Builder Mike Harris was persuasive.

In March last year, he told Tony* and his wife that if they wanted their major renovation to get underway, they needed to pay $140,000 in costs outside their contract so he could quickly buy building supplies.


"He really, really led us to believe that it was critical to lock in prices for those materials and to lock in trades and timing, which was exciting for us at the time," Tony said.


Mr Harris assured them the job would be "done by the end of last year", Tony said.

But when the ABC visited the couple's Melbourne property last week, Tony was standing in a gutted house littered with construction debris and the back half ripped off — a skeleton of the planned two-storey rear extension jutting into the sky.

Tony said Mr Harris's company, MJ Harris group, only bought $900 worth of supplies.

He regrets signing with the company and paying the money.

"It's been the single-handed most devastating event in our entire lives so far," he said.
"We are hanging on by a thread and we are now unfortunately in a position where we can't afford to finish our dream home that we've spent years and years planning for and building.

"So yeah, it's been very tough."


The couple are among more than a dozen customers of MJ Harris Group — a building company run by Diamond Creek painter Mike Harris in Melbourne's outer north-east — who have been left significantly out of pocket since the company went into administration last week.

Many are furious that the company was able to trade for as long as it did, despite massive debts, many unfinished projects, court orders against it for unpaid wages and complaints to building regulators.

No building licence​

Tony and his partner have severed ties with Mr Harris. The couple's renovation has been taken over by another builder.

This builder's licence number was on official paperwork for the job, but incorrectly attributed to MJ Harris Group.

The couple didn't realise when they signed up with MJ Harris Group that Mr Harris didn't have a building licence.


"We only found out that he wasn't a registered builder after we'd signed the contract," Tony said.

The regulator, the Building and Plumbing Commission, said neither Mr Harris nor MJ Harris Group had ever been registered as a builder in Victoria.

"The BPC is investigating allegations that Michael J. Harris undertook building work without being registered in circumstances when registration was required," a spokesperson said.

But the project remains in limbo as the couple struggle to come up with the money needed to finish it off and face problems with the plans that mean fresh planning approval might be needed.

Customers chase Harris leading to collapse​

Rebecca* signed up with MJ Harris Group to design a major home renovation in July last year.

She said Mr Harris struck her as "very engaging [and] really high energy".

"I thought, 'This guy is on the same page as me. He is excited by his work. He knows his work.'"

She made payments totalling $25,000 on the $32,000 contract.


But she was surprised to get a bill from the company on December 17 — just a couple of weeks after she had paid one that she had been expecting.

The parties agreed to delay the payment until the new year.

But just after Christmas, two more invoices for the same amount arrived in short succession.

In retrospect, Rebecca thinks this shows "how desperate he was".

"I did feel pretty pressured and getting a fair bit of anxiety over it and I buckled to them,’ she said.
"I did feel like there was a sense of urgency."

She said another red flag was that she could not reach anyone at MJ Harris when it reopened in the new year, after the holiday break.

"[Mr Harris] finally answered my call. He said the girl working on interior design had left and he had already allocated a new girl to work on it," she said.

By May, she was still waiting on engineering work and made a complaint to Domestic Building Dispute Resolution Victoria (DBDRV).


She told the ABC that DBDRV indicated that Mr Harris was unlikely to attend conciliation meetings, so she took her complaint to the Victorian Civil and Administrative Appeals Tribunal in July.

A directions hearing is scheduled for mid-December — but in the meantime, MJ Harris Group has gone bust.

All Rebecca has to show for her $25,000 are some concept drawings and a 3D design file.

"I have nothing I can take to a builder," she said.
"I feel the building industry has far too many loopholes."

Paying for work that was never done​

The ABC has spoken to more than half a dozen MJ Harris Group customers who have similar stories about paying the company for work that was never done.

Another customer, Isabella Gualtieri, also took her dispute to the DBDRV without success.

She and her husband hired MJ Harris Group to renovate their home in Melbourne's north last April.

They paid $12,700 up-front and another instalment of $6,300 in December after receiving preliminary drawings.

But no work was done and, in May this year, the couple learned that two of Mr Harris's previous companies, MJ Harris Carpentry and MJ Harris Painting, had gone into administration.

"Mike later admitted this but reassured us our project would continue under his 'downsized' business," Ms Gualtieri said in her statement to DBDRV.

The carpentry business alone owed customers, suppliers and staff more than $6 million and had assets worth just $160,000, a report to creditors shows.

Mr Harris agreed to pay about $115,000 to clear the debts in a deal that would have delivered creditors about two cents in the dollar.


But he failed to make the payments and the companies were liquidated.

The vast bulk of the multi-million-dollar figure was owed to the Australian Taxation Office (ATO) for unpaid taxes and superannuation.

The money remained owing despite an earlier agreement by Mr Harris that he personally was on the hook for the debt.

To resolve County Court proceedings against him in November last year, Mr Harris agreed to orders stating he was liable for $4.4 million in tax and superannuation owed by the two companies from as long ago as 2020.

Rebecca said the ATO should have done more to collect its money from Mr Harris.

"I'm angry at ATO for letting him off the hook — that is pretty crap to everyone who pays taxes," she said.

The ATO declined to comment.

Staff 'couldn't afford groceries'​

Staff at Mr Harris's businesses have also been left unpaid.

The ABC is aware of three workers who have taken legal action over unpaid wages and entitlements.

One of them, videographer Michael Potts, is owed $18,300.

The Magistrates Court has ordered MJ Harris Group to pay him the money but he told the ABC the company had not done so.

"It's extremely distressing because it's like you're going to a job that you're working 40 hours a week, and you're kind of just hoping that you're going to get paid," Mr Potts said.
"I couldn't afford to buy groceries. I couldn't pay my bills on time. I'm having to borrow money off my family."

Two other workers took Mr Harris's companies to the Federal Circuit Court over unpaid wages.

In one case, MJ Harris Carpentry was ordered to pay $9,500, while the other claim, for $18,000 against MJ Harris Group, was still on foot when the company collapsed last week.

Mr Harris provided a statement through his lawyer, Monica Allen of Blackbay Lawyers.

He blamed the "unprecedented pressures" of the COVID-19 pandemic for the business' woes.

"Despite our best efforts, the business was ultimately unable to recover," he said.

"I am deeply sorry for the hardship this has caused to staff, clients and their families. I know the impact has been devastating for many, and that is something I carry heavily."

Money gone for good, clients say​

Now that it is in liquidation, workers owed money by MJ Harris Group have a chance to get some of what they are owed back through the federal government's Fair Entitlements Guarantee scheme.

But for suppliers and clients, the prospects are far less positive.

The clients the ABC spoke to expressed frustration at a slow legal system where it is hard to enforce orders made against the likes of Mr Harris and his companies.


Building law expert Matthew Bell, an associate professor of law at the University of Melbourne, told the ABC there was "a real access to justice issue when it comes to domestic building work".

He said disputes could be very complex and legal costs could quickly mount, raising the question of whether it was "worth it to throw good money after bad".

"Building a home or renovating a home is one of the biggest investments that we might ever make and yet we often don't have the same level of consumer protection we might have if we're buying a car or for that matter, even buying a toaster," he said.

Standing in the ruins of his dream home, Tony told the ABC the money he and his partner paid to MJ Harris Group was gone for good.

"At this point in time, we're not expecting to see any of our money back. We'd be really hopeful to see even five or 10 cents in the dollar."

* Names have been changed.

Written by Elise Kinsella and Ben Butler, ABC News.