Victims criticise CMC report

John Biles of the collapsed companies Coral Coast Homes and Steelsmart Homes.

HOMEOWNERS left out of pocket by the collapse of Coral Coast Homes and Steelsmart Homes have criticised a report by the Crime and Misconduct Commission, saying it did not investigate the matter fully.

At a public meeting hosted by Member for Burnett Rob Messenger on Thursday night, the former customers tallied the information they had against the report’s findings.

“When we went through the report line by line, it became clear that the figures did not correspond with the information that we have,” Mr Messenger said.

The report states the Building Services Authority only received three complaints from creditors of Coral Coast Homes between November 2008 and April 2009, but Mr Messenger believed more should have been registered.

“It appears that Steelsmart Homes was not investigated at all, and if that is the case, it is a problem that needs to be rectified because there are so many victims who have lost hundreds of thousands of dollars to Steelsmart.

“It also needs to be made clear whether tradespeople’s complaints were investigated,” Mr Messenger said.

He said he would ask questions on notice to Minister for Public Works Robert Schwarten about the investigation, including the credentials and background of the independent investigator who wrote the report.

Former Coral Coast Homes customer David Kapp said he was still out of pocket thousands of dollars that would not be covered by the BSA’s Statutory Home Warranty Insurance Scheme, and he wanted the matter investigated fully.

“Even though there is a question mark over whether it is a rigorous report, it’s amazing that it has found so many faults with the BSA’s record-keeping, legislation and staffing arrangements.

“It has swept too much under the table and under the carpet — the investigator hasn’t interviewed any of the customers,” he said.