Bankruptcies in isles continue decline

Bankruptcy filings in Hawaii were down 25.6 percent in June, continuing a trend that has seen the filings drop six out of the last seven months.

For the first half of this year, 1,843 cases have been filed, down from 2,022 at this point last year.

The decline in consumer bankruptcies "is consistent with the national trend," said bankruptcy attorney Chuck Choi. "Bankruptcy filings tend to be cyclical, and so I suspect that we're going to have fewer bankruptcies going forward than last year; but on the other hand, I'm not convinced that the economy is turning around locally, based on what I've seen and heard."

The most significant bankruptcy of the month was Hawaii Medical Center — the former St. Francis hospitals in Liliha and Ewa — which filed for Chapter 11 protection on June 21. It was the second filing for the hospital, which emerged from two years of court protection in August.

Personal bankruptcy liquidation, or Chapter 7, filings fell 32 percent in June, compared with June 2010. Chapter 13, or so-called wage-earner cases, were flat.

Choi said he expects to see an increase in bankruptcies in the coming months because of a new foreclosure law.

The new law, Act 48, could result in more "deficiency judgments" against homeowners, Choi said. A deficiency judgment is when a lender requires the homeowner to pay the difference between what a home sells for in foreclosure and what the lender is owed. So if a home sells for $500,000 but the bank is owed $600,000, the homeowner could be liable for up to $100,000.

Until the new law was passed, the vast majority of Hawaii's foreclosure filings had been nonjudicial, faster and cheaper than judicial foreclosures, "and the mainland lenders were not bothering to chase the homeowners for a deficiency judgment," said Choi.

Bankruptcy attorney Donald Spafford said the Legislature's intent with Act 48 was to give homeowners more power in the foreclosure process by providing an option for mediation in nonjudicial cases, or in allowing them to elect to convert to a court-supervised judicial proceeding.

Because it might take until Oct. 1 to implement the mediation infrastructure, there has been a freeze on new nonjudicial cases.

Hawaii Attorney General Warns of Electronic Sex Predators | Hawaii ...

“There are child predators who will do bad things to our children,” Louie said.

“It used to be our children were safe in our homes and schools. Now the danger is in our cell phones,” he said.

An Oahu grand jury indicted part-time public school worker David John Lopez, 45, on a charge of first-degree electronic enticement of a child.

If convicted, Lopez would face a mandatory 10-year prison term.

Previous cases brought by the state’s Internet Crimes Against Children task force have been developed through use of undercover officers posing online as minors, Louie said.

His office has successfully prosecuted some 25-30 of those cases.

Only one other case involving a real victim has been charged here, by the Maui Prosecuting Attorney’s office, said Louie.

Lopez allegedly used electronic means to entice a 13-year-old girl to meet him for sex, according to the state.

Lopez, a part-time school lunch worker at Benjamin Parker Elementary School in Kaneohe, was a friend of the victim’s mother.

The girl allegedly reported his advances to her mother, who contacted Honolulu police.

Lopez was arrested May 19 at a Kaneohe restaurant.

His bail has been set at $40,000.

Louie said safety tips and other information about internet sex crimes can be found at the ICAC website, http://hawaii.gov/ag/hicac/ . Author: Jim Dooley Jim Dooley joined the Hawaii Reporter staff as an investigative reporter in October 2010. Before that, he has worked as a print and television reporter in Hawaii since 1973, beginning as a wire service reporter with United Press International. He joined Honolulu Advertiser in 1974, working as general assignment and City Hall reporter until 1978. In 1978, he moved to full-time investigative reporting in for The Advertiser; he joined KITV news in 1996 as investigative reporter. Jim returned to Advertiser 2001, working as investigative reporter and court reporter until 2010. Reach him at Jim@hawaiireporter.

Hawaii Attorneys General, Stephen Henry Phillips, Attorney General of Hawaii, Shiro Kashiwa, Mark J. Bennett, Margery Bronster, Earl I. Anzai

Hawaiian investigation, Report of subcommittee on Pacific islands and Porto Rico on general conditions in Hawaii ...

Reports of causes determined in the United States District court for the district of Hawaii

Hawaii bar journal

Men of Hawaii, being a biographical reference library, complete and authentic, of the men of note and substantial achievement in the Hawaiian Islands