CHIEF Judge Ramona V. Manglona of the District Court for the NMI has dismissed Tang’s Corp.’s mechanic’s lien claim against Imperial Pacific International LLC without prejudice.
According to an online legal dictionary, a mechanic’s lien is a legal claim for unpaid construction work.
At a hearing on Wednesday, Judge Manglona also denied IPI’s motion for judgement on the pleadings and ordered the plaintiff to file a third amended complaint no later than May 19.
The judge likewise vacated the scheduled bench trial for May 25 as well as all the deadlines set in the previous scheduling order. She then scheduled a settlement conference for May 12.
Tang’s, through attorney Mark Scoggins, sued IPI for non-payment of a contractual agreement amounting to $230,623.53.
IPI, through attorney Kevin Abikoff, has asked the federal court to dismiss with prejudice the lawsuit, saying that the allegations were “imprecise, uninformative, and conclusory.”
Abikoff said Tang’s claims were legally insufficient and failed to state a claim upon which relief can be granted.
But according to Scoggins, Tang’s sufficiently established the existence of a contract.
“IPI had construction debris that needed to be removed and stored. Plaintiff agreed to do that work. [But] IPI didn’t pay and plaintiff is harmed by that,” he said.
The civil complaint asked for a court order directing IPI to take possession of its property stored at Tang’s or to otherwise provide for its disposal.
Tang’s also wants a mechanic’s lien attached to IPI’s property and an order foreclosing the mechanic’s lien.
According to the lawsuit, it was in 2016 when Tang’s Corp. and IPI entered into an agreement to remove construction debris and landfill from IPI’s casino resort construction site and store it for disposal at IPI’s expense.
