CHONG International Corporation filed a “Complaint for Summary Removal under the Holdover Tenancy Act” against Daniel Durkin on Aug. 10, 2024 for his “refusal to vacate CIC’s apartment unit after the lease expired and CIC elected not to renew it.”
Durkin, who is represented by attorney Cong Nie, opposes CIC’s complaint, and the two parties will appear in Superior Court over the matter on Jan. 27.
Represented by attorney Charity R. Hodson, CIC stipulates that summary judgment is “proper” for this case because there is “no genuine issue of material fact.”
Statement of facts
On Oct. 18, 2022, CIC and Durkin executed an apartment rental agreement for the unit where he lives in Dandan.
The agreement was for one year, beginning Dec. 1, 2022 and ending Nov. 30, 2023. Afterward, CIC and Durkin entered into a month-to-month rental agreement until June 3, 2024.
Durkin agreed to pay $500 in rent each month as well as $30 per month for water and $10 per month for trash collection.
Durkin receives funds under the federal Section 8 Housing Voucher program administered by the Northern Marianas Housing Corporation. CIC has a Housing Assistance Payments contract with NMHC, according to court documents. NMHC paid $446 to CIC to subsidize Durkin’s monthly rent. He paid the remaining $54 out of his pocket.
According to court documents, in order for there to be “good cause” to evict Durkin, he would need to be a disturbance to his neighbors, or destroyed property, or have “living or housekeeping habits that cause damage to the unit or premises.”
The “Tenancy Addendum” of the contract stated that after the initial lease term, a “good cause” to terminate a tenancy included “business or economic” reasons, such as “sale of the property, renovation of the unit,” or the “owner’s desire to rent the unit for a higher rent.”
On June 3, 2024, Durkin was served with a 30-day written “Notice to Vacate Premises,” which stated: “Chong International Corporation is writing this formal letter to kindly request Mr. Daniel to please vacate the premises [in] the next 30 days because we will be renovating the 3rd floor.”
Durkin remained in the unit and responded on Aug. 2, 2024 with a “Demand to Rescind Notice to Vacate Premises.”
On Aug. 10, 2024, CIC filed its “Complaint for Summary Removal Under the Holdover Tenancy Act,” stating, among other things, that Durkin had not paid rent and utilities for six months since June 2024.
For his part, Durkin submitted a declaration to the court, opposing CIC’s request for partial summary judgment.
Retaliation
He said CIC is seeking his eviction as retaliation because Durkin reported solid waste management issues on the property.
In his declaration, Durkin stated that trash had accumulated in the back of the apartment complex, which included “broken shipping containers, junk cars, used furniture or appliances, [and] used tires.”
Durkin said the trash “created risks affecting my and other tenants’ safety and health,” and that the trash could be the breeding ground of pests or “hiding places for criminals or drug users.”
“I believe that CIC violated housing-related laws and regulations by letting trash accumulate in the back of the building,” Durkin stated.
He said he went to the Mayor’s Office of Saipan to seek the removal of the trash.
He said after he sought the mayor’s assistance, CIC removed the trash around May 28, 2024.
Afterward, he said Gab D. Chong, CIC’s authorized representative, spoke to him.
“I do not remember exactly the date or the exact words Mrs. Chong used. I do remember that during the conversation, Mrs. Chong told me I cost her $1,000 … I asked Mrs. Chong how I had cost her $1,000. She said something to the effect that I complained to the government and that she was going to notify ‘housing’ that she would not be dealing with me anymore.”
Durkin said less than a week after the trash was removed, he received a “notice to vacate.”
“The notice mentioned [that] CIC planned to renovate the third floor. I believe that is not true,” Durkin said. “At the time, no other tenant on the third floor was given a notice to vacate. There were also vacant units on the second floor, and if CIC really planned to renovate the third floor, it could have easily placed me temporarily in a different or renovated unit until the renovation was finished.”
Regarding rent, Durkin stated that he tried to pay Chong “multiple times,” but she refused to accept it.
CIC, for its part, said its termination of Durkin’s tenancy was legal under the lease agreement, the Holdover Tenancy Act and the Tenancy Addendum.
CIC is asking the court to “promptly issue a writ of removal directing Durkin’s removal and CIC’s recovery of possession of the premises.”
CIC said it is also “entitled to money damages, including double rent, costs and attorney’s fees … but reserves final calculation of such amounts until the Court rules on Durkin’s counterclaim.”
Daniel Durkin stated that the shipping containers on CIC’s Dandan property pose a health concern for him and other tenants.
An abandoned car on the property where Daniel Durkin lives.
Rusting metal from a shipping container on a Dandan property.
