By Bryan Manabat
[email protected]
Variety News Staff
COMMONWEALTH Investment Company, Inc. has filed a lawsuit seeking to evict Duty Free Shoppers from four Garapan lots, alleging that the retailer remained on the property for more than a year after its 40-year lease expired and owes more than $500,000 in holdover occupancy damages. Attorney Robert T. Torres represents the plaintiff.
According to an 11-page complaint filed June 15 in Superior Court, DFS’s lease for the properties expired on Dec. 30, 2024, yet the company “continues to retain possession of the Premises” without paying rent or securing a new agreement. CICI alleges that DFS has continued to store merchandise and other property on the site despite having “no present right to possess, occupy, [or] control the Premises” after the lease ended.
DFS closed its Saipan Galleria and airport stores in 2025, citing what it described as an unsustainable business environment. The company pointed to a prolonged tourism downturn, the departure of major luxury brands, and a global restructuring of its travel-retail operations. DFS said at the time that the Saipan market was “no longer viable,” despite efforts to stabilize operations.
The complaint states that DFS initially expressed interest in negotiating a short-term lease extension and presented a draft memorandum of understanding, but the agreement was never executed. CICI alleges that discussions later stalled as DFS prepared to wind down its CNMI operations, which formally ceased in June 2025.
CICI contends that DFS became a holdover tenant under the CNMI Holdover Tenancy Act by remaining on the property after the lease expired. According to the complaint, the company posted and mailed a statutory notice on June 9, 2026, demanding that DFS vacate the premises and compensate CICI for its continued occupancy. Despite the notice, CICI alleges that DFS “failed and refused to surrender possession.”
The lawsuit seeks damages for breach of contract, alleging that DFS violated the lease by refusing to vacate and by continuing to occupy and control the property without consent. CICI is also asking the court to declare that DFS has no legal or contractual right to remain on the premises and that any corporate or shareholder relationship DFS may claim with CICI or related entities does not constitute a lease, extension, or other right of occupancy.
CICI calculates its minimum damages at $501,415, based on 17 months of holdover occupancy at $29,495 per month, a figure derived from an appraisal commissioned by DFS in 2023. The company is also seeking double rent under 2 CMC § 40205, attorneys’ fees, court costs, and pre- and post-judgment interest.
DFS has not yet filed a response to the complaint. A summons issued the same day gives the company 21 days after service to file an answer.
Bryan Manabat was a liberal arts student of Northern Marianas College where he also studied criminal justice. He is the recipient of the NMI Humanities Award as an Outstanding Teacher (Non-Classroom) in 2013, and has worked for the CNMI Motheread/Fatheread Literacy Program as lead facilitator.
