How Spencer Porter Ruined My Life
Hi I’m Monica. I’m a single mother with two teenage boys and I live in a property in rural New South Wales. Spencer Porter ruined my life.
In 2022 I decided to build a Tiny House on my property. I did some research and came across MyTinyHomeKit, owned by Spencer Porter. He offered me a generous discount of 50% if I paid the full amount in advance.
The cost was over $75,000 which represented almost all of my savings. I had to work for many years for that money, and he never gave me my tiny home.
If you feel you can help or share my GoFundMe page, it is greatly appreciated:
Choosing Spencer Porter and MyTinyHomeKit
I made a decision based on Spencer Porter’s promises and went to Melbourne to see what they were offering. Spencer told me I was one of his first customers and he needed the money in advance to pay for machinery to make the house frames.
Spencer Porter gave me a spiel about wanting to help solve Australia’s housing crisis, using some of the profits to help kids in Africa, and told me about his young family. He was very convincing.
Spencer and his salesperson Adam Sharp went over the entire house plans with me and I chose colours and materials. It was one of their larger homes, a two bedroom at 81 m².
MyTinyHomeKit and Spencer Porter’s Empty Promises
Spencer Porter and Adam Sharp promised me that the home would be delivered within three months and that they would arrange for installation on my property which was included in the price. They also said they would ensure that the home would be compliant and that they would help with any issues with getting approvals.
As soon as I paid the deposit, which was about $25,000 I started to have doubts. Spencer started calling me and was very pushy about paying the remaining balance, saying he was eager to get started on my job and telling me that my tiny house was not secured until I paid everything in full.
I went home and my uncertainty grew. I didn’t hear from Adam Sharp or Spencer Porter for quite a long time, so I started calling and emailing however I got very few replies and the replies I did get were meaningless.
Months of Hearing Nothing
I went ahead with my DA application and did the site preparation including earthworks and foundations. This also cost a considerable amount of money.
As the months went by, I became very worried and started to lose sleep. It affected my mental health.
Almost a year later, a friend with building experience stepped in to help. He went over the plans and started to try to clarify things with Spencer and push for delivery dates.
MyTinyHomeKit House Did Not Meet Regulations
It turned out that although the rendering I was showed had sliding doors at the front, the actual house was specified instead with large non-opening windows in the living room. The second bedroom also had no opening windows.
As I live in a hot climate, this was obviously unsuitable, however worse still, we discovered the house would not meet BASIX regulations and therefore the DA could not be approved with the current design.
We then contacted Spencer and MyTinyHomeKit by emails and said this must be a mistake, because we were assured the house would be compliant.
Spencer then said that the house has been specified with non-opening windows all along, which is not what he told me when I bought the house.
Spencer Porter Demands Additional Payments
Spencer then said it was going to be an additional $6,000 to change the windows in the living room to sliding glass doors, and the window in the bedroom to one which would open.
Due to the BASIX requirements, the window in the second bedroom had to be reduced in size. Spencer has made a great deal of noise about these changes, blaming them for delays in delivery, however the windows and doors had not even been ordered at that time, and the BASIX changes only required an additional two small pieces of house frame to be manufactured.
After a lot of complaints he agreed to split the cost 50/50 but demanded the additional $3000 upfront before they would continue working on my house. I paid this however felt very uncomfortable doing so. I feel I was forced into doing this as they said they would not do any additional work on my project unless this amount was paid upfront.
Some Framing Arrives
Over a year after paying the full amount upfront MyTinyHomeKit did deliver some of the steel framing.
Their driver turned up and refused to drive to the site in the middle of my property, even though there was a gravel road in good condition all the way.
He basically dumped the framework in a paddock on my property several hundred metres from the actual site.
A Warning From Within
While the driver was there, I asked about other deliveries. He told me if we want to get the rest of my house, I would be advised to get a lawyer as MyTinyHomeKit were not fulfilling their orders, and there were a lot of people upset about it.
Commencing Legal Action Against MyTinyHomeKit
After my friend got involved, he managed to push Spencer into an agreed delivery and completion date of March 19, 2024. This came and went with no sign of anything else arriving. Spencer and Adam became extremely hard to contact.
In April 2024 I commenced legal action against MyTinyHomeKit. In response to this, they promised a full refund in writing and sent a deed of settlement for me to sign. I requested a few changes to the deed, including a personal guarantee and that we receive Spencer’s signed copy first.
After this I haven’t been able to contact Spencer and no signed deed has been received.
Contacting Consumer Affairs
At around the same time I contacted Consumer Affairs Victoria. They told me there had been dozens of complaints about MyTinyHomeKit and Spencer Porter, who had agreed on an enforceable undertaking which compelled them to give refunds and change their business practices. The deadline for refunds has come and gone however none of the refunds have been paid.
Spencer Porter has subsequently threatened to sue me for defamation over an honest and factual review I posted online.
Finding Out I am Not Alone
In May 2024 I received an unsolicited phone call from somebody else who had purchased a Tiny House and not received it. She invited me to join a private Facebook group for victims of Spencer Porter, MyTinyHomeKit, G’day Steel and Property Magician.
G’day steel and Property Magician are Spencer Porters other companies through which he has sold tiny homes.
There are over 40 members in this group and all have the same story. Spencer Porter pushed them to pay the full amount in advance and never delivered their homes, nor paid them refunds promised under the enforceable undertaking.
After speaking on a zoom call with other members, I realised that Spencer Porter had used the same tactics on everyone, and everyone was receiving the same cut and paste messages from assuring them that they would be taken care of.
After this, Spencer Porter started sending “disappearing messages” on WhatsApp to the people on the group. This is an extremely unacceptable way to do business. All of the messages he has sent are empty assurances and unfulfilled promises.
Spencer Porter Ruined my Life
Dealing with this has been a nightmare for me. It’s ruined my life as all my savings are gone. I have been suffering from stress, lack of sleep and mental health issues because of it.
The matter is still ongoing although I no longer hold any hope of getting my money back.
I would warn anyone to consider my story before doing business with Spencer Porter, Adam Sharp, MyTinyHomeKit, G’day Steel or Property Magician.
