Porter Davis customers excluded from web information session

Clients of homebuilder Porter Davis were left furious when they were locked out of an online session that informed clients that they would not get their deposits back.

Enraged tradesmen have also been accused of torching the company’s unfinished homes, as experts warned that more than half of the industry could go under.

The frightening forecast emerged from a summit held on Tuesday with representatives from the construction industry by Victorian state opposition leader John Pesutto.

Liquidators Grant Thornton hosted a morning webinar for Porter Davis clients on the same day, who immediately ran into trouble when the meeting reached capacity of 1,000 logins – despite the builder having 1,700 unfinished homes in Victoria and Queensland.

Angry customers took to social media to express their frustration.

“With many of us unable to participate in this prank of a webinar… it would be nice if people participating could provide some information,” one person wrote on Facebook.

“Good to see the liquidator can’t even host a webinar for us to get into, very poor,” wrote another.

During the session, curator Said Jahani acknowledged customers’ frustration but urged them to be patient, saying Grant Thornton should know within a week if Porter Davis would be sold.

The plan was to find a builder or builders who could step in and take over contracts, Mr Jahani said.

“The reality is we just don’t have the luxury of letting this process drag on for weeks or months,” he said.

Liquidators hoped to get clients’ homes built faster than going through insurers, with both Queensland and Victoria having state-backed guarantee insurance.

But there was no guarantee that the process could be speeded up, Mr Jahani said, and some people don’t have the insurance in the first place.

They fell into a gap between paying a deposit to Porter Davis and not having an insurance policy until weeks or months later when a license was obtained, Mr Jahani said.

“In the extreme case, it means you have no insurance coverage and you lose the deposit you paid,” he said.

“But as I said, we’re trying to work with the Victorian Managed Insurance Authority and the Queensland Building and Construction Commission to see if there’s an alternative solution there.”

In general, it was not possible for customers to get their deposit back and switch to another builder, Mr Jahani said.

Porter Davis also owned clients’ plans and designs as part of his intellectual property.

“We are looking into whether there is an opportunity to allow clients access to their plans so that they can at least complete their home,” Mr Jahani said.

Liquidators would investigate whether Porter Davis acted while insolvent and whether that meant mishandling by clients, Mr Jahani said.

About 240 clients have properties that are essentially ready for delivery and liquidators have been looking for a quick fix for the remaining work and certificate of occupancy.

Remaining customers whose homes have not yet started or are in a lock-up phase should look for other builders, Mr Jahani said.

He condemned contractors entering sites without written permission and said the house-demolition was in fact aimed at his clients.

Grant Thornton has several times warned suppliers and contractors of criminal liability for unauthorized access to the site.

Reports have also circulated of builders targeting Porter Davis homes, with a home engulfed in flames in Melbourne’s south-east on Monday.

It took firefighters 40 minutes on Monday to bring the blaze at Andante Crescent in Clyde under control.

The police are investigating.

A witness told the Announce sun they believed the fire was started by an angry subcontractor and perhaps hoped it would spread to the Porter Davis homes on either side of the burned property.

“The stress related to Porter Davis going out of business is already too much for these clients and now additional destruction from angry subcontractors, it’s just unfair,” Ms Brown said.

On Friday, a near-complete house belonging to Porter Davis was set on fire in the Riverfield housing development in Clyde.

Firefighters desperately tried to save the house, but the flames had already taken hold on the roof and much of it collapsed.

Police launched an investigation into the mysterious fire after witnesses said a man entered the property shortly before the fire broke out.

“Porter Davis’ house at a near-closed stage just burned down,” a neighbor said in video footage of the gutted house posted to social media.

“I’m so sorry if this is your house. A neighbor reportedly saw someone enter before it caught fire.

“I really hope this wasn’t on purpose because that is absolutely devastating. Another blow to a Porter Davis customer who is already suffering.

‘This escalates.’

Victoria Police said detectives were on the hunt for a suspected arsonist.

There has been a spate of attacks on Porter Davis homes after the builder cut off payments to subcontractors.

One owner estimated that subcontractors caused $50,000 worth of damage to her home in Berwick, south-east Melbourne, by deliberately running the bathroom and kitchen faucets.

This flooded the property with more than three inches of water and the vandals also scratched and cut open the doors and walls with a knife or key.

The woman said she notified police after another Porter Davis home in the area suffered similar damage the same night.

There were numerous other reports of Porter Davies properties being targeted by vandals, with the windows of three buildings in a block being smashed.

Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews, meanwhile, encouraged customers abandoned by the Porter Davis to contact the VMIA, but noted that compulsory insurance was limited to $500,000.

Authorities were looking for a cost escalation clause to change this, he said.

The prime minister said reports that Porter Davis lured customers with significant discounts when the company did not expect it to be able to honor contracts were “disturbing”.

Authorities would look into the matter and it was important that people act in good faith, he said.

Following the Victorian opposition’s summit on the future of the construction industry, a task force is being set up to address the issues facing the industry.

It will be chaired by Jess Wilson, spokeswoman for the shadow house property.