Hawaii contractor Canaan Construction Ltd. was known for giving lifetime warranties on its new homes — an uncommon industry practice. Last year, though, the company quietly shut down with at least $800,000 in unpaid debts.
The debts were disclosed in a recent personal bankruptcy filing by company President Max Suiter. The Chapter 7 filing in January listed $2.2 million in debts, many of them tied to Canaan, and $24,000 in personal assets.
Steve Guttman, a bankruptcy attorney representing Suiter, said the move to file bankruptcy was due to financial troubles of the business for which Suiter had personally guaranteed some liabilities.
"It’s totally motivated by business," Guttman said. "Too much had accumulated over the years."
Among debts listed in Suiter’s bankruptcy are civil penalties totaling about $680,000 related to Social Security tax payments Canaan owed to the state and the Internal Revenue Service, and roughly $110,000 owed to suppliers, including Ameron Hawaii, Honsador Lumber LLC and Island Ready Mix Concrete Inc. Several potential business claims with unknown values were also listed.
Guttman said Suiter did not wish to comment on the case, and is trying to move forward.
Canaan had been in business for almost 40 years and was established by Suiter’s father, Raymond C. Suiter, in 1978 as Canaan Construction and Decorating.
The company was engaged in residential and commercial work that included building luxury residences, restoring historic homes and work on the Hawaiian Mission Houses Historic Site and Archives, the Local Motion store in Waikiki and the Bachman Science Center at La Pietra-Hawaii School for Girls.
In 2013 the company won three awards from the Building Industry Association of Hawaii. The General Contractors Association of Hawaii described Canaan as the only residential homebuilder in Hawaii to offer a lifetime warranty on custom-built homes.
Yet Canaan had its financial challenges. According to the bankruptcy case, Suiter was a party to 15 legal actions within the last year, most of them related to judgments or claims against Canaan.
Max Suiter also was an entrepreneur who had other business endeavors, one of which was a coffee shop in First Hawaiian Bank’s downtown tower called Cafe Central which opened in 2011 and closed last year. First Hawaiian obtained a $103,000 judgment related to that business and listed among Suiter’s debts.
Honolulu Coffee Co. was another venture, which Suiter helped his brother, Raymond T. Suiter, start in 1991. That business was sold to an investor in 2008.
Another venture was Malama Salon and Spa Ltd., which Max Suiter started with his wife, Mary, in 2000 with two successful locations in Manoa and Ala Moana Center. Two additional luxury Malama spas were under construction a year later at the Halekulani hotel and in Kailua when shocks from the Sept. 11, 2001, terror attacks led an investor to yank financing for the new stores.
Malama filed bankruptcy in 2002 with estimated assets of $2.5 million and debts of $5 million. The initial plan was to reorganize finances and continue operating, but a majority of the company directors voted to liquidate everything against Suiter’s wishes.
Suiter’s father said in a 2003 Honolulu Star-Bulletin interview that Canaan wasn’t paid for Malama’s design and construction work, but bounced back. He also praised the entrepreneurial effort.
"I don’t fault my son and daughter-in-law for doing that," he said in the article. "I think most people spend their lives not doing anything. A man or woman who has never failed is usually a person who’s never done anything."
Suiter reported being self-employed for two months as of the bankruptcy filing but also listed independent contracting as his biggest source of income last year after Canaan Construction shut down in May.
According to the Better Business Bureau, Suiter has a position with Canaan Builders LLC, a company that state records show was formed in 2012 by his father and brother at Canaan Construction’s old address. Guttman said the two businesses are unrelated.
Suiter’s father said in an email that he might be able to talk about the situation after his son’s bankruptcy case is wrapped up. "In the meantime, I have no comments to make," he said.
