FOLLOWING a ruling from the federal court denying its motion to stay auction, Fairyland LLC., an apartment investor, has filed a withdrawal of its motion to set aside default judgment.
“Defendant no longer wishes to contest the default judgment entered by the court on April 13, 2021,” according to Fairyland’s attorney, Shuoqiu Lin, of Dotts Law Office.
Chief Judge Ramona V. Manglona of the District Court for the NMI on Tuesday denied Fairyland’s motion to stay auction.
On April 13, 2021, a default judgment was entered in favor of the plaintiff, Peace & Order Trading Corporation, against Fairyland in the principal amount of $767,697.50, plus attorney’s fees and costs, and post-judgment interest at the applicable federal interest rate.
Peace & Order was hired by Fairyland to remodel and build an apartment building on Navy Hill, Saipan.
Peace & Order later sued Fairyland for breach of construction contract and unjust enrichment.
On Sept. 29, 2021, the federal court granted Peace & Order’s second motion for the appointment of a receiver, and appointed Ron Hodges as the receiver.
The court subsequently issued an order setting out the terms of the receivership for the auction of Fairyland’s leasehold interest in Lot 019 D 61 and Lot 019 D 83 located on Navy Hill, Saipan.
Five days before the receivership auction was to occur on Tuesday, Feb. 15, 2022, Fairyland moved to set aside the entry of default judgment pursuant to Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 60(b).
Fairyland also filed a separate motion pursuant to Local Rule 7.1(f) to have its motion be heard on shortened time on Feb. 14, 2022, the day before the receivership auction.
The court granted the motion for shortened time, ordered Peace & Order to file an expedited response, and set Fairyland’s other motion —to set aside default judgment — for a hearing on Feb.14.
At the hearing, the court heard arguments from both parties on the motion to set aside default judgment.
The court continued the motion hearing to Friday, Feb. 18, and withheld making a formal ruling so that Fairyland could file a reply with supplemental exhibits and/or declarations.
But the court also told the parties that it was inclined to deny Fairyland’s motion given that it had not yet satisfied its burden for setting aside the entry of default judgment.
Judge Manglona then indicated to the parties that the court did not intend to stay the auction.
“As of today, the receivership auction in fact did go forward,” she added.
Accordingly, Fairyland’s motion to stay the Feb. 15 auction as well as its motion to be heard on shortened time were denied as moot.
On Feb. 15 and 16, the court received communication from the receiver regarding the ongoing public sale.
“This letter [from the receiver] will be filed and the attachment will be under seal as part of the court’s records until further order of the court, and the parties shall not publicly disseminate the attachment until it is unsealed,” Judge Manglona said.
The judge directed the receiver to appear at a motion hearing on Friday, Feb. 18, 2022 at 9 a.m. to address the communication with the parties on the record.
“To preserve the integrity of the ongoing public sale, discussions with the receiver may be taken in a sealed proceeding until a sale is finalized,” Judge Manglona added.
