A brinkmanship stand-off with former Bermuda Housing Corporation management that went to within hours of a contempt of court hearing ended when the BHC backed down from a confrontation with the Bermuda Ombudsman's office and paid back money wrongly taken from tenants.

That is one of the successes and challenges documented in the first annual ombudsman's report just released showing the office received 137 complaints of which 79 led to formal inquiries during its first full year.

Examples of complaints the ombudsman was called upon to investigate range from a dispute over an illegally parked car being towed away and a company complaining about tardy mail delivery to BHC getting double payments for accommodation it rented out.

And the Department of Planning is spotlighted as the Government branch that received most complaints, a total of 11 during the reporting period, leading the Ombudsman to note: "Staffing has not grown in proportion to the volume and complexity of its work, particularly for enforcement. The Ministry is working on this challenge."

The Ombudsman's office, which started operation in mid-2005, intends to move to an electronic complaints management system within the coming months to improve its own efficiency.

In its report the number of complaints from August 1, 2005 to July 31, 2006 was 137, of which 22 remained active at the end of that period, 11 had been declined, 57 had been disposed of and 47 referred to an outside agency to take action.

Sample cases present a snapshot of problems faced by residents dealing with Government departments and public bodies.

"Most (complaints) were resolved after preliminary inquiries. A few required full-scale investigations. By and large, Government authorities have been responsive, interested in pursuing resolutions and accepting of our recommendations," said Ombudsman Arlene Brock.

"There were a few cases in which the complaint to me was about unreasonable delay — and in turn the authorities took considerably longer than desirable to respond to my inquiries.

"There were two cases of active resistance to the investigation and the recommendations.

"One — which has since been resolved even beyond my expectations — initially required commencement of contempt of court proceedings. The other, still outstanding at year end, is with the Attorney General's Chambers."

The resolved matter that initially caused contempt of court proceedings to begin, related to BHC and a situation where the housing corporation had taken rent from residents for damaged and uninhabitable housing units while at the same time accepting compensation money from an insurance company for the same units.

"Effectively, the BHC had been doubly compensated," reports Ms Brock.

The situation came to light when one tenant complained to the Ombudsman about not being credited by BHC for rent paid on a unit unfit for habitation.

When BHC repeatedly refused to co-operate with the inquiry and even challenged Ms Brock's jurisdiction, legal proceedings started.

"The day before proceedings were to begin, the BHC agreed to attend an interview and provide the information requested months earlier. The matter was fully resolved after the BHC's new administration reviewed the Ombudsman's recommendations," states Ms Brock.

"Indeed, the BHC is to be commended for its sensitive apology to the tenant in the Ombudsman's office. The BHC's resolution went even beyond the Ombudsman's recommendations."

The Ombudsman's office went further and opened its own investigation to ensure other tenants in the same building were also given refunds from the BHC.

In a letter reproduced in the annual report, the original tenant who raised the matter wrote: "The Ombudsman's office is a truly welcome addition to Bermuda — especially for those who have almost lost all hope of recovering what is right.

"Ms Brock went the extra mile in making sure everything was fair. The rules were explained to me in a way that made it easy for me to understand and the process was quick and efficient."

Other cases dealt with include;

[bul]A pensioner who waited eight months for a $40 reimbursement from the Department of Social Service. The department was found to be more than one year in arrears in making payments to physicians. There was no maladministration, but the delay was caused by a manual reconciliation process that is now being computerised. The Ombudsman is being updated on progress.

[bul]A company that complained that delays of up to 11 days in the delivery of bills and receipt of payments was causing havoc for its operation and to its customers. The Ombudsman made inquiries with the General Post Office and was advised that short and medium term measures were being made, a consultant and extra staff were being hired, and a public apology was made to explain the problem.

[bul]The owner of an unlicensed car left in an unauthorised parking space for a long period complained when it was towed away and he was ordered to pay a towing fee or the car would be destroyed. The Ombudsman investigated and decided TCD had given adequate notice of the action before it was taken by issuing a parking ticket and therefore there had been no maladministration.