The Mortgage Store, a Maui business that was started by investment adviser George Lindell and sold to his daughter, has filed for bankruptcy, with liabilities of about $14.7 million and assets somewhat less.

The state securities commission has received complaints about the business and said it has an investigation pending, but it would not say more.

Several dozen people, most with Maui addresses, are unsecured creditors. Wailuku bankruptcy attorney Ry Barbin, who is handling the bankruptcy, said a case of this size with all unsecured creditors is unusual.

Lindell and his daughter, Holly Hoaeae, also advertised a next-door business called True Wealth Group. . . Living by Design that offers financial and investment advice.

According to Barbin, investors placed money with The Mortgage Store via promissory notes, with a 7 percent return.

The money was used to buy small residential properties, mostly in Texas but also in Maui, Indiana and Ohio.

When the value of the properties fell to below the mortgage balance, Barbin said, with no chance of regaining equilibrium, Hoaeae decided to liquidate through Chapter 7.

The largest listed creditor is owed less than $700,000. The assets have been placed under a trustee, Dane Field, who will dispose of them and distribute the recovery.

Barbin expects the return to be “substantial,” but lenders are not likely to be made whole.

Papers filed in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Honolulu show that Hoaeae was compensated by more than $1.6 million in 2008 and 2009, and more than $500,000 so far this year.

Lindell, who has had a mortgage business in Kihei for about three decades, sold his business to his daughter about two years ago and had no role in it since, Barbin said. Hoaeae is president, secretary and treasurer.

Hoaeae could not be reached for comment. She has not asked for personal bankruptcy, and True Wealth Group is not seeking bankruptcy.

Hertz Equipment expands to Hawaii

Hertz Equipment Rental Corp. said it has acquired Western Machinery, a construction equipment rental company based in Kapolei.

Terms of the deal were not disclosed.

Founded in 1985, Western Machinery has locations on Oahu, the Big Island and Maui. In addition to equipment rental, the company is also an equipment dealer for Gradall, JLG, Bobcat, Liebherr, Linkbelt and Allied Hammers.

Hertz Equipment Rental Corp. is a wholly owned subsidiary of The Hertz Corp.

“We’re excited to have acquired Western Machinery as this marks Hertz Equipment Rental’s first foray into the Hawaiian market,” said Mark Frissora, chairman and chief executive officer of the Hertz Corp.

Hawaii’s construction industry was one of the harder hit sectors during the recent recession. Construction spending, which declined by 18 percent in 2009, is forecast to drop by another 15.9 percent this year before rising by 2.8 percent in 2011, according to a recent report by the University of Hawaii Economic Research Organization.

WAILUKU – The state Board of Land and Natural Resources on Friday unanimously granted Kaheawa Wind Power II the land lease it needs to make way for 14 additional wind turbines along the Lahaina pali.

Kaheawa Wind is a subsidiary of Boston-based wind energy company First Wind, which already provides electricity to Maui Electric Co. with 20 wind turbines above Maalaea.

“We are committed to the stewardship of the land,” said Project Manager Kelly Bronson.

He also touted the renewable-energy project’s benefits to the environment and economy, both on Maui and across the state. The project also will need permission from the state Public Utilities Commission and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service before full construction can begin.

Work could begin as early as next month, and Bronson said it would take about a year. He didn’t have immediate estimates of how many construction jobs or full-time jobs operating machinery would be provided, or of the overall budget.

In its official vote, the board granted its next chairperson the authority to negotiate a 20-year site lease for the wind farm expansion, along with easements and utility access. Current Chairwoman Laura Thielen’s term ends in December.

The expanded wind farm, located in a line below the existing one, is expected to provide 21 megawatts on 143 acres in the Kaheawa pasture.

Thielen said there’s a lot of effort going into green energy projects in Hawaii and told her colleagues to expect many more such applications to come before the board in the near future.

The expansion of green energy sources and of efforts to wean Maui off oil was applauded during public testimony in the county Department of Planning conference room.

