Haven Living Management’s liquidation leaves landlords in fear of losing $70,000 in rent

US-based Kiwi Trevor Wharton is among a host of landlords who are worried they may not see missing rent money now property manager, Haven Living Management, has been put into liquidation.

• Landlords fear losing $70,000 in unpaid rent after Auckland property managers Haven Living Management was placed into liquidation.
• The company is alleged to owe more than $850,000, with landlords uncertain of their ranking among creditors.
• Director Alex Hitchcock promised repayments, but landlords claim they remain unpaid.

Multiple landlords fear they may never recover more than $70,000 in allegedly unpaid rent money after an Auckland property management company was put into liquidation.

Haven Living Management promised to repay landlords owed money after the Herald wrote about their plight last month.

But the company was instead put into liquidation last week by a High Court action brought by a separate group of apartment owners.

The apartment owners claimed their body corporates and Inland Revenue are owed more than $850,000, BusinessDesk reported.

That court intervention has left individual landlords questioning where they rank on the list of creditors seeking to recover money from the company.

Hamish McMillan is among them and claims he is owed $23,349.

He claims Haven Living director Alex Hitchcock “gave personal promises” the company would pay his rent money.

We’re disgusted with the whole thing

Landlord creditor Hamish McMillan

“Unfortunately, his words have been largely hollow,” McMillan said. “He is ruining people’s lives.”

The complaints follow a series of Herald stories last month.

A Hong Kong-based Kiwi couple were the first to speak out, saying Haven Living last year failed to pay them about $12,000 in rental income that had been paid by their tenants but not passed onto them.

Multiple other landlords then came forward, with US-based Trevor Wharton saying he is owed $13,997, Jo Ili saying her sister was owed $11,200 and Ireland-based Anthony and Jo Quinn claiming they were missing almost one-year’s rent.

US-based Kiwi landlord Trevor Wharton was among landlords, which former property manager Haven Living Management had promised to repay unpaid rent money.

All the landlords said they were sent receipts showing money had been put into their accounts - but when they checked later the money wasn’t there.

They also claimed repeated attempts to talk to and email the company’s director, Alex Hitchcock, went unanswered.

Haven Living initially repaid money owed to Hong Kong based Alia Fong after the Herald’s first story ran.

It then promised to do the same for other landlords after the Herald’s second story, saying it had sufficient cash to do so.

However, the landlords say they are yet to be paid, almost a month later.

Now some fear they might never be.

A US-based landlord, who claimed she was owed $15,000, said she had been due to have a Disputes Tribunal hearing with Haven Living last Friday.

They were liquidated ... 24 hours before I was due to be heard

US-based Haven Living creditor

But a day before the hearing, the tribunal referee emailed to say it had been called off because Haven Living had been placed into liquidation on March 13.

“All proceedings must be stayed and cannot proceed without the authority of the liquidators or the High Court,” the referee said in the email.

“They were liquidated ... 24 hours before I was due to be heard,” the landlord told the Herald.

Fellow Hong Kong-based landlord Will Hayward told the Herald he is now considering giving up trying to get $4600 in bond money he says he is owed because he thinks he will be at the bottom of the list of creditors.

Keaton Pronk from liquidator McDonald Vague said landlords should contact liquidators if they believe Haven Living owes them money.

He said the body corporates that forced the company into liquidation will be unsecured creditors in the same manner as landlords.

The first report into the company’s books is not expected for another four to five weeks, Pronk said.

The High Court action was brought by the body corporates of central city student accommodation block Unicentre and the nearby Forte Apartments, BusinessDesk reported last week.

Multiple Auckland landlords say they're still owed money by Haven Living. Photo / Mike Scott

Their lawyer Sean Maloney said they had been chasing their debt for more than a year.

“This company has been embroiled in a number of extremely high-profile claims. Millions are missing. There is simply no need for this to carry on any longer, and there’s a high risk to creditors if it does,” he said.

Alex Hitchcock and his father, Kerry Hitchcock, are the majority owners of Haven Living.

Haven Living referred Herald questions to the liquidator.

Landlord McMillan, meanwhile, claims he is not only owed more than $20,000 but is also a member of the Forte body corporate seeking to recover funds.

As teachers, he and his wife had worked hard to build a rental portfolio that formed part of their nest egg.

He understands he might not have it as hard as some others dealing with Haven Living but still described it as a “massive hit” financially at their age, and with children in university needing help with their fees, he said.

“We’re disgusted with the whole thing,” he said.

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