Rent reminder Bega Flats style

Reminds me of the Stanford Prison Experiment we the gaolers turned psychopathic: http://www.prisonexp.org/

And for the record, I think Amanda Smith sounds like a skanky whore.

Can Amanda Smith of ACT Housing please have the Mully Award for October?

ok so some of my words and sentences were typed wrong.. I get it…I commented after a 14 hour work day.. I apologise….yet no excuse…

Lets just hope that some people saw the flyer and do abide by their commitments…..

“There’s a little bit of EVIL in the best of ’em and a little good in the worst of us……..

This flyer was not posted in the event that the ones who do the right thing and abide by their agreements.
It is to the ones who don’t.
If you have problems with it or want to assist maybe go and inform them of the reality of living in today’s society.

Willy Bear there is no need to assume you do realise what that makes don’t you….

What about if Centrelink posted a flyer saying ” if you want to get paid don’t forget to lodge your forms!!!

what would people say about that…rant rant rant….

Invidious Odium said :

I have read all these comments…and I am here to tell you the facts….NOT in your life would I wish to be a Housing ACT Housing Manager.

Crimes against grammar and punctuation notwithstanding, I can believe it. If ACT Housing threw the non-payers and abusers out onto the street, perhaps they’d think twice about dodging their responsibilities.

Invidious Odium said :

I have read all these comments…and I am here to tell you the facts….NOT in your life would I wish to be a Housing ACT Housing Manager. I tried it in Queensland Housing and lasted 6 weeks. I got abused, acused and OMG the stories that you get told for not paying…You have to be a very good hearted and strong minded person to put up with what is dealt to you. It changed my ideas on the public housing……. For the low pay you recieve and the work load…woah!!!!!! Minimum of 220 properties to one employee…I would like to see some of you commenters try it…….Then you will have abetter understanding!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!.I was bought up to pay for what you use. You want to see inthe middle of the night…use a light..pay elecctricity…..You want to drive somewhere…you pay for petrol or a bus ride etc….you want a roof over your head…PAY RENT.. If you were through a private landlord you wouldnt get away with it…you would be out on your backside……people are more aware and are understanding of todays circumstances the costs etc so be a good person and pay your frigin rent!!!!…If you owned a house the bank will only give you x amount of time to fix arreas…..if you are lucky,,,,,,,,I think it is a privelege to be granted a Housing ACT Property….so why not pay the quarter of your earnings in rent….I pay half my earnings in mine!!!!!! and thats with 2 jobs………Think of it that way!!!!! And do not bag the worker for being humourous…. I comment her on it!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

The abuse and accusations you report suffering in your tenure at Queensland Housing relate to crimes against grammer and punctuation, I assume ?
If so, they were entirely justified

How hard would the ‘clientele’ at Bega Flats have laughed when they saw this..this is a solid thrashing with a goose feather.

I have read all these comments…and I am here to tell you the facts….NOT in your life would I wish to be a Housing ACT Housing Manager. I tried it in Queensland Housing and lasted 6 weeks. I got abused, acused and OMG the stories that you get told for not paying…You have to be a very good hearted and strong minded person to put up with what is dealt to you. It changed my ideas on the public housing……. For the low pay you recieve and the work load…woah!!!!!! Minimum of 220 properties to one employee…I would like to see some of you commenters try it…….Then you will have abetter understanding!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!.I was bought up to pay for what you use. You want to see inthe middle of the night…use a light..pay elecctricity…..You want to drive somewhere…you pay for petrol or a bus ride etc….you want a roof over your head…PAY RENT.. If you were through a private landlord you wouldnt get away with it…you would be out on your backside……people are more aware and are understanding of todays circumstances the costs etc so be a good person and pay your frigin rent!!!!…If you owned a house the bank will only give you x amount of time to fix arreas…..if you are lucky,,,,,,,,I think it is a privelege to be granted a Housing ACT Property….so why not pay the quarter of your earnings in rent….I pay half my earnings in mine!!!!!! and thats with 2 jobs………Think of it that way!!!!! And do not bag the worker for being humourous…. I comment her on it!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I think the manager involved should get a promotion. This is fantastic!

Thinly veiled threats against employees and “clients” seem to be pretty much policy for this current ACT Government…

empty threat thinly disguised as a “friendly reminder”… inappropriate… but not terrible…

i wonder how much “time off” Ms Smith will be asked to have in the lead up to this Festive Season…

Antagonist said :

“Housing ACT is in the process of removing the posters.”

No doubt replacing them with plain black on white notices saying “Tenants are reminded that failure to abide by tenancy conditions, including payment of rents by the due date, may result in eviction.”

Much better.

“Housing ACT is in the process of removing the posters.”

