HSC Sorts out Difference Between Res Judicata and Law-of-the-Case Doctrine
PennyMac Corp. v. Godinez (HSC October 8, 2020) Background. Lewanna Godinez had a mortgage and accompanying promissory note on real property on Maui. In 2010, Godinez defaulted. The mortgagee was first assigned to J. P. Morgan Chase Bank. The bank brought a foreclosure action against Godinez. The bank then assigned its interest to PennyMac. PennyMac filed a motion for summary judgment asking for a finding that Godinez defaulted and a decree of foreclosure. PennyMac asserted that it was the holder of the promissory note and had standing to prosecute the foreclosure action. Godinez opposed the motion and argued PennyMac lacked standing at the time of the filing of the complaint. The circuit court—the Hon. Judge Rhonda I. L. Loo presiding—orally granted the motion at the hearing. Before the circuit court issued its order, the HSC ruled in Bank of America, N.A. v. Reyes-Toledo , 139 Hawai'i 361, 390 P.3d 1248 (2017), that “a foreclosing plaintiff must establish entitlement ...