Valerie Shannon and Garth Woodcock own a spacious block in Coffs Harbour, but their house is full. The couple live with Ms Shannon’s elderly parents and her adult son.

By the side of the garage sit steel frames with weeds poking through — part of what was meant to be a purpose-built tiny home for Valerie’s son but are instead a grating reminder of what they view as a “rip-off”.

The couple paid almost $55,000 for the tiny home in late 2022 and expected to receive the structure by the following April. By August last year, only part of the frame and roof had arrived.

Despite repeated requests for a refund, the pair, both retired, are still owed more than $43,000.

“If I don’t get my tiny home, I want my money back.”

Ms Shannon and Mr Woodcock are among dozens of people believed to be owed millions of dollars by My Tiny Home Kit.

The business was founded in 2022 by self-described “visionary” Spencer Porter, a Melbourne-based entrepreneur who announced his first venture, a social media app, aged just 15.

“The aim is to reduce the clutter on social media so that you only see information you are interested in,” Mr Porter told his local newspaper in 2015.

The endeavour, Zahoom, failed to get off the ground, but Mr Porter continued to attract positive publicity for subsequent businesses, including another app, a real estate business and, eventually, My Tiny Home Kit.

In glowing headlines and promotional social media posts, My Tiny Home Kit was pitched as affordable accommodation for Australians hit by the housing crisis.

Tugging on people’s emotions

Mr Porter also pledged to build a tiny home in a developing country for each kit sold, before he conceded that was too ambitious. He then promised to sponsor children through World Vision instead.

“Through sponsoring a child for every tiny home kit order, we are now making a consistent, positive impact on the lives of children in need,” the My Tiny Home Kit website read.

Melbourne woman Lyndy U’Ren researched Mr Porter and his business before she and her brother spent about $28,000 on a tiny home for their family’s regional holiday block in 2022.

She was particularly touched by a 2019 news story in which he pledged to donate the proceeds of a self-published book based on his late mother’s voice recordings to The Peter MacCallum Cancer Foundation.

She said she was promised the home within 90 days, but like Ms Shannon and Mr Woodcock, received only a partial frame after the deadline had passed.

Ms U’Ren has made it her mission to track down and support others unhappy with My Tiny Home Kit and Mr Porter. She said her list stood at about 90 customers and suppliers.

“Even though there are some people that have had their money back, the ongoing impact that it’s had on these people has been pretty significant,” Ms U’Ren said.

Ms U’Ren contacted Ms Shannon, who told 7.30 her experience with Mr Porter and his business have caused her health issues.

“I’ve had to go to the doctor to get medication to help me sleep.”

She said it was not just the loss of money affecting her, but the deception.

“He’s been ripping us off and there are no consequences,” she said.

Complaints piling up

7.30 has spoken to one customer who paid more than $90,000 for a home he planned to live in. He has not received the product and has only been paid $19,000 of his requested refund.

Complaints about My Tiny Home Kit piled up throughout last year. South Australia’s Consumer and Business Services took Mr Porter to the Adelaide Magistrates Court, where he and his business were fined a total $4,000 for breaching that state’s building laws.

In December, Mr Porter signed an enforceable undertaking with Consumer Affairs Victoria in which he agreed he would only sell tiny home kits he could deliver in a timely manner.

Mr Porter then promoted the agreement on his website and continued to advertise tiny home deals on social media, including a chance to win tickets to Taylor Swift.

7.30 has spoken with three customers who purchased houses from My Tiny Home Kit after the enforceable undertaking was signed.

The agreement was viewed as a positive by western Sydney father-of-five David Urquhart, who wanted to build a studio in his backyard for his teen daughter.

“It was presented so upfront, and he was actively challenging anybody that would say he was scamming or ripping anyone off, so it appeared to me that he’d been pulled up over trying to do too much and had accepted some changes to his policies,” Mr Urquhart said.

Mr Urquhart also assumed the agreement meant Mr Porter’s business was being closely monitored by the consumer watchdog. He made his first payment in March and paid his final instalment in May — forking out more than $32,000 in total.

My Tiny Home Kit went into liquidation one week later.

7.30 has confirmed World Vision cancelled Mr Porter’s sponsorship of children in November last year after he fell into arrears.

The Peter MacCallum Foundation said it has never received any donations from Mr Porter.

‘Can’t understand how that’s possible’

Mr Porter has referred customers to liquidators Menzies Advisory and did not respond to 7.30’s requests for an interview or comment.

Meanwhile, the 25-year-old has registered a new business with ASIC, AtCareNow. A website — since-deleted — that advertised NDIS services. 7.30 has confirmed neither AtCareNow nor Mr Porter are registered with the NDIS Commission.

He’s not the only customer confused and angered by the lack of action.

“Now my son’s not going to have a home to live in, so it’s not fair, and the government should be trying to do something to stop these people from ripping people off,” Ms Shannon said.

Consumer Affairs Victoria also declined an interview and said it was unable to comment.

An ASIC spokesperson said: “If the required information is provided, ASIC cannot prevent a company from being registered.

“Having a previous company enter liquidation does not of itself preclude a person from registering a new company.”

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