How a home builder who didn’t finish the job collapsed, owing $4 million

The list of companies owed millions of dollars by ANSA Homes runs for six pages and charts the universe of home building: fencing, brickworks, roofing, designer staircases and toilet hire. Even the tax office, owed nearly $600,000, has joined the queue.

After months of battling the state’s building regulator and disgruntled clients alleging wrongdoing, ANSA Homes, once run by Mark Maloney, collapsed into liquidation on August 27, with creditors owed more than $4 million.

ANSA Homes boss Mark Maloney has allegedly failed to comply with rectification orders issued by the Building Commission.Credit: Sydney Morning Herald

But the reparations appear light: a creditors report compiled by insolvency firm Jirsch Sutherland, released on September 5 and obtained by The Sydney Morning Herald, shows ANSA Homes estimates it could produce $1.1 million to satisfy creditors.

It marks the end for ANSA Homes, which had its licence suspended in June after clients alleged builds beset by delays, widespread defects and Building Commission-enforced rectification orders being ignored.

Maloney has repeatedly denied any wrongdoing.

Dylan Maloney, Mark’s brother, worked as ANSA Homes’ operations manager but was not a director of the company nor on the building licence.

“Dylan Maloney was a co-director of ANSA Homes in all but ASIC records, we have numerous trades and clients that are willing to give statements to this fact,” one former client claimed in an email to the Building Commission in late August.

Dylan Maloney did not respond to requests for comment on the allegation that he was, in a practical sense, a co-director of ANSA Homes.

But on the day ANSA Homes entered liquidation, a building licence for DM Bespoke Pty Limited Contractor commenced, with Dylan as the director and sole shareholder. The former client questioned whether the company had been “phoenixed”, referring to the illegal practice of shifting assets from an indebted company to a new one.

A Building Commission NSW spokesman, while not referring specifically to allegations of phoenxing, said the agency was “making inquiries into allegations concerning Dylan Maloney’s involvement in ANSA Homes’ contracts with consumers”.

On August 20, seven days before the company appointed the liquidator, ANSA Homes sold and settled a HomeWorld display home in Marsden Park for $1.3 million.

Corporate records show Mark Maloney is the sole owner and director of ANSA Homes. The registered place of business is a South Coogee address purchased by Maloney and his wife, Danielle, for nearly $10 million in 2021.

The liquidators’ documents reveal Maloney stated there was only $56,842 in the bank, certifying that the information attached is “true and complete”.

The liquidators, Andrew Spring and Peter Moore, told the Herald they were aware of the Marsden Park sale and had been “advised that the proceedings … were paid to the company’s secured creditor”, understood to be the National Australia Bank.

“The appointment is in its initial stages, but the liquidators’ investigations will review asset transactions prior to their appointment in due course,” the pair said.

Two more of the company’s HomeWorld properties, in Box Hill and Leppington, are owned by Mardanhen Pty Ltd, which is controlled by holding company ANSA Holdings Pty Ltd, of which Mark Maloney is the director and his wife is the sole shareholder.

On August 8, three weeks after it was sold, ANSA Home’s Edmondson Park headquarters settled for $1.6 million. The property was held in Danielle Maloney’s name.

Three HomeWorld display sites claim they are owed nearly $50,000 by ANSA Homes.

The report for creditors details $93,358 in inventory and $211,123 in “other assets”. However, despite the Marsden Park sale days before entering liquidation, according to claims by various clients contained in the report, the bulk of $1.1 million in ANSA Homes assets ($783,526) is debt owed by home owners, much of which is contested.

Since being suspended, ANSA has allegedly pursued clients with half-finished homes for hundreds of thousands of dollars in disputed payments. One client claimed they were hit with a bill for $61,000 attached to a partial occupation certificate despite having no guarantee their home was free of mould.

Mark Maloney declined multiple opportunities to comment.

According to the Jirsch Sutherland report, more than $333,841.01 is owed to MCM Frame & Truss, another $205,658.97 is claimed by Dahlsens Building Centres, $183,670.70 by plasterboard contractor iPlasta, $178,328.88 by IKB Industries, also known as Impressive Kitchens, and $168,115.99 by Grahame Cook Plumbing Supplies.

None of these companies responded to requests for comment.

One of the biggest creditors claims is a holding company called Beauhry Pty Ltd, claiming $252,000. Corporate records show the corporate entity is owned and run by Maloney.

Through Beauhry, Maloney owns a string of developments in the town of Tahmoor, in the Wollondilly Shire. Mardanhen Pty Ltd, another holding company controlled solely by his wife Danielle, owns more developments on the same streets.

A Building Commission spokesman said ANSA Homes and Mark Maloney were still being investigated for disciplinary action, with long-term suspension or cancellation possible if they were found to have breached the conditions of their licence.

“This includes using powers under the Home Building Act to investigate and determine if Mr Maloney no longer satisfies the requirements to hold a licence or certificate,” he said.

“This assessment process considers compliance history, criminal convictions, bankruptcy and if an individual was a director of a company which entered external administration.”

Building Minister Anoulack Chanthivong said the Building Commission was aware of the matters raised but said it was inappropriate to comment on cases subject to ongoing regulatory action.

The Maloney brothers declined to comment on the Building Commission’s investigation.

“We have changed the law and established a regulator in NSW to lift standards and rebuild trust in this sector, including by tightening the rules to prevent phoenixing,” Chanthivong said. “Our message is clear: there is no room in the NSW building sector for rip-off merchants taking home buyers for a ride.”

The Building Commission’s website states the licences attached to DM Bespoke and Dylan Maloney will be restricted to work valued less than $20,000.

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