Hamilton state house had dog and rotting food, but no tenant

Sunday, 7 June 2026

Rotting food - and a dog - were left at a Hamilton state house after the tenant found to have left the property in February (file photo).

A Kāinga Ora tenant has been ordered to leave a Hamilton property after the Tenancy Tribunal found she had not been living there for more than two months, leaving behind overgrown lawns, a fridge containing rotting food - and a dog.

The Tribunal granted immediate possession of the Enderley property to Kāinga Ora–Homes and Communities following a hearing this month.

Tenant Shaquila Te Aroha Si De Thierry did not attend the hearing.

The Tenancy Tribunal found the tenant had breached her agreement by not living at the property.

Kāinga Ora argued the tenant had breached her tenancy agreement by no longer living at the property, despite remaining the named tenant.

According to the decision, a property inspection in February found the house in a messy condition, with clothing and belongings scattered throughout. Electricity remained connected and “a dog was found locked inside the garage”.

The housing provider became concerned the tenant was no longer occupying the home and hand-delivered a 14-day breach notice that day.

A follow-up inspection in April found the property in much the same condition.

The Tribunal noted photographs showed “lots of rotting food” inside the fridge and that the lawns were heavily overgrown, both of which indicated nobody had been living there “for quite some time”.

Although another person was present during the April inspection, the Tribunal found that individual was not the tenant and concluded she remained absent from the property.

Evidence presented by Kāinga Ora included customer service notes recording a phone call from the tenant in March. The notes stated she had left the property because of safety concerns and would not be returning. The landlord said repeated attempts to contact her afterwards were unsuccessful.

The Tribunal found, on the balance of probabilities, that the tenant had not been living at the property since at least February 20, 2026 and had failed to remedy the breach despite warnings.

The Tribunal said the breach was serious because the property had effectively sat vacant for months while Kāinga Ora was unable to allocate it to other people in need of social housing.

The tenancy, which began in January 2025, was terminated immediately and possession of the home was awarded to Kāinga Ora.