Roseanne Armitage’s company Hum Hospitality Ltd persistently failed to pay rent on time for its lease of 123 Grafton Road in central Auckland. The High Court ordered her arrest for contempt of court following a failure to vacate Grafton Road after the lease was cancelled.
Landlord, Stylo Medical Services Ltd has spent many hours in court trying to lever its tenant out of the property. Hum Hospitality operated the site as a community drop-in centre with advertised plans to renovate the century-old villa. In November 2020, Hum Hospitality’s rent was over $150,000 in arrears. Threatened with cancellation of the lease, Hum paid the arrears but then regularly failed to pay GST on subsequent rental payments. In February 2021, the High Court ordered the lease cancelled. Hum Hospitality had to shift out. Ms Armitage unsuccessfully challenged cancellation in the Court of Appeal. By August 2021, further rent arrears were in excess of $93,000. Stylo Medical’s attempts to retake possession with police in attendance were called off in the face of a hostile response from demonstrators in support of Ms Armitage.
In November 2021, the High Court issued a warrant for Ms Armitage’s arrest following her ‘wilful and inexcusable disregard’ of the order to vacate. At the request of Stylo Medical, Justice Downs suspended operation of the arrest warrant until February 2022, giving her a final chance to leave.
Stylo Medical Services Ltd v. Hum Hospitality Ltd – High Court (26.11.21)
22.007