Teddy bear mix-up stuns tenant
By Paula Beauchamp
April 08, 2003
A TENANT'S rent rebate was cut after bungling bureaucrats demanded bank statements and income receipts from her teddy bear.
Collingwood public housing tenant Estelle was shocked last month when a letter from her housing officer demanded details about Barnaby, her bear.
The mix-up happened when Office of Housing staff heard an answering machine message that mentioned Estelle and Barnaby and assumed she was living with a man and cheating the system.
The letter requested bank statements, income receipts and two forms of identification for the fluffy friend Estelle has owned for more than 20 years.
The letter, seen by the Herald Sun, demanded a Centrelink address history for Barnaby and a statutory declaration signed by the bear, noting the date he moved into their joint property.
Last year, the disability pensioner had changed the recording on her answering machine, asking callers to leave messages "for Barnaby and Estelle".
But when Estelle was queried by a housing officer and accused of illegal sub-letting, her explanation fell on deaf ears.
The Office of Housing cancelled Estelle's rent rebate and increased her weekly rental payments by $110 a week.
"I guess there was a funny side in all this, but all I could feel was the stress," Estelle said.
"I left five messages with the Office of Housing, but no one ever called me back."
It wasn't until tenants' advocacy group Home Ground intervened that the Office of Housing backed down.
Tenants Union of Victoria liaison worker Michelle Marven said that Estelle's case was not an isolated one.
"Such a response implies a system that is suspicious of tenants, rather than a system there to ensure positive tenant outcomes," Ms Marven said. "But it's certainly not the first time."
In another case, a public housing tenant was told to vacate his property after a housing officer saw a warm pot on the stove.
Ms Marven said the officer assumed the tenant was guilty of sub-letting, but the tenant was simply having an overseas friend to stay.
By Paula Beauchamp
April 08, 2003
A TENANT'S rent rebate was cut after bungling bureaucrats demanded bank statements and income receipts from her teddy bear.
Collingwood public housing tenant Estelle was shocked last month when a letter from her housing officer demanded details about Barnaby, her bear.
The mix-up happened when Office of Housing staff heard an answering machine message that mentioned Estelle and Barnaby and assumed she was living with a man and cheating the system.
The letter requested bank statements, income receipts and two forms of identification for the fluffy friend Estelle has owned for more than 20 years.
The letter, seen by the Herald Sun, demanded a Centrelink address history for Barnaby and a statutory declaration signed by the bear, noting the date he moved into their joint property.
Last year, the disability pensioner had changed the recording on her answering machine, asking callers to leave messages "for Barnaby and Estelle".
But when Estelle was queried by a housing officer and accused of illegal sub-letting, her explanation fell on deaf ears.
The Office of Housing cancelled Estelle's rent rebate and increased her weekly rental payments by $110 a week.
"I guess there was a funny side in all this, but all I could feel was the stress," Estelle said.
"I left five messages with the Office of Housing, but no one ever called me back."
It wasn't until tenants' advocacy group Home Ground intervened that the Office of Housing backed down.
Tenants Union of Victoria liaison worker Michelle Marven said that Estelle's case was not an isolated one.
"Such a response implies a system that is suspicious of tenants, rather than a system there to ensure positive tenant outcomes," Ms Marven said. "But it's certainly not the first time."
In another case, a public housing tenant was told to vacate his property after a housing officer saw a warm pot on the stove.
Ms Marven said the officer assumed the tenant was guilty of sub-letting, but the tenant was simply having an overseas friend to stay.