Lease of a Hamilton motel was cancelled by the High Court after tenant Hamilton Accommodation Ltd rebuilt the manager’s unit to create two separate units and refused to make good the alterations with director Patrick McGuire taunting the landlord, saying ‘I enjoy fighting landlords and we destroyed the last one we dealt with.’
Hamilton Accommodation took over lease of Te Rapa’s Ascot Motor Lodge in 2020. Hamilton Accommodation is controlled by Mr McGuire and Kim Nguyen.
Landlord is a company controlled by Sarah Tu and James Tu.
The High Court was told landlord inspections of the property were compromised by covid-19 lockdown restrictions.
When Ms Tu did inspect the premises in late 2020, she found the manager’s unit had been subdivided into two separate units with installation of an internal wall, addition of a kitchenette and alterations to a bathroom.
Such alterations needed council building consent. No consent had been obtained.
Mr McGuire told council staff he did not intend to remove the alterations. It was the landlord’s problem, he said. If the council were to prosecute, any prosecution had to be against the landlord as owner of the property.
Hamilton Accommodation refused to put the problem to arbitration, as required by terms of its lease. Mr McGuire challenged Ms Tu to force an arbitration, pointing out that arbitrations can be expensive, saying: ‘We can afford these fees. Can you?’
In the High Court, Justice Gordon ruled Hamilton Accommodation’s conduct amounted to serious and deliberate breaches of its lease. The landlord was justified in cancelling the lease, which would otherwise have run for another six years to 2030.
Hamilton Accommodation’s Property Law Act application for relief against cancellation was dismissed.
Hamilton Accommodation Ltd v. Yi Ming Investment Ltd – High Court (19.06.24)
24.156