That is a shame. It was a great way of reminding Housing ACT tennants of their obligations and a timely reminder to start planning ahead for Christmas. I think people would find it a lot less confronting than a rental arrears letter in the mail. The person responsible needs promoting for using initiative – something that appears to be severely lacking in Housing ACT.

Apalling? Hardly. Funny? Hell yes! If this one has everyones knickers twisted then you might consider selling your television now. I wouldn’t want you to see anything truly shocking such as ads aimed at smokers, drink/drug/speeding drivers, AIDS awareness campaigns complete with Grim Reaper and so on. Toughen up, Buttercup.

As a Housing ACT tennant myself, I give Amanda Smith 10/10. Give her Joy Burch’s job.

Really what is the issue with this???
Cotton wooling peoples lives doesn’t help them. I agree that kicking them out doesn’t help either, but people get ahead in life, because they pay their bills on time, and generally look after the important things first like, food, accomodation and a job.

My body corporate (a small 20 townhouse complex about 50/50 owners/renters) has issues all the time, mainly with the renters, who seem to just not care. We can send letters and put signs up all we want and they don’t get read, to solve dumping of waste at the garbage collection point, we’ve even tried getting a hopper in regularly for people to dump waste. Still some people just couldn’t care less as long as they are happy.

creative_canberran said :

Pleasant enough reminder, don’t see the problem.
No doubt some looser felt offended because it drew attention to the fact they’ll likely blow their rent money on the pokies and a dose of meth instead.

Have to say it’s a bit brave of the manager to put her name on the poster though. Knowing the elements who inhabit these places… well,

nope just the pokies this christmas – http://the-riotact.com/explosions-in-mckellar/57508

I hope that Amanda is not in trouble.
What if one of the residents had personal issues with her and decided to set her up, by placing this on doors?
IMO, people who say it is a terrible way to remind of tenants’ duties- are victims of over the top political correctness brainwashing.:-)

And if the majority of the general public thought this was a good idea,Then Joy Burch would have claimed it as her idea.

ex-vectis said :

So, whats the difference here between that poster and the road signs we see saying things like ‘Txt n drive and u be nxt’, or ‘Drink and drive and die in a ditch’?

The sign in the flats is actually useful?

I think Amanda should get a flood of condolence cards in a similar vein from the general public … perhaps along the lines of “Performance Assessment is fast approaching, please ensure you keep to the Code of Conduct or you may find you are NEVER PROMOTED!”

So, whats the difference here between that poster and the road signs we see saying things like ‘Txt n drive and u be nxt’, or ‘Drink and drive and die in a ditch’?

Pleasant enough reminder, don’t see the problem.
No doubt some looser felt offended because it drew attention to the fact they’ll likely blow their rent money on the pokies and a dose of meth instead.

Have to say it’s a bit brave of the manager to put her name on the poster though. Knowing the elements who inhabit these places… well,

I was going to say I wonder how long it takes before the “not authorised by Housing ACT management” line would come up. I think it’s clever, but I’m sure it could have been put in a better more formal way..

Those saying it amounts to an eviction threat, I think housing tenants know the system well enough to know that they won’t be booted out for missing one rent payment.

http://www.sbs.com.au/ondemand/program/124/Housos

Clown Killer said :

“Hi Rioters,

A bleeding-heart friend of mine who has a big chip on her shoulder had to visit someone at Bega Flats yesterday afternoon.

She got her panties in a knot when she discovered these posters, plastered on every floor in each block of the flats that simply stated the reality – if you live in publicly subsidised accommodation you need to make sure that you are up to date with your rent if you expect to have continued access to tax-payer subsidised housing.

This is a nice example of someone at Housing ACT simply and effectively getting on with their job. A task that is not made easier by the fact that soft-head douche-bags think that Public Housing tenants need to be wrapped in fairly floss and given a free ride.

We need more of this.”

There, I’ve fixed it up so it at least makes sense now.

They’re not TENANTS, they’re our CLIENTS dammit!

“Hi Rioters,

A bleeding-heart friend of mine who has a big chip on her shoulder had to visit someone at Bega Flats yesterday afternoon.

She got her panties in a knot when she discovered these posters, plastered on every floor in each block of the flats that simply stated the reality – if you live in publicly subsidised accommodation you need to make sure that you are up to date with your rent if you expect to have continued access to tax-payer subsidised housing.

This is a nice example of someone at Housing ACT simply and effectively getting on with their job. A task that is not made easier by the fact that soft-head douche-bags think that Public Housing tenants need to be wrapped in fairly floss and given a free ride.

We need more of this.”

There, I’ve fixed it up so it at least makes sense now.

Inappropriate, unprofessional……and freakin awesome!

If a light-hearted reminder to pay rent causes such drama, no wonder everything else is written in bureaucratese.

