Landholders in Carver’s Reach say they have been forced to terminate contracts after the developer went into receivership.
Developer Golden Gate shut its doors after it went into administration on December 16 – almost two years after first settlements were made.
The lodgement application, attained from ASIC, reports that the company’s financial troubles were underscored by a $554.79 bank balance.
The contractor for sales and marketing at Carver’s Reach, Oliver Hume, said it was discussing a path forward with the administrator in relation to future land sales.
Marcus Watters from Hall Chadwick is the administrator.
This paper contacted Mr Watter’s solicitor for comment on the future of Carver’s Reach and how many buyers have been impacted, but they had not yet responded by close of business Friday.
Maps taken from the Carver’s Reach website show that most unfinished homes and blocks that are yet to be built on are situated between stages four and six of the estate.
About 188 blocks are within that vicinity. The online map has these blocks marked as either sold or as having a deposit placed on them.
A Metricon sales representative at the estate said they were not aware that Golden Gate had gone into receivership. They also said they are preparing for the next land release unless directed otherwise.
Red Tape Buster Shane Bowering said these kinds of situations are “legal nightmares”. Speaking of similar scenarios, he said even if someone pays a building deposit, the chance of construction starting on that property is unlikely because there is not the legal ground for it to happen.
“Often what it comes down to is there’s no one legally standing behind the job that you can sue if something goes wrong,” he said.
Some people who have paid deposits on blocks from the stage six land release have reported receiving a letter from Thynne Macartney notifying them of the situation.
The letter said: “Our client has reached the above decision as quickly as reasonably possible, acknowledging the buyer can now accept the repudiation of the contract, terminate the contract and call for return of any deposit paid before our client’s appointment.”
According to the letter, residents were given until 5pm on February 21 to notify how they would like to proceed with their deposits.
Three weeks ago, Riley, whose real name is withheld because he is considering legal action, found out about the situation and received the letter.
“From what I’m hearing from others there’s literally nothing we can do about a company going into liquidation,” he said.
“The receiver also would not accept our deposit and only gave us the option to terminate our contract, which we did on Monday [last week] in fear of losing our deposit if we did not accept.”
Riley had bought a 400 sqm block of land that cost $232,000 early last year. At the time he found out, he said he was in the process of applying for an extension on his finance due date after the cost of his land increased by $6,000.
“Now, my family is stuck looking for land, which is near impossible to find in the area due to land prices reaching more than $300,000,” he said.
“I’m embarrassed and it wasn’t even our fault.”
