Tāmaki Housing dumps brothers' property after dad dies

  • 14/12/2016

Two Auckland brothers who lost their home when their father died of cancer have now lost many of their belongings too.

This week Newshub brought you the story of Tommy and Shane Tahana who were evicted from their Tāmaki Housing home when their father, the tenancy agreement holder, died of pancreatic cancer in October.

Shortly after, Tāmaki Housing contacted Tommy to say the tenancy agreement had ended and he needed to be out within weeks.

The brothers were evicted on Friday and still slept at the property over the weekend - but outside in armchairs rather than inside the house.

The armchairs where Tommy and Shane slept (Newshub.)
The armchairs where Tommy and Shane slept (Newshub.)

With help from Auckland Action Against Poverty, the brothers were put into temporary housing in an east Auckand motel.

After hearing their plight on Newshub, a trucking company owner offered to pick up their belongings and store them at his property for free.

But when Mr Tahana went back to the Panmure house this morning, his things were gone.

"I went over there this morning to start preparing to take everything... Everything was gone."

"There was no note or explanation, no phone call."

He says it is not so much the material items he is upset about, rather those of sentimental value like his late father's belongings.

"I can't really do anything. I don't think I want to go to the dump to go through the rubbish to try and find anything. It could be buried. "

Shane and Tommy sorting through their belongings after they were evicted (Newshub.)
Shane and Tommy sorting through their belongings after they were evicted (Newshub.)

Mr Tahana says it wouldn't have taken much to phone him and let him know what was happening.

"[Tamaki Housing] could have called me, they had my number, and given me an opportunity to uplift our stuff, our belongings and I would have done it."

Tāmaki Housing general manager Neil Porteous says the brothers made no effort to contact the company.

"At no point during those four days did Mr Tahana notify us that he had left property there to be collected at a later date. Had he done so, we may have been able to offer a solution."

Mr Porteous says they were simply following protocol.

"After tenants move out of a Tāmaki Housing property, we clear the site of anything left behind.

"In this instance, four days after the house was vacated, contractors removed items which had been left outside," he said.

Mr Tahana says he has been left shattered by the whole experience.

"I don't know what I am going to do. It's just been a big mess and it's really getting me down. Everything we have been through is really getting me down."

Newshub.