Developer collapse leaves residents of faulty unit blocks stranded and facing repair bills of $250k each
Topless Goes Into Administration Defective Homeowners and Residents Face Uncertain Future in At Least One Project Have you been left stranded by Topless? Email tips@dailymail.com
Hundreds of residents and young families living in a unit block have been left reeling after the developer who built the complex broke ground with serious defects.
Topless went into voluntary administration on Friday, a day after its founder, accused fraudster and fugitive Jean Nassif, was banned from operating in NSW.
The company is left with a series of outstanding liabilities, including several large unfinished projects and at least three active building modification orders.
The NSW Building Commissioner last week issued an emergency rectification order for the 80-unit block of Vicinity Apartments in Canterbury, south-west of Sydney.
The commissioner warned that inadequate beams and support columns could render the building ‘uninhabitable’ or cause it to collapse.
Young parents Michael and Jenna Jones are among worried homeowners who now face an uncertain future.
Michael and Jenna Jones (pictured with their two daughters) are homeowners at Vicinity Apartments, a topless development that has been issued with an emergency rectification order.
‘We really didn’t think it would happen to us,’ Ms Jones told Sunrise on Wednesday.
‘We are two young professionals. This is our home and it is not our investment property either.
‘The cost of living, how many times the interest rate, and now it’s like having a second mortgage and it’s really crippling.’
‘We thought there were enough safeguards when buying something like an apartment but apparently not. We’re really trying to figure out what’s around the corner for us.’
The couple issued an emotional appeal to Topless founder Mr Nassif, who is believed to have fled overseas and is wanted by NSW Police on fraud-related charges.
‘It’s everyday people. We work really hard for our money and there should be justice,’ said Mrs Jones.
‘Have mercy on us and those you have deceived and taken advantage of.
Residents of Vicinity Apartments in Sydney’s south-west (pictured) are among hundreds of families affected by the collapse of development company Topless.
The Jones family hopes justice will prevail against Topless founder Jean Nassif (pictured with his wife, Nissie).
The couple feel let down by building regulators and are calling for more to be done to prevent this from happening again in the future.
‘It used to be a government regulated body, the building industry, but now it’s self-regulated, which is just crazy,’ Mr Jones said.
‘We need to be in a regulated industry where the people who sign off on the buildings are not paid by the people who are building the buildings.
‘They need to be regulated by the government and it needs to be insured by the government.’
A structural engineer put the cost of repairing the building at between $50 million and $100 million, a bill of about $240,000 per owner.
Vicinity Apartments is hailed on the Topplace website as a stylish and modern residential apartment building on the banks of the Cooks River in Canterbury – a thriving new hub in the inner west.
DVT Group’s Anthony Resnick and Sullen McCallum were appointed voluntary administrators for the building arm of Topless last Friday.
Mr. Resnick said it was too early to estimate how much money was owed to creditors or how many apartment owners were affected.
‘There is a number [of projects] At various stages, and owning lots of land,’ he said, ‘it has not yet been decided whether these will be completed by the administrators or sold.’
Creditors are expected to meet for the first time next week.
Apartment owners in nearby buildings are among those who fear the topless collapse