Ferreira v. Borja

1 F.3d 960 Diana C. FERREIRA, Plaintiff-Appellant, v. Rosalia Mafnas BORJA; Isidora Mafnas Salas; Feliza M. Babauta; Carmen M. Guerrero; William M. Borja; Jose M. Borja; Juan M. Borja; Luna M. Borja; Patricia B. Robert, Defendants-Appellees. No. 92-15523. United States Court of Appeals, Ninth Circuit. Argued and Submitted Dec. 15, 1992. Decided Aug. 19, 1993. Donn Dimichele, Carlsmith Ball Wichman Murray Case Mukai & Ichiki, Los Angeles, CA, for plaintiff-appellant. Theodore Mitchell, Saipan, CM, for defendants-appellees. Appeal from the Supreme Court of the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands. Before: NORRIS, BEEZER, and KLEINFELD, Circuit Judges. WILLIAM A. NORRIS, Circuit Judge: 1 Diana Ferreira sued to quiet title in three parcels of land in the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands ("CNMI") which she had purchased from the Borja family. Ferreira is a person of Northern Marianas descent who obtained financing for the land from persons not of Northern Marianas descent. In return for the financing, she entered into a partnership agreement with these persons in which she agreed to lease the land to the partnership for 40 years. 1 2 Article XII of the CNMI…