![The Crownview site in June, 2022, just six months before the first run-in with the Building Commissioner. The Crownview site in June, 2022, just six months before the first run-in with the Building Commissioner.](/images/transform/v1/crop/frm/4FavSveeQdYEHssZq5umRQ/b5265973-ba93-4bc2-803d-8b73678607a2.png/r0_0_1192_768_w1200_h678_fmax.jpg)
Some Crownview buyers are being blocked from getting their deposit back due to a loophole in their original deposit.
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And the Department of Fair Trading said there might not be anything a buyer can do, short of legal action.
Building contracts will include what is called a "sunset date", which means a buyer can reclaim their deposit if they haven't moved in by that set date.
But Crownview owner Robert Huang has inserted a clause in some contracts that allows him to repeatedly extend the sunset date - and the buyers can do nothing to stop him.
The Mercury has seen the contract clause in question - point three in clause 37.5. It just relies on Mr Huang's architects - Sydney firm Urban Link - supplying a letter stating changing the sunset date is okay.
"The parties agree that a certificate by the vendor's architect in relation to an extension of the sunset date is final and conclusive and binding on the parties," the clause states.
Thanks to this clause one buyer has had the sunset date pushed back twice.
On December 12, 2022 - just days before the Building Commissioner David Chandler issued the first of many orders, this one relating to a "serious defect" in the basement - the date was extended to August 30, 2023.
When that date came and went with no-one able to move in, another letter was sent out stating the sunset date had been moved 12 months further away to July 25, 2024.
Since August 30, 2023, a stop work order, a building rectification order and a second prohibition order have been issued against Crownview.
But neither of the letters provided by Urban Link specifically mentions these faults. The first, days before the serious defect became public knowledge, the justification was "inclement weather".
The Urban Link letter of August 22, 2023, justifying the second extension said the builders had told them they'd "encountered issues arising from the Covid-19 pandemic, supply chain issues, changes to the compliance requirements by NSW State Government, and the scope of the remedial works".
Both letters claim "the above delays are beyond the company's control" - a necessary caveat to trigger the extension of the sunset clause.
The Fair Trading Department said developers were allowed to extend the sunset date on a development, though that provision had to be included in the original contract signed by the buyer.
That contract may also include the number of times a sunset date could be extended, and a developer had to give reasons for any extension.
There is the potential avenue for a buyer to challenge the reasons given for the extension, as they have to be reasonable and acceptable.
Mr Huang was contacted for comment.