Dishonest people using their deceitful ways to cheat vulnerable people happens too often!

CHAT SESSION 10 with Tess

Topic- Financially Fucked Over!

1pm Monday 3rd July 2023 https://rppfm.com.au/

Catch up and listen to our chat https://megaphone.link/LCRUI4689399411

Tess a single mother of two teenage children and has been financially supporting her family for seventeen years. As her children grew older, so did their family needs.

Their fifty-year-old family home needed repairs and a bit of a facelift so Tess decided to source out a builder to renovate the home to accommodate her growing family.

Tess thought long and hard as she knew it was going to be a costly project. She did years of research and got advice from several designers and builders gathering all the information she required. She wanted the renovations to go as smoothly as possible and put a lot of consideration into her decision.

The first step to appoint a designer to draft up drawings and costings was set in motion. It turned out to be a very costly process. When Tess received an estimated costing for the renovations, she went to the bank to re-mortgage her home to fund the project. Being a one wage household with dependents is stressful when it comes to finances so when Tess dealt with the bank to borrow extra funds it wasn’t easy.

In the meantime, prior to getting finance approved Tess organised to meet with a few different builders. When discussing the renovations, Tess noticed some of the men

talked down to her and would belittle her undermining the knowledge she had regarding the building industry. Tess also noticed some of the builders were intimidated by her when responding to some of their suggestions. On top of that, the renovation quotes varied with price differences of up to $150,000.00 which seemed extreme!

Finally, Tess got her finance approved. She was excited and nervous at the same time. She heard disaster stories from people who had previously done home renovations, and was expecting setbacks, but armed with knowledge from years of research she felt confident to proceed with the plan to renovate her home.

With a little more research, Tess decided to appoint a builder and hired someone who she was led to believe was a reputable and honest man. But, after the first month of renovations, Tess noticed some odd quirks with how the builder was progressing on the job. However, she put her trust in him, remained calm and assured herself that he was the right bloke for the job.

Most days Tess would be at work whilst the builder progressed on the home renovations and although she had some concerns, Tess did not complain. She didn’t want to cause any issues or have any conflict or hostility imposed upon her, or her children, so she allowed the builder to continue working.

What didn’t sit well with Tess was when the builder began to address her by pet names like “darling” and “honey” or when her children would overhear him complaining about the workload due to the kids participating in online learning at home during 2021 lockdown.

Living in their family home whilst the renovations were being undertaken also became a safety hazard. Addressing her concerns to the builder went unnoticed and he continued to assure her that everything and everyone was safe. But, Tess believed that extra precautions needed to be put in place. Although, that did not happen!

One weekend, Tess was having friends and family over when she noticed some sharp debris, screws, and nails scattered around the backyard. This was an obvious safety hazard -especially when younger children would visit and play outdoors. Tess politely mentioned her concerns to the builder once again. He responded by rudely commanding her to “[not] use [his] worksite as a playground”. After hearing this, Tess knew she was in trouble.

As time went on, Tess and her children would continue to hear things coming out of the builder’s mouth that would not sit right with them. They also witnessed his unethical and undermining behaviour. Tess approached him multiple times about her concerns and the builder would mockingly tell her to “relax”! Initially, Tess tried to take his advice, but relaxing wasn’t an option. Her stress and anxiety set in and she began to feel extremely intimidated, and disrespected.

Tess continued to notice poor workmanship around the house. There were sections of tiles shoddily placed out of line, wooden steps in the veranda were splintered, and split, and the roof leaked. Once again, she brought these concerns up with the builder only to be spoken to in a condescending manner. He would often use harsh language and yell at Tess repeatedly saying. “I don’t answer to anyone”. As time went on the builder’s behaviour toward Tess and her children continued to be hostile. Tess was concerned for her children, so she told them to avoid him. They felt very uncomfortable and scared in their own home. On top of that, the builder littered her home with cigarette butts and empty coke cans.

The renovations, which Tess was assured would take 3 months, ended up taking 8 months to complete. Truth was, Tess wanted the builder out of her home.

Tess dealt with the immediate damage to the home herself and was left $13,000.00 with of out-of-pocket expenses. After compiling and providing the builder with a list of over one hundred defects he had left her with, he rebutted by denying the entire list, claiming there were no defects. Tess had no choice but to take the matter to VCAT. She informed the builder of this, and he replied, “do not bother wasting your time”.

The first step of the VCAT process was mediation before proceedings started. The

builder refused to participate in mediation and was right in saying that Tess shouldn’t have bothered going to VCAT because as it turned out, the builder knew exactly how to manipulate the system to free himself of all accountabilities.

The VCAT mediation hearing was a mess! Although the builder initially agreed to a payout figure of $40,000.00 to be paid to Tess, to put the matter to bed, within 10mins he reneged on the offer. No idea why but for some reason he thought he was getting the payout. Seriously, what was he thinking?

Tess was advised to get an expert building inspection defect report with costing estimates written in accordance with the building practice. This report is recognized by the court when dealing with VCAT proceedings. The report cost Tess over $6,000.00 to be prepared. Although she could not afford to have it done, Tess had no choice. She was told that these documents would help to support her case.

When Tess got the report back, she was in shock. The total estimated cost to fix the defects came to nearly $80,000.00. That’s almost double what she had previously asked the builder for as a settlement price. Tess submitted the report to VCAT, and the builder, along with the “Point of Claim” - which included most of the out-of-pocket costs she had to endure, and in total the claim was $91,000.

The next stage of the proceedings with VCAT was the directions hearing, which turned into a shit-show, yet again. Tess was left in a ray of disbelief when the builder announced that he had declared bankruptcy. This put the proceedings into a stage that is called “stayed”, where for the case to proceed, Tess must get an order from the Federal Court. She is given two weeks to submit the orders. If she does not proceed with the order the case will be considered “struck out”, which means closed.

In conclusion, the builder received the expert report, declared bankruptcy to get away with being accountable for his errors but, ironically can continue to work. And, in three years, he can start up another business!

Left speechless and in shock, Tess is emotionally and financially broken. Whenever she tells family and friends about the setback she has endured, she is inconsolable. At this stage she can’t afford to get legal advice or pursue the matter further. This situation leaves her and the family at a standstill living in a defective home that needs a lot of repairs.

It’s almost two years since Tess began her claim and to date there have been no solutions to the mess she is left with. Tess and her family are devastated with the outcome.

‘Financially’ fucked over, heartbroken and in debt, Tess has no hope, or faith in the court system.

Tess is grateful to have the love and support of her two beautiful children and says they are the reason she gets up each day and hopes for a better tomorrow.

My hope is that when you’re looking at yourself in the

‘The Daily Mirror’

YOU SMILE

EMBRACE BEING YOU

AND FIND 10 MINUTES IN YOUR DAY TO NOURISH YOUR SOUL!

To get in touch with Cathy email smileinthedailymirror@gmail.com

'The Daily Mirror' acknowledges Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people as the Traditional Custodians of the land and acknowledges and pays respect to their Elders, past and present.