NOT FOR PUBLICATION
IN THE INTERMEDIATE COURT OF APPEALS
YU
BAO TSAI, aka JENNY TSAI, Plaintiff-Appellant, v.
GLORIA CHI
REALTY, INC. and GLORIA CHI, Defendants-
Appellees, and
JOHN DOES 1-10,
DOE CORPORATIONS 1-10,
and DOE
PARTNERSHIPS 1-10, Defendants
APPEAL
FROM THE CIRCUIT COURT OF THE FIRST CIRCUIT
(Civ. No. 00-1-3383-11)
SUMMARY DISPOSITION ORDER
(By: Burns, C.J., Watanabe, and Foley, JJ.)
On November 5, 2001, the Circuit Court of the First Circuit (the circuit court), Judge Virginia Lea Crandall (Judge Crandall) presiding, entered an "Order Granting Defendants Gloria Chi Realty, Inc. and Gloria Chi's Motion for Summary Judgment Filed on September 13, 2001" (the summary judgment order). The summary judgment order found and concluded, in relevant part, as follows:
FINDINGS OF FACT
1. Plaintiff is a resident of the City and County of Honolulu, State of Hawaii. [Realty] is a Hawaii corporation incorporated on May 6, 1994. [Chi] is a resident of the City and County of Honolulu, State of Hawaii.
3. Said purchase closed on February 1, 1990.
5. In 1991, [Chi] was contacted by Mehdi Seyed Zia (hereinafter referred to as "Zia") who was interested in purchasing the Apartment, because [Chi] had represented Plaintiff in her purchase of the Apartment.
7. The sale of the Apartment to Zia, by way of an agreement of sale, did not close because Zia failed to obtain financing.
9. During the period of the two listing agreements, neither [Chi] nor [Realty] made or received any offers on behalf of Plaintiff for the sale or purchase of the Apartment, other than the 1991 offer by Zia.
11. The Complaint herein was filed on November 1, 2000.
13. There is no evidence that Plaintiff suffered any physical injury.
CONCLUSIONS OF LAW
A. All the counts in the Complaint are barred by the statute of limitations.
C. Count X (HRS Chapter 480) of the Complaint fails to state a claim because the instant matter is a commercial transaction, not a residential matter, and Plaintiff does not have standing as a consumer to present a claim under HRS Chapter 480. Cieri v. Leticia Query Realty, Inc., 80 [Hawai`i] 54, 905 P.2d 29 (1995).
E. Defendants are entitled to judgment as a matter of law on all counts of the Complaint.
On January 2, 2002, Judge Crandall entered a judgment in Chi Defendants' favor, and on February 1, 2002, Judge Crandall entered an order denying Tsai's motion for reconsideration of the summary judgment order. This appeal followed, and we affirm.Tsai has not challenged any of the circuit court's findings of fact. These findings are thus binding on Tsai, and any conclusion of law that follows from these findings and correctly states the law is valid. Taylor-Rice v. State, 91 Hawai`i 60, 65, 979 P.2d 1086, 1091 (1999).
In light of the undisputed findings of fact, and based on our review of the record, the briefs submitted by the parties, and the applicable statutes and case law, we hold that the circuit court correctly concluded that all of Tsai's claims were barred by the applicable statute of limitations.
Because the application of the statute of limitations to Tsai's claims is dispositive, it is unnecessary for us to address the remaining issues raised by Tsai on appeal.
Accordingly, we affirm the orders of the circuit court challenged by Tsai on appeal.
DATED: Honolulu,
Hawai`i, June 30, 2004.
On the briefs:
Jennifer M. Yusi
(Rush
Moore Craven Sutton Morry
& Beh, a limited liability
law partnership, LLP) for
defendants-appellees.