One of Plumeria’s owners told to remit $224,194 to the resort

Superior Court associate judge David A. Wiseman yesterday ordered one of the owners of Plumeria Resort in San Roque to remit $224,194 to the resort.

Wiseman directed Wan Jin Yoon, one of the members of Saipan Achugao Resort Members’ Association, to give the amount to SARMA on or before Dec. 15, 2006.

Wiseman ordered that Yoon either relinquish his rental receipts to SARMA or pay a higher assessment figure on or before Dec. 15, 2006.

The judge also ordered Three Bell to remit to Yoon any net profit collected on the rental of the commercial area at Plumeria Resort that the company leased for dates extending beyond the May 25, 2006, court judgment.

Three Bell assumed ownership of the commercial area after purchasing the units pursuant to the illegal forced sale of Yoon’s units. Three Bell rented the commercial area to several businesses and collected rent.

SARMA was formed in February 2000 as a non-profit corporation. It is composed of members who own subleasehold interest in units or commercial spaces at the Plumeria Resort.

Plumeria Resort was built in 1990 by Saipan Joint Venture, which assigned the ground lease to SARMA in 2000.

SARMA sued one of its members, Yoon, for alleged non-payment of management fees and maintenance fees. But Yoon filed a counter lawsuit against the association for the alleged forced sale of his units.

As authorized in its bylaws, SARMA charges its members management fees and renovation or urgent repair fees.

SARMA made numerous attempts to get Yoon to pay the $184,566 statement-invoice, soon after Yoon asserted control over the 34 residential units and commercial areas of the resort after an auction. In addition, Yoon acquired also purchased, by assignment of sublease, three additional residential units at the resort from a Japanese company.

On April 14, 2003, Yoon had yet to pay membership dues and fees and SARMA forced the sale of the resort’s commercial area and five of Yoon’s units to the association.

In his May 2006 order, Wiseman ruled that SARMA’s forced sale of Yoon’s unit was improper because Yoon was not in default of either lease or SARMA’s bylaw provisions at the time of the forced sale.

The judge, however, found that Yoon is subject to dues assessments and emergency repair fees from March 7, 2003, to the present.

Last week, Wiseman ordered the termination of the three-year-old receivership imposed on the Plumeria Resort and its owners, SARMA. In that order, Wiseman directed receiver Antonio Muna to immediately submit a final billing to the court.

In the final order and judgment he issued yesterday, Wiseman said he came up with the decision after reviewing Muna’s final report and the parties’ comments on them.

He said Muna’s report advances two schemes to calculate outstanding assessments owed by Yoon to SARMA.

The first scheme recommends a final billing to Yoon of $612,860.18 while the second recommends a minimum billing of $224,194.

Wiseman said the essential difference between the two billing schemes is that the assessments calculated for the larger final billing of $612,860.18 was based on the court’s order quieting title in favor of Yoon and calculating Yoon’s ownership of 48.760 percent from the date he assumed control of the 34 units and commercial area through Sept. 30, 2006.

The second scheme computes Yoon’s ownership, adjusted to reflect the forced sale of Yoon’s units, the judge explained.

Wiseman said that, although Yoon owned 48.760 percent of Plumeria, this changed when SARMA forced the sale of his units on April 14, 2003.