NRAS - ETHAN: class action

Thanks for the information. Fingers crossed I am still with Ethan so now will be moved to Questus. I did signed all the documents for the transfer to Quantum and have been receiving notifications from Quantum since then. And hope Questus is not like Ethan. I am still having $20k+ with Ethan for 15/16 and 16/17 incentives.

 

Not sure the transfer to Questus off a good start - following is received today:

News letter from Ethan states:

Previous Years NRAS incentives awaiting payment
If you have an incentive outstanding for a period prior to 2018, Questus will be contacting you with further information on how this will be paid or be able to be claimed.

News letter from Questus states:

Prior Year NRAS Incentives
Questus will be responsible to ensure that your 2017/18 NRAS payments and the future year NRAS incentives are received, and issued to you.

We have been advised that some Investors under the Head Lease structure may not have received their NRAS Incentives for the 2016/17 or earlier NRAS years. Any communications regarding the prior year outstanding amounts should be directed to Ethan at [email protected].

So which side will be responsible in communication back to us investor regarding the incentive owed by Ethan ?

It is almost like Ethan/Ashley just want to exit from this NRAS mess and walk away with whatever he has his hand on

 

Prior Year NRAS Incentives
We have been advised that some investors may not have received their state incentive payments for the 2016/17 or earlier NRAS years. Questus will be working on your behalf to seek to recover these amounts.
The funds and the payment of these state incentives will be controlled by Questus.

From the email I received from Questus, Questus will be on our behalf to recover the incentives

 

Thanks ZWWCS for sharing yours, I had signed a head lease with Ethan ... may be that is the difference between the email you and I received ... with the head lease agreement, Ethan could have claimed the RTO using their name and pocket the money already

 

This is what I have received from DSS this morning re the different comment from Ethan and Questus:

" It is important to note that Questus have not assumed Ethan’s liabilities as a result of this transfer. Incentives owing for 2016/16 and 2016/17 NRAS years will still be Ethan liability.

Where there is a contractual agreements between Ethan and yourself, to pass on the incentives associated with your NRAS dwelling and you have not received these incentives, it is within your rights to commence legal action against Ethan.

It is not possible for the Department to commence a private legal action on your behalf to attempt to enforce your contract with Ethan. "

Look like without a formal legal action, money hold at Ethan is gone for good without a fight.

I am in if there is a legal class action

 

I received this as well. Im waiting for 2016-17 state incentive and both 17-18 incentives.

Happy to consider putting my name on legal efforts to recover it. Its small fry compared to some people, but its simply disgusting how we have been let down.

Like a previous poster putting this down as experience and will never get involved in rubbish like this again...

 

I am one of those very unlucky ones that apart from the 16-17 state incentive, Ethan also took my 15-16 and 16-17 federal incentives as my accountant asked me to elect RTOC option when I entered NRAS. Is there anyone who also elected RTOC option but have successfully claimed the federal incentives from ATO? How did you go with the claim? Also I am in if anyone is initiating legal class action. Thanks.

 

I've received my RTOC for the year 17-18 from Questus today via email. Hope everyone here received it.

 

Have been told the losses of all the investors scammed by Ethan are not substantial enough for a class action suit. Lawyers are wanting a $10mil suit and a lot of investors have claimed their RTO via their annual tax returns.

The government screwed it up, blamed Ethan for it and not taking any responsibility. Ethan/ Ashley Fenn was smart enough to game the system...

 

Hi Ying Li,
I am one of the many thousand victims to Ethan - haven't received my 15/16 federal incentive and 16/17 federal & state incentives. I chose to get the cash incentives, is there any way I can get my money back, i.e. a legal action? I am in if anyone is initiating legal class action. Thanks.

 

And I just checked the NRAS Year 2015-16 - Incentive Claim Report and NRAS Year 2016-17 Incentive Claim Report in "NRAS Investors | Department of Social Services, Australian Government", it's saying ETHAN claims the incentives through RTO instead of the cash payment I selected. Does anyone have any idea what I should do?

 

So technically the ATO only did "cash" payments for Non-Profit organisations. Ethan use to be one but had that status removed.

Your "cash" agreement was then with Ethan, so the ATO would issue Ethan with an RTOC for each property and then Ethan would claim on their tax return and pay you the cash.
===

Those of you who have seen the autoreply email from Ethan stating that you should contact your property manger for claims in years prior to 17/18 should contact Tebter immediately with details of missing payments.

