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Housing New Zealand has apologised to a tenant who was threatened with eviction if she fell behind on her rent over the Christmas holidays -- despite never having missed a payment.
Marie Dawson has lived with her husband at their home in Naenae, Lower Hutt, for the past nine years.
ACC has paid their rent since her husband had an accident several years ago.
They received a letter last week telling them they could be evicted if they failed to pay their rent promptly, Mrs Dawson said today.
"Over the past two years, your rent payments have fallen behind over the Christmas and New Year holidays," the letter said.
"If you don't pay your rent on time or you breach repayment arrangements, we may be forced to evict you."
Mrs Dawson said the personally addressed letter was marked "Standard to all tenants".
"I feel like any other person would feel like. If your rent's always there, you feel angry, it's very disappointing at this time of the year," she said.
Housing NZ general manager of housing services Ian Bourke said tenant debt historically spiked over the holiday period.
The letters were meant as a reminder to plan ahead, for those tenants who had got into difficulty managing their finances over previous Christmases.
Housing NZ regretted that letters had been sent to some tenants incorrectly, Mr Bourke said.
"We apologise to any people who have been upset by this letter," he said.
"The main purpose of the letter was to remind tenants of the need to plan ahead to ensure that their rent was paid on time and to offer them the assistance of a budget adviser to help them from falling behind in their rent," Mr Bourke said.
Housing NZ spokesman Quentin Doig said it appeared an internal error had led to the letter being sent out to tenants who had never been behind on their rent.
The agency was investigating the error, he said.
"It certainly wasn't meant as a threat, at this time of year. That was the last thing that was intended," Mr Doig said.
- NZPA