“This (project) is not just a talking point or an idea, it’s here now,” said former Maui Tomorrow Foundation board member Sean Lester, who urged support of the application.

Jeanne Unemori Skog, president and chief executive officer of the Maui Economic Development Board, said the project will support much-needed efforts to diversify Maui’s economy and bolster the technology sector.

A few individuals questioned whether the state has the authority to lease ceded Hawaiian monarchy lands, while others called the gigantic turbines eyesores.

“Every time I come down from Haleakala, I can see these money machines,” said opponent Jim Smith of Haiku.

Friday’s decision paves the way for Kaheawa II to clear brush and start the groundwork for the larger facility that will include an electrical substation, battery-energy storage system, underground electrical-collection system, overhead transmission line, meteorological-monitoring tower and service-access roads.

Bronson also sought and received from the board permission to start most work that does not include installing the turbines, while the company completes a draft habitat conservation plan in addition to the already-complete environmental impact statement.

The board Friday amended the conservation habitat protection plan to require a qualified biologist and archeologist be on-site during construction. The company also must notify the state when it is about to begin construction, and must get proper state and federal permits to build “vertically” or install the turbines, Thielen said.

Irene Bowie, executive director of the Maui Tomorrow Foundation, said she wanted to make sure the public continues to have safe access to the Lahaina Pali Trail.

Bronson said fences will surround the turbines and the rotating turbine blades will come no closer than 90 feet above the ground.

The subsidiary Kaheawa Wind II also has developed the conservation plan in coordination with the state DLNR as part of an application for an “incidental take” permit for endangered species.

The large wind turbines are known to cause accidental injury or death to birds. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service requires the take permit for four species identified as the endangered nene goose; Hawaiian petrel, or ‘ua’u; Hawaiian hoary bat, or ‘ope’ape’a; and the threatened Newell’s shearwater, or ‘a’o.

The company also plans to take steps to safely capture and relocate birds found in the area, and will continue its ongoing habitat management and reforestation efforts of native plant species, officials said.

Lucienne de Naie of the Sierra Club’s Maui group, called for the protected pueo, or Hawaiian owl, to be added to the list of birds in the permit application. She also said First Wind’s various native species restoration and educational efforts are “great examples of cooperation.”

In a separate action, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is reviewing the project’s permit applications. The public can comment before Dec. 9 on a draft habitat conservation plan. For more information, visit http://www.fws.gov/pacificislands/.

Kaiser earns $3 million in quarter as membership jumps

Kaiser Foundation Health Plan Inc. recorded a $3 million profit in the third quarter as a result of increased membership and cost-controlling efforts.

The state’s largest health maintenance organization’s quarterly gain compares to net income of $100,000 in the year-earlier period.

The company, which is seeking to raise rates 12.6 percent on Jan. 1, said it continues to “leverage new technologies” to improve clinical outcomes and patient safety and reduce costs.

Kaiser posted $242.6 million in operating revenue and $241.1 million in expenses, resulting in operating income of $1.5 million in the quarter ended Sept. 30.

By comparison, the HMO reported $239.1 million in operating revenue and $240.1 million in operating expenses in the 2009 quarter, when its operating loss totaled $1 million.

Meanwhile, net investment income was up to $1.5 million from $1.1 million in the year-earlier quarter.

Kaiser attributed part of its $3 million profit to rising membership, which was up by more than 3,800, to 227,275 at the end of the third quarter.

“Hawaii is experiencing modest job growth and we’re welcoming new members as a result,” said Thomas Risse, Kaiser’s chief financial officer.

Nonetheless, the HMO earlier said rising health care costs have affected the business.

If approved by the state Insurance Division, Kaiser’s 12.6 percent rate increase will be the largest in seven years, affecting about 6,800 employers and 164,000 members.

The company also is seeking an average 8.6 percent rate increase for about 14,000 individuals.

State Insurance Commissioner Gordon Ito said he is hoping that the financial picture will improve for both HMSA and Kaiser, so that no further rate increases will be necessary and that rate reductions might even be possible.