I received an email from (the owner of) Tebter in reply to me contacting him and asking what they're doing to bring payments up-to-date. Ethan will only communicate with your property manger (Tebter for most of us) and then they will pass info onto you.

I'm not sure of the implications of me sharing the email here (so I won't), but the reply stated that Ethan are working to address past incentive claims and have apparently committed to getting this done in the coming weeks and will keep Tebter updated with expected pay dates.

I've also heard from a couple of people that Questus have passed on the 17/18 RTOC and have asked for bank details for the state payment to be made.

Things could be looking up.

 

I also received that auto reply email. My property manager is Unilodge and they are saying that's not their responsibility and ask me to contact Ethan myself when I sent them the email. I'd better go to Unilodge office then. Is anyone here also has Unilodge as property manager?

 

Update on my case:

Questus asked me to contact Ethan and get back to them if Ethan does not respond.
It has been 3 weeks since I contacted Ethan and so now I have will go back to Questus.

Also, I will ask my accountant to claim through ATO since the Incentive Claim Reports show my Dwelling ID is under "RTO" status.

 

How is this class action proceeding??

The longer this drags on, I am concern what will happen if Ethan declare bankrupt or close down,

 

This is the final response I think I get get out of DSS. It is absurd that the government washes its hand out of this rather than helping victims like us. Looks like legal action is definitely required

Good afternoon Samantha,

Under the NRAS framework, the Australian Government has legal arrangements only with approved participants and these legal arrangements do not extend to dealings that approved participants may enter into with third parties, such as individual investors, tenancy managers or business partners.

Approved participant may enter into ‘third party’ contractual agreement with investors, including passing on incentives. The Department has no visibility of, or control over these contractual agreement and they remain a private legal matter between the approved participant and the investor.

If you have not received the incentive for past NRAS years, where there is a contractual agreements between Ethan and yourself, to pass on the incentives associated with your NRAS dwelling, you need to resolve this matter with Ethan.

The Department does not have the legislative power to take direct action to ensure that you receive the value of the outstanding incentives from Ethan

If the matter cannot be resolved with the approved participant it may be necessary to use the legal system to enforce your contractual rights with Ethan.

While I can understand that commencing a legal proceeding may be a concern, this is could be the only mechanism available to ensure you receive your entitlements. A legal advisor would be able to give you tailored advice about your options.

Kind regards,

NRAS Taskforce
Housing Programs and Financial Wellbeing
Department of Social Services

 

Just sent another email to Etha. Now they are palming everything off to Questus and closing the helpdesk email account. I am really worry they close down the whole company and run away scot-free.


Thank you for your email.

The Department of Social Services recently approved the transfer of Ethan Affordable Housing’s NRAS allocations to a company called Questus Limited.

If you have a property that is subject of an NRAS agreement with Ethan, Questus is now your NRAS Approved Participant.

As a result of this approved transfer, the Ethan NRAS Help Desk has been closed.

Please direct your enquiry to Questus by email to [email protected]. Please ensure you include the following details and they will be able to respond to your enquiry in a timely manner.

- Property owner name(s)
- Contact details
- NRAS Property address:
- NRAS Dwelling ID (if known):
- Queries or concerns:

If you enquiry relates to an outstanding NRAS payment for the 2017 year and prior please have your property manager contact [email protected]

To try and work through the outstanding claims efficiently Ethan Management will communicate with each property manager who can then in turn relay the information to their respective clients. If your property is no longer involved in the NRAS please contact us on the above email address directly.

Kind Regards,

Ethan NRAS Management.

 

Perhaps we should send a collective email to Mr Paul Fletcher and ask him to look into our issue with Ethan?

Joint Media Release: Ethan exits National Rental Affordability Scheme in a win for mum and dad investors

 

Hi, I am also a victim of this, please include me in the class action.

Daniel I have emailed you at [email protected]

I am missing incentive payments from Ethan for:
2013/14 - State incentive unpaid
2015/16 - Federal and State incentive unpaid
2016/17- Federal and State incentive unpaid

Thanks
Kevin

 

Hi,

I've just received RTOC for 2015/16 and 2016/17 from Ethan dated 22 Feb 2019 via email from Tebter (Terry Foster) after making a complaint. I am raising tax amendments to ATO for the above years for the federal incentives/rebates. So apparently Ethan has not cash out my RTOC for those years but I won't know until I get a reply from ATO which might take up to 50 days according to their website. Does anyone know a better way or has successfully claim RTOC from ATO for previous years ?

Thanks
Steven