An amended lawsuit was filed yesterday against two of the Hawaii churches accused of underpaying the state in their use of school facilities.

Local activists Mitch Kahle and Holly Huber, who are realtors suing on behalf of the state, contend that One Love Ministries and Calvary Chapel Central Oahu intentionally deprived public schools of about $1 million in underpaid rental payments and other charges. 

The amended lawsuit stems from a high-profile case that was originally filed under seal last March and publicized last August but then dismissed in December because the lawsuit lacked sufficient detail, according to the judge. The original lawsuit included several New Hope Churches as defendants.

But the New Hope churches’ parent organization, the International Church of the Foursquare Gospel, settled the lawsuit earlier this year for about $775,000 on the condition that all New Hope churches be excluded from further litigation. The agreement was not an admission of wrongdoing on part of the New Hope churches, the settlement said.

The amended 60-page lawsuit, which Kahle and Huber said includes the detail the judge had requested, does not name New Hope. 

It includes documentation that the plaintiffs say proves the other two churches occupied public school facilities — Kaimuki and Mililani high schools — for much longer than stated in rental agreements. 

The lawsuit is a “qui tam” complaint in that private citizens are suing on behalf of the state. It seeks triple damages, or about $3.6 million. Kahle and Huber could be eligible for up to a fourth of any damages. (They also got a portion, as much as $194,000, of the New Hope settlement.)

The amended lawsuit is posted on Civil Beat’s Slideshare page here. 

Photo: Kahle and Huber announce the original lawsuit in August 2013. (Alia Wong/Civil Beat)

— Alia Wong