Homeowner Owes Builder $673,000 After Defamatory Social Media Campaign

A Melbourne homeowner has been ordered to pay $673,000 in damages to Singh Homes after a jury found his social media posts accusing the company of shoddy work constituted misleading and deceptive conduct and injurious falsehood. The ruling follows a dispute that began in 2022 when Gurvinderpal Singh and his wife hired Singh Homes to construct a house in Truganina, a suburb in Melbourne's west.

The relationship between the homeowner and the builder deteriorated over issues including construction delays, payments, and the quality of the work. Singh Homes terminated the contract in February 2024. Shortly thereafter, Mr. Singh posted a critical review on the Facebook page "Dodgy Builders Melbourne" and shared a TikTok video in Punjabi that garnered approximately 220,000 views.

In his social media posts, Mr. Singh alleged that the company had "ruined" his family's life with its "selfish" behavior, claiming his dream home was "shattered" and calling the builder "Melbourne Worst custom builder." The TikTok video reportedly included false claims about the company's directors, Parvinder Sarwara and Daman Anand, such as allegations of poor workmanship and mistreatment of clients. Mr. Singh also stated in the video that his distress was so severe that it made him consider suicide.

Singh Homes and its directors subsequently initiated legal proceedings, asserting that Mr. Singh's online campaign had led to a loss of customers and damages exceeding $1 million. After a four-week trial, a County Court judge ruled in favor of the builder. While Singh Homes sought over $1.08 million, the court awarded $673,000, with the judge citing that some of the builder's projected losses were "overly optimistic."

The legal battle continued as the directors, Mr. Sarwara and Mr. Anand, pursued their own defamation claims, arguing the viral posts had damaged their personal reputations. Initially, their claim was dismissed at the trial level, as the judge determined they had not met the threshold of "serious harm." However, the Victorian Court of Appeal overturned this decision, upholding the builder's victory and finding that the evidence sufficiently established that the directors had suffered serious reputational damage. The court noted the widespread nature of the TikTok video and its potential to harm the directors' reputations within their community. The case will now return to the County Court for an assessment of defamation damages for the directors.