However, Greulich reported he was unemployed.
Andreas Goetz claimed Greulich’s explanation was accepted without question, allowing the builder to “walk away” from the debt.
However, Greulich told the Herald he provided proof to the Official Assignee he had no income and denied moving financial assets to avoid repayments.
He claimed the Goetzes were out to “destroy” him.
Andreas and Anna Goetz say they moved into their new home without a working toilet, in a bid to get the place finished by themselves after their builders failed to finish the job. Photo / Supplied
The saga is part of a six-year “construction nightmare” that Goetz said had left his family $1 million poorer and on the brink of having the bank seize their home.
“It sends a message that [the Official Assignee] has no teeth to manage bad debtors,” Goetz said.
“And they can easily continue causing more financial waste and harm to everyone without consequence.”
Lobby group NZ Initiative said the case is a textbook example of a “structurally broken” system. It is calling for a law change to make it harder for companies to rack up substantial debts and then fail to pay creditors.
Mike Greulich claims the Goetz family are out to “destroy” his reputation after a failed home build. Photo / Supplied
Six years, multiple builders, and one meal a day
The Goetzes’ saga began six years ago when they bought land in Ōrewa to build a passive house – homes constructed to rigorous standards so they have ultra-low energy costs and need little to no heating or cooling.
Early on, the couple became embroiled in delays and cost overruns, while simultaneously battling an unrelated leaky building crisis in an Onehunga apartment they owned.
The couple said the stress and financial strain was enormous.
At their lowest point during an 18-month stint, they were so short of money they limited themselves to one meal a day to ensure there was enough food for their two young sons.
Late last year, Anna battled and recovered from breast cancer, while the family said needless construction and legal costs left them struggling to pay their mortgage.
Andreas and Anna Goetz say their house-build project quickly became embroiled in delays and cost overruns. Photo / Supplied
Builder signed personal guarantee but it wasn’t enough
The couple engaged Greulich’s company, Izodom Homes, in 2021 to build their specialist house.
However, they claim the project spiralled into missed milestones and construction errors over the next two years.
In early 2023, with the build stalling and the couple desperate to finish before their second son was born, they took the unusual step of lending $120,000 to Greulich’s company on the condition he personally guaranteed the debt.
With Anna Goetz being a lawyer, the couple believed they’d taken the “gold standard” step to ensure the build was completed.
When Greulich’s company failed to finish the job or repay the loan, the Goetzes took him to court.
In a February 2024 decision, Judge Mary-Beth Sharp criticised the builder, saying Greulich’s evidence “lacked credibility” and offered no real defence.
By October, the debt had risen to more than $152,000 when the Goetzes secured a court order that Greulich pay $500 per week to the couple from his wages at a Wellington building company.
For a few weeks, $500 was sent to the Goetzes, with the family recovering $3950.
Greulich then declared he was bankrupt in December 2024, a move that froze the $500 payments.
The Official Assignee ordered him to resume the $500 weekly payments in early 2025, but the builder responded that he was unemployed and the payments stopped for good.
The Goetzes wrote to Official Assignee staff urging them to enforce payments, alleging in emails they believed Greulich was working for a company now in his ex-wife’s name and hiding his income.
But Assignee staff said there was nothing they could do under the law.
“Mr Greulich is presently unemployed. It is therefore no longer appropriate to proceed,” an insolvency team leader told the couple in a June 2025 email.
Goetz said he believed the Official Assignee had “no teeth” or interest in pursuing justice.
The family’s Ōrewa home during construction. Photo / Supplied
‘Out to destroy me’: Builder’s defence
Greulich told the Herald he was the one who had been “ruined” by the Ōrewa project.
He claimed he spent $85,000 of his own money as well as a $60,000 company overdraft trying to finish the Goetz build.
Covid-19 lockdowns and mistakes by other builders were the project’s failures, he said.
The build had been negotiated at a fixed price but when building materials and costs spiked “40%” after pandemic delays, he claimed the Goetzes wouldn’t renegotiate the price.
Then, because he was based in Wellington, Greulich said he engaged other builders to complete the project. It was their mistakes that caused further delays and cost overruns, he said.
Greulich claimed he was pressured to sign the personal guarantee for the extra $120,000, something his now ex-wife went “ballistic” at him for.
He denied working for his ex-wife’s company. He claimed he asked the Official Assignee if he could do so in a bid to make “structured repayments”, but was declined.
However, his ex-wife was supporting him financially, “including covering rent, living expenses, and care for my dogs”, he said.
Greulich said he sent documents to the Official Assignee proving that after the $500 per week payments, he did not have enough left for rent and food.
The bankruptcy made it difficult to get hired as a building manager, he said.
“He ruined my whole life,” Greulich said of Goetz and his current unemployment.
“I haven’t done it on purpose, not to pay him. I did it because I couldn’t any more.”
More recently the Official Assignee had granted him permission to “operate as a sole trader under accountant supervision” and he was now seeking new projects.
Asked about the 2024 District Court decision, Greulich said he had been disadvantaged as he had no money for the case, while Anna Goetz was an experienced lawyer.
Kelly Serrant, regional manager of the Government’s Insolvency and Trustee Service, said the Official Assignee acted impartially, according to the law, and was monitoring the case.
However, she could not comment on specifics for privacy reasons.
The family are trying to build to rigorous standards known as passive house design.
Photo / Supplied
‘Structurally broken’: Calls for law change
The Goetzes’ struggle is not isolated.
Oliver Hartwich, executive director of business-funded lobby NZ Initiative, claimed hundreds of millions of dollars were left owing annually to families, tradies and the tax department.
He sent a personal email to the Goetzes, saying their case was a textbook example of a “structurally broken” system.
He and others are lobbying Parliament for changes to Companies Act laws, saying directors need to be forced to put their firms into liquidation quicker, before piling up debts.
“The system allows the builder to walk away while families and trades continue to carry the consequences,” Hartwich wrote.
A ‘legacy’ of fairer laws
Despite the challenges, the Goetzes said they had survived through positivity and friends who volunteered help and food vouchers.
Andreas Goetz learned to plaster and waterproof the house himself to get the project nearer completion.
The couple hope their struggle will help create fairer laws and wanted Greulich’s bankruptcy to be extended beyond its current expiry in 2027, until he repaid the loan.
“If we can change the laws, then that would be my legacy,” Goetz said.