Woman who nearly lost home in mistaken identity case receives $1000 from stranger for legal fees

Palmerston North woman Kim Dwyer's home was almost sold out from underneath her after a severe case of mistaken identity.

A Good Samaritan has given a Palmerston North woman $1000 towards her legal costs after she almost lost her house when a liquidator mistook her for someone else.

The woman, 29-year-old army medic Kim Dwyer, was mixed-up with a male Auckland company director with the same name, The Herald reported yesterday.

Mr Dwyer was in debt to a company called DD4 Infrastructure Limited, which was being liquidated by Ben Francis from Blacklock Rose.

Francis initially believed Ms Dwyer’s Palmerston North home belonged to Mr Dwyer, which eventually led to a High Court ordering the property to be sold.

After being sent a photo of an “auction” sign that was nailed to her fence in March, Dwyer was “fully panicking” and urgently hired lawyers to stop the sale.

She borrowed $1735 from her family to pay for her legal fees, then sent Francis multiple requests to reimburse her legal costs.

Francis refused to pay and told her “all appropriate steps were taken” before the case of mistaken identity was discovered.

Now, a complete stranger who said he believes in “fair play” has sent Dwyer $1000 towards her legal fees.

Derek Eastman, 56, described himself as a “very quiet and laidback” person who “likes his solitude”.

When he read about the circumstances that led to Dwyer almost losing her home, it “upset” him.

“I am a homeowner myself and I would be pretty devastated if somebody came along and said, ‘Hey, I am taking your house and there’s nothing you can do about it.’

Palmerston North woman Kim Dwyer's home was almost sold out from underneath her after a severe case of mistaken identity.

“I cannot even begin to think about how much stress that would have put Kim under.”

Eastman said he experienced his share of “bloody tough” financial struggles when he was in his 20s and 30s.

He said he was now neither “rich” nor “broke” but he had the means to help Dwyer out because he earned a good living and did not have any dependents.

Eastman contacted Dwyer through the Herald and sent her $1000 to help cover part of her legal costs.

Dwyer told the Herald she ideally wanted Francis to pay her legal fees and initially declined Eastman’s money, but eventually felt she was “silly” to not take up his offer.

“I was obviously like, ‘Thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, this is so amazing’... and I told him I’d keep him updated.”

After the initial Herald story was published, Dwyer said she “loved” reading social media comments from members of the public voicing their support for her.

Multiple people have advised her to take her case to the Disputes Tribunal, which she is considering looking into if it helps her pay Eastman his $1000 back.

Dwyer said she will be legally changing her name to include a middle name so the same mistake is not made in the future. She said it would cost her $170 to do so.

Janhavi Gosavi is a Wellington-based journalist for the New Zealand Herald who covers news in the capital.