Landlords accuse Auckland property manager of keeping $50,000 of their rental income

US-based Kiwi landlord Trevor Wharton says he is owed about $14,000 in rental income by his former property manager, Haven Living Management.

• Auckland property manager Haven Living Management has allegedly kept more than $50,000 in client rent.
• Trevor Wharton claims to be owed $13,997 in rent he should have received between June and December.
• Haven Living says it intends to repay landlords, blaming “administration issues” after legal action from the IRD over taxes.

An Auckland property manager is alleged to owe more than $50,000 in unpaid rent to multiple landlords, with one saying he hasn’t told his wife about the missing money for fear she’ll “rip” the company’s office apart.

Trevor Wharton is among seven landlords who’ve contacted the Herald claiming Haven Living Management has kept their rental income.

Wharton – a New Zealander based in the United States – told the Herald he is owed $13,997 in rent money paid by the tenants yet not passed on to him.

He said the payments to him should have occurred between June and December 2024 and his repeated attempts to call and email the company’s director, Alex Hitchcock, went unanswered.

Haven Living told the Herald it intends to repay each of the landlords and has enough money to do so.

Wharton, meanwhile, said he still hasn’t been able to tell his wife about the missing income because he doesn’t want to worry her.

“My worry is that she would go in there and try and rip the office apart and really make a scene,” he said.

Wharton’s complaints follow a Herald story this month in which a Hong Kong-based Kiwi couple said Haven Living failed to pay them about $12,000 in rental income between July and November 2024.

However, Haven Living did repay the couple’s missing rent after the Herald sent the company some questions.

US-based Kiwi landlord Trevor Wharton said he is owed about $14,000 in rental income by his former property manager Haven Living Management.

Yet since then, multiple other landlords have also reached out to the Herald saying they have experienced similar issues but are yet to be repaid.

Wharton said Haven Living first missed a payment to him in June last year.

A few months later he sought to end his contract with the company and was told he had to give 90 days' notice.

However, the company then failed to pay him rental income throughout the three-month notice period, except for the final two weeks in December.

“I thought that was really strange,” he said of being paid two weeks rental income at the very end.

Ireland-based Anthony and Jo Quinn also contacted the Herald, claiming they were owed almost 12 months of rent.

Anthony Quinn believes Haven Living may have targeted overseas landlords, who might not have been keeping close track of their New Zealand accounts.

Jo Ili spoke to the Herald on behalf of her sister Roanne, claiming her sister was owed $11,200 in missed payments from July to September 2024.

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

Roanne had earlier also been owed $12,600 in missed rent between March and July but said this was eventually paid.

When Roanne read the Herald’s earlier story stating all landlords were going to be repaid, she gained renewed hope, sister Jo said.

“She got so excited, and now every day she’s been checking her bank account,” she said.

Ili said they had lodged a Disputes Tribunal claim to try to get their money back.

Another New York-based landlord said they had a District Court date set to try to reclaim $15,000 they say they are owed.

Haven Living told the Herald it was still working through its new management systems and discovering “outstanding payments“.

“These property owners are currently being paid, and there is sufficient money available to settle these overdue accounts,” it promised. “We apologise for the inconvenience this has caused.”

Alex Hitchcock and his father, Kerry Hitchcock, are the majority owners of Haven Living together with a collection of four other interests – Fidelta Group, Proventus Group, Realm Property Group, and Realm Victoria.

The Inland Revenue Department (IRD) went to the High Court last year seeking to put them all into liquidation in a bid to recover unpaid taxes that BusinessDesk reported at $2.3 million.

The property management company told the Herald it had settled the case.

“The IRD has been paid in full, the discussion with the IRD is closed, and no liquidation action has proceeded,” it said this month.

When approached by the Herald the IRD would not comment.

Kerry Hitchcock, who is a shareholder in the company and a former director, is also listed as director of a separate company called Lakefront Investments, which was put into receivership on October 3 by the IRD.

The IRD has claimed it is owed $1m by the company, while a secured creditor is owed about $76m, according to a first report by receivers Calibre Partners.

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