The creditor claim for embattled Ballarat windows and doors company Lontana Pty Ltd is set to run into the hundreds of thousands as more than 100 clients, suppliers and employers join the line-up to receive a cut.
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Documents provided to the Australian Securities and Investment Commission earlier this week identified 85 creditors waiting to be paid by Lontana, alongside a further 25 employees who are also owed.
The document listed Lontana at an estimated realisable value of less than $45,000, all of which stemmed from assets, with the company having no cash or money in the bank.
The company went into liquidation last week, less than a month after associate business Ballarat Windows and Doors also filed for insolvency. Lontana had purchased Ballarat Windows and Doors’ assets in early 2016.
Among the clients who are yet to receive their product is Belinda Pollard, who paid more than $20,000 on a deposit for windows to fit our her Albion home in June.
Ms Pollard began contacting the company when it failed to meet its eight-week delivery target, before being given two more deadlines where were missed. “(Lontana director Gail Spark) promised to call me with an update on how she was going to rectify our issue on October 9, which was the very day the company went into external administration,” Ms Pollard said.
“We have lost $21,067.20 and weeks of productivity. Our house is at a standstill and with a baby on the way it has been a very stressful time.” The documents given to ASIC did not provide estimates as to what each creditor was owed, however customers who spoke to The Courier claim to be between $1000 and almost $50,000 out of pocket.
An advert in the Saturday edition of The Courier called for expressions of interest to purchase the assets of Lontana, which also traded as Ballarat Windows, Altitude Architectural Windows and Ballarat Architectural Windows. Lontana liquidators confirmed they had taken control of the lease to a Ring Road warehouse which was registered to Ballarat Windows and Doors but had been operated my Lontana.
The Courier attempted to contact Lontana director Gail Spark and Ballarat Windows and Doors director Tim Spark for comment, but their mobile phones were disconnected.
