The challenges are piling up for the owner of a Newcastle concreting firm whose former company collapsed in December owing $1.7 million.
Stein England appointed a controlling trustee on June 5 to stave off bankruptcy and has proposed an agreement to pay creditors by selling his house and another property.
The Newcastle Herald reported last month that NSW Fair Trading had rejected a licence application from Mr England's Clean Cut Civil NSW Pty Ltd over concerns he might have traded while insolvent before his former company, SJE Contracting, went bust late last year.
The agency determined on March 31 that Mr England was "not a fit and proper person to hold a contractor licence".
The Newcastle Herald spoke to seven contractors and building company managers who alleged they were owed money by one or both companies or had been involved in other disputes with Mr England over defective work, delays and finances.
Some of the firms, including Melbourne's Roxton Constructions and Sydney firm Westbury Constructions, are involved in government and commercial projects worth tens of millions of dollars.
A liquidator's report in March said SJE's creditors included Boral Group, Westpac and Metro Finance.
The trustee appointed to assess and oversee Mr England's personal insolvency agreement provided an initial report to creditors last month.
The report says Mr England identified two Garden Suburb houses in Prospect Road and Cambridge Drive, both of which he owns jointly with his former partner, as carrying secured liabilities to the tune of $930,000.
The report says Mr England also identified four unsecured creditors owed a total of $328,461.
Mr England listed his other assets as $343 in the bank, an anticipated $5000 tax refund, $180,000 in superannuation, $1500 tools of trade and $45,000 other people owed to him.
The trustee, chartered accountant Nicholas Cooper, wrote in his report that his initial searches had disclosed "a number of caveats lodged on both properties".
Personal insolvency agreements are an alternative to bankruptcy which bind debtors to selling property or repaying creditors from their income.
Mr England is due to face Belmont Local Court next week on eight separate criminal matters, including allegations of stalking, breaching AVOs and threatening serious harm.
Mr England's brother, Oliver, and a former business associate, Matt Roberts, will apply to the court for apprehended violence orders on the same date.
The Newcastle Herald contacted Mr England for comment.
A lawyer acting for Mr England said in a letter to the Newcastle Herald last month: "Our client's business had suffered from a downturn during the COVID period, and he has been attempting to restructure and repay his creditors in a timely fashion."
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