Bankrupted after failing to pay rent to use land

A man set to be bankrupted over more than $80,000 of unpaid rent is attempting to sue his former landlord for $10 million for removing his property from the Ma¯ ori freehold land he lived on.

Fredrick Piripi Kingi Hill has been in a long-standing battle with the Ma¯ori Trustee, which administers the land on behalf of 96 owners, over a piece of land in Mangatainoka.

Court judgments show Hill lived on the land since 2007, but did not pay rent or rates, or control gorse, since 2009 after having disputes with the trustee.

The lease was cancelled in 2015 after the trust took Hill to court. Hill was also ordered to pay unpaid rent and damages of $87,400.

He appealed the ruling multiple times, failing at each step, with the trustee applying to make him bankrupt, claiming the judgment debt plus another $796 in costs.

In a recent judgment, High Court Associate judge Justice Warwick Smith dismissed an application by Hill to set aside the bankruptcy notice.

Hill opposed the application, saying he had managed to buy shares in the land from one of the beneficial owners, but was waiting to have them vested in him by the Ma¯ ori Land Court.

He also made claims against the trustee, including $4.5 million in costs for representing himself in court.

One claim involved the trustee allegedly removing his property, including a campervan and personal items, from the land.

He said he had filed a claim for $10 million in the High Court in relation to that, as well as taking a private prosecution against parties who allegedly took chattels from the land.

The trustee’s lawyer, Christine Reuhman, said Hill would still have to pay the owed money even if he became an owner.

There was also an email produced from the Ma¯ ori Land Court that showed Hill’s application to have the shares vested in him was not yet accepted as it contained no proof he had a family connection to the land – something required by law.

The judge said there was little chance of the debt being remitted, while the claims for representing himself had been described in another judgment as ‘‘utterly frivolous’’.

The removal of Hill’s property from the land happened a year after he had his lease terminated, and the trustee had told him his belongings would be removed if he did not get rid of them.

The judge found the trustee was fully entitled to remove the goods, and the claim for $10m was ‘‘fanciful’’.

Court judgments show Hill lived on the land since 2007, but did not pay rent or rates, or control gorse, since 2009 after having disputes with the trustee.