A long-running battle over a suburban Wellington car yard has turned sour, with the 82-year-old tenant accusing his landlords of forging a lease agreement and locking him out of the business.
The landlords claim that David Scott – possibly New Zealand’s longest-operating car salesman – owes them more than $127,000 in unpaid rent dating back to 2012 and are seeking a court order confirming they lawfully cancelled the lease and are entitled to possession of the property.
Scott, 82, claims that the lease documents being relied on in court are forged, and that he’s the victim of an orchestrated attempt to remove him from the premises and seize his assets.
Brothers Manish and Sailesh Patel, meanwhile, maintain the case is a straightforward rent dispute and deny all wrongdoing.
The Herald has obtained documents filed for both sides in the High Court at Wellington. A hearing date is yet to be set.
The plaintiffs are brothers Manish and Sailesh Patel, the trustees of the Patel Family Trust.
Their statement of claim says Scott began leasing their site on High St in Lower Hutt in February 2012. That deal was formalised with a deed of lease signed in May that year.
Rent was set at $2833 plus GST per month – just over $3250 including tax – and the agreement included a 10% default interest clause.
According to the trust, Scott’s rent payments were “inconsistent” from the outset – some months were overpaid, others underpaid, and by 2013, Scott was regularly behind.
They claim that by 2024, rent arrears had hit six figures, and in August, Scott was given four months to settle the bill or vacate by Christmas Day.
No payment was made, and they changed the locks on December 16. Their lawyer then demanded $127,000 in unpaid rent and interest from Scott – warning the figure would continue to grow until the property was cleared and returned.
In April this year, the trust filed proceedings in the High Court. The Patels have asked the court to:
Scott, who has been selling cars for more than 55 years, is fighting back – accusing the Patels of forging multiple lease documents and trying to “extort” money and property from him under false pretences.
The statement of defence he has filed in court outlines his position.
He says that in 2012 he entered into a lease agreement with Jayanti Patel, the father of Manish and Sailesh.
He presented Jayanti Patel with a “draft” lease, which he had signed – but it was never formally actioned.
“There was no written lease. The arrangement was an unwritten short-term lease as is defined in sections 208, 209 and 210 of the Property Law Act 2007,” his statement said.
“There was no provision in the agreement for payment of interest … The document referred to [in the statement of claim] was not signed by any of the parties named [the brothers or Scott] ... Accordingly, [Scott] is not liable to the plaintiffs.”
Scott alleges the lease documents being relied on in court by the Patel brothers are a manipulated version of the draft agreement he presented to the original trustees in 2012.
In his court statement, he alleges his signature was “electronically replicated” on to the document using cut-and-paste techniques, and says expert evidence filed alongside his application supports that.
That evidence includes a handwriting analysis and forensic document examination.
The handwriting expert believed the lease contains “substantial and significant inconsistencies” and “non-genuine” signatures across different versions. It concluded there was a “strong probability” the documents had been deliberately altered or fabricated.
Scott also alleges that since being locked out in December, he has been unable to retrieve business equipment and dozens of vehicles left on site – and that several of them have been damaged or stolen.
He alleges unknown offenders have repeatedly entered the property, smashed windows, slashed paintwork, stolen wheels, and stripped valuable items from both vehicles and the on-site office.
On one occasion, four left-hand-drive vehicles were damaged, and a fifth had a window smashed. On another, two cars were stripped of their wheels, rendering them immovable.
He claims the trust failed to protect the vehicles while they controlled the site.
Scott also says the trust’s actions in blocking his access to the property breach the Property Law Act and have caused significant business losses.
He is seeking to have the entire claim thrown out, declaring the lease invalid, and may pursue his own legal action for damage to his property.
Stolen and damaged items, he claims, include five vehicle windows valued at $18,000, a mechanic’s industrial toolbox worth $50,000, an air compressor, a floor jack, ladders, various power tools, batteries, and security cameras.
Scott is also seeking $27,500 for panel and paint repairs to damaged vehicles and $9500 for replacement wheels and mags. Additional costs include battery chargers, car opening kits, and other workshop equipment.
Beyond the material losses, the first defendant is also seeking $1.85 million in damages for emotional harm and stress.
Scott told the Herald that the ongoing saga had deeply affected his health.
“I just want to sell cars … I like to help people."
The Herald reached out to the Patel brothers through their lawyer, Matt Anderson.
Anderson said the men would deny all “baseless” allegations made by Scott.
“This is a simple rent recovery exercise on behalf of our clients,” he said.
“The tenant was significantly behind on rent for many years … Our clients had hoped that the tenant would vacate the property so they could relet the premises. Court proceedings were filed as the tenant refuses to vacate the premises, despite repeated requests, and our clients are left with a premises they cannot use and a tenant who was significantly in arrears and now will not give up the premises.
“Our clients deny all allegations of inappropriate behaviour referred to by the tenant in their counter-claim.
“Our clients are frustrated that the tenant is making baseless claims and using the court process as a means to delay leaving the premises.”
Anna Leask is a senior journalist who covers national crime and justice. She joined the Herald in 2008 and has worked as a journalist for 19 years with a particular focus on family and gender-based violence, child abuse, sexual violence, homicides, mental health and youth crime. She writes, hosts and produces the award-winning podcast A Moment In Crime, released monthly on nzherald.co.nz