A New Zealand woman says she is changing her legal name after almost losing her house in a case of mistaken identity.
Kim Dwyer, a 29-year-old army medic, was “fully panicking” when her roommates told her an auction sign had been nailed to the fence of her property in Palmerston North, The New Zealand Herald reports.
Following a frantic series of phone calls, Dwyer learnt she was caught in a legal mix-up involving a male company director with the same name.
In January this year, a High Court ordered the sale of a property as part of the liquidation of construction company DD4 Infrastructure Ltd.
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The liquidator, Ben Francis, was pursuing funds from a Mr Kim Dwyer, whose company’s office records listed an Auckland residential address.
Mr Francis reportedly searched for land titles under “Kim Dwyer,” identifying two properties in New Zealand.
Kim Dwyer’s Palmerston North home was put up for auction by mistake.
Believing “Kim Dwyer” to be an uncommon name, he concluded the Palmerston North property belonged to the male director, hence triggering a sales process.
However, the property was, in fact, owned by the army medic, who had no connection to the liquidated company or any debts beyond her mortgage.
Mr Francis stated that High Court bailiffs visited Ms Dwyer’s home five times between January 14 and 28, leaving calling cards that went unanswered.
He suggested Ms Dwyer’s lack of response was consistent with the male director’s unresponsiveness to payment requests.
“Had Ms Dwyer contacted the bailiff following one of the visits, the process could have been halted prior to accruing any costs,” Mr Francis told the Herald.
Ms Dwyer, however, maintains her flatmates never received any calling cards.
Upon discovering the Harcourts sign, she immediately contacted the agency, who advised her to call the High Court registrar in Wellington.
“I thought it was a joke until that point,” Ms Dwyer told the Herald.
“(The registrar) pretty much said ‘Your house is going to be sold unless you contact a lawyer’.”
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The auction sign in front of Dwyer’s home.
Forced to borrow money from her family, Ms Dwyer engaged legal counsel to prove her identity and halt the sale, incurring $1735 in legal fees.
The sale process was stopped immediately once the mistaken identity was confirmed.
Despite the ordeal, Mr Francis has refused to reimburse Ms Dwyer’s legal costs or offer a direct apology.
Emails show Ms Dwyer’s requests for payment were declined, with Mr Francis stating he could not “justify further spending of creditor funds in this matter.”
He also suggested Ms Dwyer’s legal costs were incurred because she “chose” not to engage earlier.
Ms Dwyer expressed her profound frustration, stating Mr Francis was taking “no accountability” and calling it “crazy that liquidators can just go around trying to sell innocent people’s houses.”
“For my mental health, I accepted that I am never getting that money back,” she told the Herald.
Now, out of “fear” of a repeat incident, Ms Dwyer is in the process of adding a middle name to her legal identity.
“Not getting a proper apology is way worse than the money thing,” she concluded.
“It was the lack of empathy that frustrated me the most.”
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