A number of customers replied to the notice to complain about the problem, with some worried about facing charges for late payments of bills.
Mr Goulding's letter accuses Matalan of acting "contrary to both the spirit and the letter of the Late Payments of Commercial Debts (Interest) Act".
During Hasawi's tenure Forest have lurched from one controversy to another, with the Kuwaiti businessman overseeing a succession of managers, late payments of bills to other clubs, agents and suppliers, as well as winding up orders.
The study says these problems undermine the aims of universal credit because "claimants are forced into focusing on getting their benefit income into payment, finding food for their families and negotiating late payments of bills with their landlords and others instead of looking for work".
A government spokesman said it would examine concerns raised over the late payments of benefits.
That is despite them having to put up with partial and late payments of wages in recent weeks.
