Michael Pearce. Photo: Supplied Suzie Bognar’s post on a community Facebook page asked if anyone could tell her Michael Pearce and Fiona Knapp’s latest address so they could be served with legal documents relating to the unpaid rent. It included a link to a Tenancy Tribunal decision in January that terminated the couple’s tenancy of the $2000 a week Speargrass Flat Rd home, and ordered them to pay Ms Bognar $16,730.
14 for rent arrears and electricity charges. At a tribunal hearing in January, Pearce said he and his family had recently returned to New Zealand from the United Kingdom, and his funds had been blocked as a result of the ‘‘anti-money laundering regime in the UK’’. However, he did not provide any evidence about the issue, the decision said.
Ms Bognar told the Otago Daily Times the couple still owed $12,000, and ‘‘using the power of social media’’ was her only option after Pearce failed to give her an address for service. Fiona Knapp. Photo: Supplied ‘‘I wasn’t prepared to just walk away — there’s a moral issue here.
’’ She now had their latest address, and would be serving legal documents and pursuing the matter in the courts. The couple had made an excellent first impression, she said. ‘‘They came across as the landed gentry — butter wouldn’t melt in their mouths.
’’ ‘‘We got sucked in big time.’’ In a social media profile, Pearce describes himself as a self-employed investment and brand development consultant a.
