar house of former Gov. John Waihee.
Also, a federal income tax lien for $122,905 has been filed against Waihee and his wife, Lynne.
A spokeswoman for Bank of Hawaii said it is bank policy not to comment on lawsuits filed against their clients.
Neither Waihee nor his wife was available for comment, but David Wilson, a public relations executive, said he talked yesterday to Waihee, who told him "a transactional process that was supposed to have been wrapped up this week was not.
"He was confident that it would be resolved by next week," said Wilson, who could not expand on the former governor's comments.
Waihee was in Arkansas attending Thursday's opening of the Clinton Library.
Bank of Hawaii sued last week, alleging the Waihees are "now in default under the terms of said promissory notes and first and second mortgages in that they have breached their covenant to pay the sums at the time they became due and payable."
The bank is asking Waihee to pay $779,292 in principal and $49,306 for a second mortgage he took out.
Waihee is an attorney in private practice.
After leaving the Governor's Office in 1994, he joined the Washington, D.C., law firm of Verner Liipfert Bernhard McPherson & Hand and worked as a lobbyist. In 2002 he left the firm when it closed its Honolulu office, and he formed a law partnership with a former political associate, Renton Nip.
Waihee bought the house on Kahawalu Street in Nuuanu in December 1995 for $954,000. It is now assessed at $1.1 million for real property tax purposes.
Waihee also sits on the board of trustees of RightStar Management Hawaii, which was sued by the state attorney general's office last week. State attorneys allege that the company, which owns and operates several funeral service businesses and cemeteries, has not properly accounted for $20 million. The money was supposed to be kept in a trust for customers who had purchased funeral plans.
Earlier this week, Vestin Mortgage Inc., a Nevada mortgage company, filed a foreclosure lawsuit against RightStar Management Hawaii, alleging that the isle funeral services operation has defaulted on a $34 million loan.
Waihee, 58, was elected lieutenant governor in 1982 and governor in 1986. He served two terms as governor.
Since leaving office, he has served as national committeeman for the Hawaii Democratic Party but has stayed out of actively working on local political campaigns.
