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.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe appointment follows a relationship property dispute between Mr Ryan and his former partner,\u201d Shephard said.<\/p>\n
Matthew Ryan owns multiple properties in the capital. File photo \/ Mark Mitchell<\/p>\n
The companies are Lifestyle Rental Properties, Lifestyle Loans, Eastbourne Lifestyle, Gods Plan, Lifestyle Trading, Randwick Mews, Franklyn Street and Pinot Grove.<\/p>\n
Online records viewed by BusinessDesk showed more than 70 properties were owned by the affected companies.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe 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,\u201d Shephard told BusinessDesk.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhere possible, the receivers will attend to the payment of outstanding trading and tax liabilities of the companies.\u201d<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
Ryan told BusinessDesk he was appealing the High Court order and denied the companies were in financial difficulty.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere has not been a business collapse \u2013 the companies are solvent.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is a simple case of a former partner applying for an ex parte notice on Friday last week.<\/p>\n
\u201cI had no knowledge of any application until around 2pm Monday, and I\u2019m certain the application would have failed if I\u2019d had the opportunity to reply,\u201d he told BusinessDesk.<\/p>\n
Widely referred to in previous news coverage as a mega-landlord, Ryan has previously been quoted in multiple news articles<\/a> sharing his opinions on the housing market and going on local radio shows to give his perspective.<\/p>\n 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,<\/a> leaving him $20,000 out of pocket in unpaid rent and property damage.<\/p>\n 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.<\/p>\n Ryan\u2019s 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.<\/p>\nThe High Court at Wellington placed the companies into receivership last week.<\/p>\n