Background
Wells Fargo Bank, acting as trustee for a 2005 mortgage-backed securities trust, brought a foreclosure action against Phongpun Gilbert in the Circuit Court of the Fifth Circuit of Hawaii (Case No. 5CC181000064). The circuit court entered judgment on January 8, 2025, and Gilbert filed a notice of appeal to the Intermediate Court of Appeals on February 7, 2025.
The appeal was docketed in the ICA as CAAP-25-0000068. Additional defendants in the underlying action included Mortgage Electronic Registration Systems, Inc. (MERS), the United States of America, and the Director of the Hawaii Department of Taxation, though the appeal was prosecuted solely by Gilbert as Defendant-Appellant.
The Court’s Holding
On June 8, 2026, the parties filed a stipulation agreeing to dismiss the appeal with prejudice, with each side bearing its own attorneys’ fees and costs. The stipulation was signed by counsel for all parties appearing in the appeal.
The Intermediate Court of Appeals, per Chief Judge Nakasone and Associate Judges Wadsworth and Gluck, approved the stipulation and dismissed the appeal pursuant to Hawaii Rules of Appellate Procedure Rule 42(b). The court ordered that each party bear its own fees and costs on appeal.
Key Takeaways
- The appeal was dismissed with prejudice by mutual stipulation, meaning Gilbert cannot reassert the same appellate challenge to the January 8, 2025 foreclosure judgment.
- Each party bears its own attorneys’ fees and costs on appeal, a common term in negotiated dismissals.
- Dismissal was authorized under Hawaii Rules of Appellate Procedure Rule 42(b), which governs stipulated dismissals of docketed appeals.
Why It Matters
This dismissal resolves the appeal without a merits ruling, leaving the circuit court’s foreclosure judgment in favor of Wells Fargo undisturbed. For practitioners, it illustrates that Hawaii appellate courts will approve agreed-upon dismissals under HRAP Rule 42(b) so long as the stipulation is signed by counsel for all appearing parties and the appeal has been properly docketed.
Because the opinion is designated “not for publication” and carries no substantive legal analysis, it creates no precedent on foreclosure law or trustee standing. Its primary significance is procedural — confirming the finality of the underlying judgment once the parties reached resolution.