Resolution reached in the Puna house malfunction dispute
In the instance of a construction blunder in Hawaiian Paradise Park, the feuding parties have established a truce, putting an end to the lengthy court battle.
The May 9 filing in the Kona Circuit Court civil lawsuit shows that all involved—Annaleine "Anne" Reynolds, Keaau Development Partnership LLC (KDP), PJ's Construction, and Hawaii County—consensually dismissed their claims with finality, meaning no further re-litigation is possible. Kona Circuit Judge Kimberly Tsuchiya approved and enacted this agreement.
Javaid DiPascuale, the attorney representing Reynolds, shared that due to a confidentiality agreement, they were unable to reveal more details except for confirming the matter was resolved. Olson, the legal representative for KDP, echoed a similar sentiment, stating only that the litigation had been terminated.
This case, generating national attention, centered around a home mistakenly erected by PJ's Construction on Reynolds' lot, adjacent to the site where it was supposed to be constructed. Reynolds, a 49-year-old resident of Concord, Calif., had acquired her one-acre lot through a county tax auction in 2018 for $22,500.
While ensnared in the pandemic, awaiting an opportune moment to utilize her property, Reynolds received a call in 2023 from a real estate broker informing her that a house had been sold on her property. Apparently, KDP had hired PJ's Construction to construct roughly a dozen homes on the properties they purchased in the subdivision; however, the construction company had erected one on Reynolds' lot instead.
After the building snafu was exposed, Reynolds, the construction company, the architect, and others were sued by the developer. The legal squabbles ensued following Reynolds' rejection of KDP's proposal for a land swap and her counter-proposal, which the developer found unacceptable.
KDP sought general damages of $307,318.57 and special damages between $200,000 and $300,000, representing the projected loss profits if the house had been successfully sold. Reynolds, on the other hand, demanded more than $1.3 million in damages, as per both the developer and Hawaii County.
During a three-day hearing in April 2024, both KDP and PJ's Construction testified that no site survey was conducted prior to building the three-bedroom house valued at $500,000. Retired Third Circuit Chief Judge Robert Kim granted Reynolds' motion for a preliminary injunction and temporary restraining order on June 24, 2024, stating that Reynolds was likely to prevail at trial due to her status as an innocent party in the case.
Although Reynolds sought to revitalize her one-acre lot to its original state pre-development, Kim, however, deemed it impracticable. He mandated the house's demolition by a different contractor at PJ's Construction's expense.
Judge Tsuchiya accepted a proposal by Sanborn General Contracting Inc. of Hilo to remove the house. Both KDP and PJ's appealed Kim's verdict to the state Intermediate Court of Appeals, but those appeals have also been dismissed.
As of Wednesday, it was unclear whether the house, a package home procured from HPM Building Supply, had been demolished.
In the resolution of the legal disputes, it's evident that real estate, finance, and investing were all significantly impacted, as Annaleine "Anne" Reynolds' one-acre lot in Hawaiian Paradise Park had become a point of contention in a real estate development project. The financial implications of the blunder were substantial, with KDP seeking damages of up to $307,318.57 and Reynolds demanding more than $1.3 million, indicating the high stakes involved in the real-estate investing landscape.
