Housing gets tough with rent rebate fraudsters
A CRACKDOWN on rent rebate fraud could see tenants facing criminal conviction and eviction, Housing has warned, with the department owed more than £344,000 in rebate-related debt.
It is tasking staff on its anti-fraud team with the job of investigating tenants who are deliberately trying to cheat the system by failing to declare changes in circumstances and therefore claiming too much benefit.
Housing will also be employing an extra person, in the new role of compliance manager focused on rent rebate, and is launching preventative action to stop people, unintentionally or otherwise,
failing to inform it of changes.
Latest figures show that overall rent debt, owed to Housing, stood at nearly £550,000 at the end of last year.
Of this, more than £344,000 related to rebate-related debt, most of which, £338,443, was for current tenants.
The remaining £6,243 relates to former Housing tenants, including those who have left the island or moved to the private sector.
Deputy minister Mike Hadley, pictured, said his message to rebate fraudsters was that the department was proactively investigating cases and pursuing court action, similar to Social Security with benefit fraud, with eviction another option.
