
Minister Michelle Haywood says each person affected will be contacted directly
The Department of Infrastructure has apologised to 137 of its housing tenants over the 'tone' of a recent letter asking them to pay rent arrears.
An issue was identified which meant some residents were paying their rent towards the end of the month, instead of the start - going against the housing authority's tenancy agreement.
However, correspondence sent out by the department asking the individuals to rectify the situation is said to have caused 'a lot of distress'.
Minister Michelle Haywood told Manx Radio the way the message was relayed to these tenants fell below usual standards:
A copy of the letter shared with Manx Radio states:
"Your rent balance on 24th September was [an amount] in arrears. Under the terms of your current tenancy agreement, your rent should be one week in credit at all times meaning when you pay monthly you should be one month in advance upon receipt of payment. At the moment, you rent account is falling into arrears between payments.
"This means your account should be [an amount] in credit upon receipt of payment. Please refer to the terms and conditions stated in your tenancy agreement for further clarification.
"If you are not in a position to bring your account into a sufficient credit, we can discuss a payment plan to increase your monthly payments to work towards building your balance."