However, Greulich reported he was unemployed.<\/p>\n
Andreas Goetz claimed Greulich\u2019s explanation was accepted without question, allowing the builder to \u201cwalk away\u201d from the debt.<\/p>\n
However, Greulich told the Herald he provided proof to the Official Assignee he had no income and denied moving financial assets to avoid repayments.<\/p>\n
He claimed the Goetzes were out to \u201cdestroy\u201d him.<\/p>\n
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<\/p>\n
The saga is part of a six-year \u201cconstruction nightmare\u201d that Goetz said had left his family $1 million poorer and on the brink of having the bank seize their home.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt sends a message that [the Official Assignee] has no teeth to manage bad debtors,\u201d Goetz said. <\/p>\n
\u201cAnd they can easily continue causing more financial waste and harm to everyone without consequence.\u201d<\/p>\n
Lobby group NZ Initiative said the case is a textbook example of a \u201cstructurally broken\u201d 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. <\/p>\n
Mike Greulich claims the Goetz family are out to “destroy” his reputation after a failed home build. Photo \/ Supplied<\/p>\n
Six years, multiple builders, and one meal a day<\/p>\n
The Goetzes\u2019 saga began six years ago when they bought land in \u014crewa to build a passive house \u2013 homes constructed to rigorous standards so they have ultra-low energy costs and need little to no heating or cooling.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
The couple said the stress and financial strain was enormous.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
Andreas and Anna Goetz say their house-build project quickly became embroiled in delays and cost overruns. Photo \/ Supplied<\/p>\n
Builder signed personal guarantee but it wasn\u2019t enough<\/p>\n
The couple engaged Greulich\u2019s company, Izodom Homes, in 2021 to build their specialist house.<\/p>\n
However, they claim the project spiralled into missed milestones and construction errors over the next two years.<\/p>\n
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\u2019s company on the condition he personally guaranteed the debt.<\/p>\n
With Anna Goetz being a lawyer, the couple believed they\u2019d taken the \u201cgold standard\u201d step to ensure the build was completed.<\/p>\n
When Greulich\u2019s company failed to finish the job or repay the loan, the Goetzes took him to court. <\/p>\n
In a February 2024 decision, Judge Mary-Beth Sharp criticised the builder, saying Greulich\u2019s evidence \u201clacked credibility\u201d and offered no real defence.<\/p>\n
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. <\/p>\n
For a few weeks, $500 was sent to the Goetzes, with the family recovering $3950.<\/p>\n
Greulich then declared he was bankrupt in December 2024, a move that froze the $500 payments.<\/p>\n
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. <\/p>\n
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\u2019s name and hiding his income.<\/p>\n
But Assignee staff said there was nothing they could do under the law.<\/p>\n
\u201cMr Greulich is presently unemployed. It is therefore no longer appropriate to proceed,\u201d an insolvency team leader told the couple in a June 2025 email.<\/p>\n
Goetz said he believed the Official Assignee had \u201cno teeth\u201d or interest in pursuing justice.<\/p>\n
The family’s \u014crewa home during construction. Photo \/ Supplied<\/p>\n
\u2018Out to destroy me\u2019: Builder\u2019s defence<\/p>\n
Greulich told the Herald he was the one who had been \u201cruined\u201d by the \u014crewa project.<\/p>\n
He claimed he spent $85,000 of his own money as well as a $60,000 company overdraft trying to finish the Goetz build.<\/p>\n
Covid-19 lockdowns and mistakes by other builders were the project\u2019s failures, he said.<\/p>\n
The build had been negotiated at a fixed price but when building materials and costs spiked \u201c40%\u201d after pandemic delays, he claimed the Goetzes wouldn\u2019t renegotiate the price.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
Greulich claimed he was pressured to sign the personal guarantee for the extra $120,000, something his now ex-wife went \u201cballistic\u201d at him for.<\/p>\n
He denied working for his ex-wife\u2019s company. He claimed he asked the Official Assignee if he could do so in a bid to make \u201cstructured repayments\u201d, but was declined. <\/p>\n
However, his ex-wife was supporting him financially, \u201cincluding covering rent, living expenses, and care for my dogs\u201d, he said.<\/p>\n
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. <\/p>\n
The bankruptcy made it difficult to get hired as a building manager, he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe ruined my whole life,\u201d Greulich said of Goetz and his current unemployment. <\/p>\n
\u201cI haven\u2019t done it on purpose, not to pay him. I did it because I couldn\u2019t any more.\u201d<\/p>\n
More recently the Official Assignee had granted him permission to \u201coperate as a sole trader under accountant supervision\u201d and he was now seeking new projects.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
Kelly Serrant, regional manager of the Government\u2019s Insolvency and Trustee Service, said the Official Assignee acted impartially, according to the law, and was monitoring the case.<\/p>\n
However, she could not comment on specifics for privacy reasons.<\/p>\n
The family are trying to build to rigorous standards known as passive house design.
\nPhoto \/ Supplied<\/p>\n
\u2018Structurally broken\u2019: Calls for law change<\/p>\n
The Goetzes\u2019 struggle is not isolated.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
He sent a personal email to the Goetzes, saying their case was a textbook example of a \u201cstructurally broken\u201d system.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe system allows the builder to walk away while families and trades continue to carry the consequences,\u201d Hartwich wrote.<\/p>\n
A \u2018legacy\u2019 of fairer laws<\/p>\n
Despite the challenges, the Goetzes said they had survived through positivity and friends who volunteered help and food vouchers.<\/p>\n
Andreas Goetz learned to plaster and waterproof the house himself to get the project nearer completion. <\/p>\n
The couple hope their struggle will help create fairer laws and wanted Greulich\u2019s bankruptcy to be extended beyond its current expiry in 2027, until he repaid the loan.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf we can change the laws, then that would be my legacy,\u201d Goetz said. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"However, Greulich reported he was unemployed. Andreas Goetz claimed Greulich\u2019s explanation was accepted without question, allowing the builder…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":344157,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[183486,16891,51,6133,8988,5842,1121,12974,10712,5399,156,2109,209,1345,185,8307,12472,72832,11556,2225,111,139,69,31899,3111,5256,17096,16860,3271,6642,120910,165,61,53910,27037,4276],"class_list":["post-344156","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-entertainment","tag-183486","tag-able","tag-auckland","tag-bankruptcy","tag-builder","tag-calling","tag-case","tag-change","tag-claiming","tag-debt","tag-entertainment","tag-family","tag-group","tag-home","tag-is","tag-law","tag-laws","tag-lobby","tag-losing","tag-loss","tag-new-zealand","tag-newzealand","tag-nz","tag-opt","tag-out","tag-overhaul","tag-paying","tag-reform","tag-should","tag-tells","tag-textbook","tag-their","tag-to","tag-verge","tag-weak","tag-why"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/344156","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=344156"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/344156\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/344157"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=344156"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=344156"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=344156"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}