I thought “the festive season” at Bega Flats ran 365 days a year.
I don’t believe anyone has ever been evicted from there – they either do a runner to Queanbeyan or OD.
The Amanda Smith will be counseled for this – the first rule in DHCS is never try and collect the rent arrears – payment of same is 100% voluntary.
Amanda should easily get another job in the real world as a debt collector; her talents are totally wasted with Housing.

I hope ACT Housing’s Amanda Smith’s personnel file has been stamped “not for promotion” …. what a disgrace. What is particularly concerning, though, is that this wouldn’t have happened if there wasn’t a sneering, nasty culture in Joy Burch’s department that, as minister responsible, she clearly has done nothing about.

Love it. An entertaining and lighthearted reminder for those who need it – and there are obviously a few.

What is wrong with it? Seems funny, and a handy reminder.
Quite creative really.

It’s sad that people feel the need to get offended about everything these days.

The only issue here is that non-payment of rent is unlikely to see the poor housing tenants evicted.

Just imagine, the majority (because I’m sure there are others who live there who try to make the most out of their situation) wouldn’t have any problem paying rent if they didn’t spend $160/ week on fags and booze .. but I guess they make half of it back by robbing people in Glebe Park, a viscious cycle really.

Either way, I feel terrible for the employees at Housing ACT having to deal with that derelict hole .. it’s a fire trap and a health hazard, raze it and move the residents onwards, preferably to distant corners of Canberra where they won’t be influenced by each other.

I knew ACT Housing would not of condoned that. It is pretty cruel and disrespectful. Not everyone in those flats are screwing the system and are high on drugs. I bet the public servant who wrote it has the cushiest overpaid position in Housing and has had everything handed to him on a plate. Sometimes people in public housing need a hand to get their affairs in order.

It is ok purely for the amount of joy it has brought me to see it.
As to queries about its origin (genuine APS feebleness or sarcastic commentary on an uncaring bureaucracy) unintentional hilarity is my tip.

Are the housing managers DHCS employees? If that’s the case, and this actually came from one of them, then it could be argued that this constitutes a breach of the public service code of conduct.

I’ll grant that there might be some context that I’m not aware of. Even assuming that there is, I don’t think that passive-aggressive notes are ever constructive, and in this case I really think it’s inappropriate.

It’s just occurred to me that it’s not entirely outside the realm of possibility that this is somebody’s way of protesting the housing manager’s lack of compassion, but I wouldn’t put money on it.

save the time and effort in collecting the rent and bulldoze the place.

Lovely. For many people in these flats I can imagine the choice might be rent or presents. Yes, some spend too much money on cigarettes etc., but so do a lot of others in the community. Formal letters to defaulting tenants are the way to go, not this type of pseudo-jolly note posted on every floor. Imagine explaining it to a kid who might think someone was actually putting up something to do with Christmas.

And they’re an equal opportunity offender, carefully avoiding the C word.
(Christmas, that is.)

I understand the reasoning behind it, I think they should have worded it better, and not put it on invitation paper.

I don’t envy Housing ACT’s employees one little bit. If they don’t try to collect rents they are derelict in their duty, if they do they are subject to criticism like this from do-gooders (themselves probably paid out of ACT Government grants) for daring to remind tenants of their obligations.

David Eastman was eventually evicted from the neighbouring Jerilderie Court despite the fact that he apparently always paid his rent in full and on time. However, compared to some who have used the Bega Flats as a drug shooting gallery in recent years he was undoubtedly tenant of the month material.

Oh but it’s done on such pretty party paper reminding people (that are obviously struggling if they can’t pay their rent) that on top of everything else you might be going through you could very well end up being homeless, Merry Christmas!!!!! No number where you might be able to get some financial help oe support like advice on budgeting etc…

There’s some subtle humour in this flyer that I found amusing. Firstly it is printed on what looks like birthday invite stationery, and secondly the line “TO WHOM IT MAY CONCERN” is amusingly ironic because the tenants that this flyer is directed towards probably aren’t concerned at all about paying their rent.

OMG I hate that hole of a place. I hate having to go there and on occasion I am forced to.

Could someone also remind some of the tennants that they also need to pay their electricity bill? Also tell them that no – I don’t need to provide them advance warning when cutting off their power for non-payment (after they have been sent several letters and been phoned several times) so that they can finish their internet download.

I say “Well done”, don’t see an issue here.:-)
But expect to see comments from RIOTers if the tax payer’s dollars went on printing this.LOL

Considering the history of that health hazard, it seems perfectly reasonable to me.

Sheesh! It’s a nice way to remind people to pay their rent. Clearly this has been an issue in previous years, so this year someone obviously thought to remind people ahead of time as a means of reducing the problem.

Living in government housing doesn’t absolve one fo the need to pay rent when they don’t feel like it!

Get over it, its better than a Notice to Remedy/Evict

LOL hilarious. If my landlord put this out I would surely lol, not take offence.