Flexible Homes: Rogue building company directors fined $50,000 for misleading conduct

[Pelican Press 0]

This is the hidden content, please

• Sign In
• or
• Sign Up

Flexible Homes: Rogue building company directors fined $50,000 for misleading conduct

Two former directors of a rogue building company, exposed by The Sunday Times, have been fined $25,000 each for misleading conduct.

Flexible Homes went into liquidation in June last year, but not before its two directors inserted a ****** director — a vulnerable ***** ******* — to be the fall guy for the company, as they tried to walk away from their customers and commitments.

Customers were shocked to find out their contracts were actually with other builders, meaning they couldn’t claim against their home indemnity insurance when the firm went bust.

Pavreet Singh and MD Touhidul Islam Sunny were investigated by industry regulator Building and Energy following this newspaper’s series of reports on the Flexible Homes fiasco.

The State Administrative Tribunal this week found Flexible Homes had engaged in misleading conduct on three building projects.

Customers were made to believe that Flexible Homes would build their homes, while the company “intended for a third-party builder to be engaged” for the work.

The builder processed applications for building permits and home indemnity insurance on behalf of the third-party builders, issued invoices, received payments and carried out all customer contact and administration for the work.

Camera IconThe Flexible Homes office has been vacated. Credit: From internet

A Shelley homeowner engaged Flexible Homes in late 2020 for demolition and renovation works, but the company’s conduct caused an “undue delay” of at least eight months.

On Flexible Homes’ recommendation, the client signed a contract with a third-party builder only to be told months later the business could not obtain the required home indemnity insurance.

This happened another two times, with the third contractor not signed on until August 2021.

The Shelley homeowner also copped two price increases without justification within that time and was asked to make a progress payment for work that had not even started.

Flexible Homes also ******* to comply with a building remedy order issued by the Building Commissioner for damage to a house neighbouring the Shelley site.

Commissioner Saj Abdoolakhan said the significant fines sent a clear message that improper conduct had no place in the building industry.

“Homeowners rightly expect builders to act with integrity when they enter into contracts for what is usually the biggest purchase of their life,” he said.

Mr Abdoolakhan encouraged consumers to thoroughly check all contracts and documents to ensure they are working directly with the listed contractor.

data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///ywAAAAAAQABAAACAUwAOw==Camera IconCommissioner Saj Abdoolakhan said the significant fines sent a clear message. Credit: Michael Wilson/The West ***********

As revealed by The Sunday Times, Mr Singh and Mr Sunny started Flexible Homes in 2020, just after the State and Federal governments injected money into the industry in the form of generous grants to customers. They resigned as directors on February 2, 2023.

Liquidator Kim Wallman said the company may have been insolvent “from at least 1 July 2022” and that it had liabilities of almost $700,000.

Housing Industry Association WA executive director Michael McGowan called for the regulator to get more resources to help rid the industry of cowboys.

“There are builders out there that aren’t doing the right thing and do tarnish the reputation of the industry,” he said.

This is the hidden content, please

• Sign In
• or
• Sign Up

#Flexible #Homes #Rogue #building #company #directors #fined #misleading #conduct

This is the hidden content, please

• Sign In
• or
• Sign Up

This is the hidden content, please

• Sign In
• or
• Sign Up