Many larger councils suffered from delays in processing Housing Benefit claims. Delays of up to a year were reported. Delays and rent restrictions were so endemic in the system that it became common to see classified advertisements for lettings stating No DSS. (That is the Department of Social Security, now called the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP), but still widely known under its old name.) It usually meant that the landlord was not willing to consider letting to a tenant who would be dependent on housing benefit to pay the rent.