ARPM liquidators have received claims worth more than £4m
Outlook for creditors looks bleak as assets realised so far total just £10,600, after costs.
Liquidators for property management firm ARPM, which went into liquidation in September 2021, have so far received claims from 62 creditors totalling just over £4 million.
The collapse of Ash Residential Property Management is believed to affect some 70 estate agents and 8,000 properties for which the firm held rents and deposits.
Many agencies, including several which contacted The Negotiator at the time, have had to reimburse landlord clients thousands and pounds, hoping that some funds will be repaid to them as creditors at a later date.
However, the outlook for creditors seems bleak.
Agent debts of £36,500
A progress report by insolvency practitioners Antony Batty & Co said a further 28 non-preferential claims totalling £181,075 have yet to be formally received.
An additional £134,839 worth of claims have been received from preferential creditors, including the Redundancy Payments Service, which has also made a non-preferential claim of £92,891. HMRC is owed £10,000.
There are outstanding book debts of £36,500 relating to five unnamed letting agents. However one of these agents has also submitted a large claim as a creditor.
Fees charged by Antony Batty and the previous liquidators, Neum Insolvency, amount to £85,811 so far.
Asset realisation has to date realised just £23,100, primarily a refund from Land Rover Finance from the sale of a vehicle, and a £12,000 contribution from the company director to prepare a statement of accounts.
However the costs of realising the assets amounted to £12,439, leaving a balance of £10,661. No properties are listed as assets in the liquidator’s report.
The liquidation process is ongoing, and no estimate has been given as to when the process will be finalised.