Perhaps Phelan and Vinny/Harvey formed a Ltd company so the debts were the company's and not Phelan's personal debt. Altho' he still owed Jason a lot of money which he swore to Eileen he would repay, yet she could not wait to move into the house when it was finished rather than sell it to repay Jason. How did he acquire this house did he always own it or was it part of the development, but if so surely it would have been sold off to cancel his debts. When Vinny disappeared he was pleading poverty and he certainly has not made enough money since then to buy it as he never actually does any work except for a few minor repairs. The house just appeared when it was revealed that Andy was still alive, with as far as I recall no mention of how Phelan acquired it. - As you say no attention to detail.