BDO Wellington receivers Jessica Kellow and Iain Shephard were appointed as receivers and managers of the companies last week through an order from the High Court at Wellington.
“The appointment follows a relationship property dispute between Mr Ryan and his former partner,” Shephard said.
Matthew Ryan owns multiple properties in the capital. File photo / Mark Mitchell
The companies are Lifestyle Rental Properties, Lifestyle Loans, Eastbourne Lifestyle, Gods Plan, Lifestyle Trading, Randwick Mews, Franklyn Street and Pinot Grove.
Online records viewed by BusinessDesk showed more than 70 properties were owned by the affected companies.
“The purpose of the appointment is to gain control of the companies, their assets and income streams and preserve the assets pending further reporting to the court,” Shephard told BusinessDesk.
“Where possible, the receivers will attend to the payment of outstanding trading and tax liabilities of the companies.”
Ryan is the director and sole shareholder of the companies, most of which are connected to property investment or development aside from Lifestyle Loans, which is listed as a finance operation.
Ryan told BusinessDesk he was appealing the High Court order and denied the companies were in financial difficulty.
“There has not been a business collapse – the companies are solvent.
“This is a simple case of a former partner applying for an ex parte notice on Friday last week.
“I had no knowledge of any application until around 2pm Monday, and I’m certain the application would have failed if I’d had the opportunity to reply,” he told BusinessDesk.
Widely referred to in previous news coverage as a mega-landlord, Ryan has previously been quoted in multiple news articles sharing his opinions on the housing market and going on local radio shows to give his perspective.
He was also involved in a high-profile Tenancy Tribunal case when a European diplomat broke her lease early in one of his rental properties, leaving him $20,000 out of pocket in unpaid rent and property damage.
European Union deputy head of mission Eva Tvarozkova was originally ordered in 2018 to pay Ryan the money after leaving the then $1.5 million Miramar townhouse he owned. The Tenancy Tribunal reversed its decision after Tvarozkova got lawyers involved, who argued her diplomatic immunity exempted her from needing to pay the money.
The High Court at Wellington placed the companies into receivership last week.
Ryan’s case hinged on the argument that the Geneva Convention, which gave diplomats immunity in foreign courts, had an exemption for commercial transactions such as rental payments.
Winston Peters, then the Acting Prime Minister, even weighed in on the case at the time, saying the Government’s hands were tied over the matter.
“It might be a disgrace, but if you have got your diplomatic staff offshore in any country and they become victims of a local legal or political attack, have their lives threatened or property taken over by the state even though New Zealand paid for it, you realise diplomatic immunity is very important.
“There are massive upsides to it, but every now and again you get a downside.”
Ryan has been vocal about Government policies affecting the rights of landlords and property investors.