Embattled home builder Nicheliving has reached a deal with the Western Australian government after leaving hundreds of customers with unfinished homes.
Under the agreement, Nicheliving will end its legal fight and surrender its building licence for ten years.
Directors Ronnie Michel-Elhaj and Paul Bitdorf are now barred from re-registering under any name.
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The pair, however, won’t face any fines or be pursued by insurers.
”Ronnie does not get away with it,” Commerce Minister Sue Ellery said.
“There’s not a capacity to issue a fine. I appreciate that there will be frustration for those homeowners who’ve waited a long time but the key objective here was get the homes built, and stop him operating.”
Customers have spent the past few years displaced and living in alternate housing waiting for the saga to come to an end.
”We were displaced for two to three years, couch surfing, you know staying at a friend’s house for two to three weeks because we just had nowhere else to go,” Sarah Munro said.
Husband Braydn Munro echoed his wife’s sentiments.
“Had to just put everything on hold, can’t start a family, just waiting for our whole life to start pretty much and it can’t happen until we get through this,” he said.
Customer Kathy Ellis said what was supposed to be a little family adventure turned into a nightmare.
“I sat my kids down, we had a family meeting and I said ‘look four months in a camper trailer, we’re going to be fine its going to be fun’,” Ellis said.
“Twenty months later we are still in our camper trailer.”
They are now able to access up to $200,000 through the Home Indemnity Insurance Scheme to finish works and find other builders.
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But despite ”a lot of paper work to do” as Ellis puts it, they all see a light at the end of the tunnel.
“For the first time in four years we’ve actually got some sense that it actually might happen,” another customer Richard Hamilton said.
But with 200 homes yet to be completed, the insurance bill is expected to be as high as $40 million.
Taxpayers will be left to foot the bill to fix the mess while Nicheliving won’t have to pay a cent.
“Now we see the government cave and give Nicheliving a get out of jail free card,” Steve Martin, Shadow Housing Minister said.
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Despite being slapped with the building ban, there’s nothing stopping Michel-Elhaj and Bitdorf from working in the property sector as developers, managers or real estate agents.
In fact, just last week they launched real estate agency Australian Property Alliance, with Bitdorf holding an agents license.
“This is a bailout for a builder that has done the wrong thing and a builder that tells us they have $100 million in assets,” Martin said.
Customers are now looking at taking further legal action.
“If you are thinking about doing anything in real estate or development, be very very careful about anything to do with this company,” Hamilton said.
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