Property owners affected by Zealous Group liquidation say pleas for help fell on deaf ears

Victims of a failed Melbourne property developer saw warning signs months ago, but say inaction from building and consumer watchdogs enabled the developer to “continue fraudulent activity and snare new customers.”

Eitan and Daphne Carmi said watchdogs were useful in the lead-up to their developer’s demise.

Furious property owners left in limbo after a property developer went bust are demanding answers, saying months of complaints to building and consumer watchdogs fell on deaf ears.

Townhouse developer Zealous Group left a trail of unfinished homes and devastated families after being appointed a liquidator on May 31 — and authorities are still refusing to answer why nothing was done sooner.

Property owners who have had their lives put on hold want an overhaul of the system that “abandoned them” for months as they sought help.

Bentleigh East’s Daphne Carmi and Sue, who did not want her last name used, were two of 11 owners who were left with unfinished homes.

Ms Carmi said Zealous’ homeowners banded together and employed solicitors and barristers to fight for a resolution throughout the long process.

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They first contacted the Australian Securities and Investments Commission on January 14 this year, following up with several more complaints to the Victorian Building Authority (VBA), Consumer Affairs, Glen Eira Council, Domestic Building Dispute Resolution Victoria (DBDRV) and the Australian Taxation Office (ATO).

But Ms Carmi said their efforts were all to no avail.

“In spite of all the owners’ complaints … no government body heeded the complaints and the builder was able to continue his fraudulent activity and snare new customers,” Ms Carmi said.

“The question I want answered is — where were all the watchdogs?

“They had been warned by all of us homeowners and our solicitors and still not one of them did anything.”

Daphne Carmi says she banded with other property owners to urge authorities to act but their complaints were ignored.

Sue said she’d felt helpless and ignored throughout the entire process.

The Bentleigh East resident said she was continuously told to go elsewhere for help. And she said the VBA took two months to even assign a case number — which was sent to them just two days after the liquidation.

“Even with the help of a solicitor it was a pointless exercise,” Sue said.

Sue says she has felt hopeless and ignored as her home remains unfinished. Picture: Josie Hayden

“The (Housing Industry Association) contract was written to put the building industry first and everything was in favour of the builder.

“If we cancelled the contract, we faced 20 per cent loss of total costs, but they breached it every five minutes and lost nothing.”

Sue said next time she would ensure a contract was written up by a lawyer to ensure it covered the consumer and builder equally, and encouraged others to do the same.

“We trusted the contract but in the end it wasn’t worth the paper it was written on,” she said.

VBA spokeswoman Karen Lyon did not comment on why nothing was done sooner or what rights residents had throughout the building process.

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But she said Zealous building compliance complaints “were under investigation”, and asked residents to contact Consumer Affairs or DBDRV about contractual matters.

Consumer Affairs Victoria spokeswoman Lucy Teal did not comment on Zealous’ situation but said there had been 28,473 contacts to the watchdog last financial year about building matters, with 20 per cent of those regarding poor and defective workmanship.

Ms Teal said homeowners were also covered under the Domestic Building Contracts Act and had 180 days to lodge a claim following liquidation.

State Government spokesman Nathan Motton also declined to comment why Zealous owners were not helped sooner.

He said the DBDRV provided “free dispute resolution services for builders and building owners … without the cost and time often associated with courts and tribunals”.

“Victorian families who are striving to own their own homes have every right to expect that contractual obligations are met and they get what they pay for,” Mr Motton said.

DBDRV has been contacted, Glen Eira Council refused to comment and Zealous Group has ignored several Leader requests.