UNLICENSED BUILDER FINED $15,000 AND ORDERED TO PAY $26,000 COMPENSATION

An unlicensed builder who traded falsely through company names including Instyle Developments and First Class Group NSW has been sentenced to a 12 month prison term for fraud and fined $15,000 for four Home Building Act offences and one Australian Consumer Law offence.

Michael Issa, of Greystanes, was also ordered to pay $26,000 compensation to two consumers, one from North Ryde and one from Baulkham Hills. Michael Issa’s crimes were described by the Magistrate as egregious.

Mr Issa has been in custody since 20 January this year and was released on probation on Thursday 31 March 2016, consistent with a sentence non-parole period of two months and 11 days.

Mr Issa dishonestly caused a financial disadvantage by entering into a building contract he had no intention of honouring and without the appropriate building licences or home warranty insurance. He extracted deposits from his consumers well in excess of the permissible 10 per cent of the total contract price for building contracts worth more than $20,000.

The victims included a consumer who was acting on behalf of her mother who is elderly and suffers from dementia, cancer and other chronic health conditions. The consumer is a full-time carer for her mother and resides with her. The consumer and her mother had finally saved enough money to commence renovations to the residential dwelling where they live.

Mr Issa lured his consumer into the contract by purporting to set out a scope of works he had no intention of undertaking and then took advantage of her by seeking several payments upfront without having commenced any work. When the consumer refused to pay him more money until work commenced and also requested a refund of the $15,000 she had already paid him, Mr Issa effectively vanished and his phone number was suddenly disconnected.  Mr Issa provided the consumer with a NSW Fair Trading standard building contract and pretended to have home warranty insurance.

The second of Mr Issa’s victims was pestered by him repeatedly for additional funds after he commenced renovations on her bathroom/laundry. The consumer paid him $11,000 before conducting a licence check and discovering he was a fraud. He failed to complete the majority of the works.

Fair Trading Commissioner Rod Stowe said Mr Issa’s behaviour has been fundamentally dishonest and evasive.

“He deceived people, he has so far refused to give victims their money back and he is a menace best avoided,” he said.

If you are contracting with a tradesperson where a licence is required, do a licence check at www.fairtrading.nsw.gov.au or call 13 32 20.

Mr Issa was introduced to both victims through a Service Seeking website that failed to do licence and background checks on him.