robocog
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| posted on 28/1/12 at 09:49 AM |
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Previous house owner - debt
way OT but there may be someone on here with experience
We moved in 7+ years ago
we are still getting debt demands from the last house owner
we do not have a forwarding address for him or telephone number
We usually just write - no longer at this address and sling the letters back into a postbox
We have opened a few and rang the companies chasing for money to advise them he no longer lives at this address so kindly leave us alone
I opened the latest letter (which arrived this week) and rang the debt collection agency
I told them the situation and told them in no uncertain words to cease and desist writing to this address and to remove our address and that any
further attempts to contact the ex home owner using our address would be taken as harrassment/spam
(reminded him we were on the TPS and mailing preference list and do not wish them to contact us any further - and also said we would take legal action
if they want to play silly buggers and continue)
He did say that the house could very well be asociated with debt and that we would have to look into that and deal with any issues with this
I did state that the house does not have an income and would be interested to see them try and get the house into court
We still have the last letter here
Considering going along to the local cop shop with it but fear there will not be a lot they could do - or be particularly interested in...seeems
returning the letters with no longer at this address is not convincing them
(I'm guessing its fraud to be still using this address despite not living here for 7+ years?)
Is there a simple (free) process to get the house dis associated from this chap and his debts?
Do we even need to do anything?
We don't live on tick and our only loan is the mortgage - we don't own credit cards and have no other loans or debts - so we possibly have
a crap credit rating anyway
Regards
Rob
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Dick Axtell
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| posted on 28/1/12 at 10:08 AM |
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Rob -
Very simple advice, there being 2 phases.
1: Leg it ASAP to your nearest C.A.B. office, and take all your correspondence to show them. You will get some sound advice here.
2: Sort out one of the more savage solicitors, preferably one who has had experience in dealing with this type of debt chasing outfits, and seek their
advice.
Phase 2 has the advantage of firming up your warning about seeking legal advice. It may cost a bit, but it will work. Check on your legal
adviser's terms & conditions; i.e. "no win - no fee". Maybe.
Here's wishing you luck!
Work-in-Progress: Changed to Zetec + T9. Still trying!!
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tegwin
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| posted on 28/1/12 at 10:11 AM |
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Dick, that is good advice, but sureley a bit overkill. It would be VERY different if the letters were directed at the OP, but they are just to someone
who used to live there, IE, of no relevence to the OP financially! If it ever went to court the debt collectors would get laughed out of the
building!
I had this when I moved in here a year or so ago.
Letter after letter from various companies, it got to the stage after 6 months of letters that they were threatening to send the balifs around....
I was tempted to just leave it, having the balifs come around would be quite amusing given that, at the time, there was nothing worth taking.....and
they would have ended up in a sh1t storm for reposessing something that did not belong to the debt owner.
In the end I phoned the debt collection using the number in the letter, one of the options on the automated phoneline was to tell them that the person
they were looking for had moved out.... Since then... its been quiet!
Had there been any debts actually ascociated with the house you would have thought your solicitors searches would have found them 7 years ago. So I
would not worry about that!
If they are ignoring your letters, to be honest I would just file them under BIN and ignore.... If the debt collection people really want their money
they will pass the case to a balif/retrievel team who will then start writing to you...... I doubt it will get that far...
I know its a bit worrying having demands for money etc, but just ignore them!
[Edited on 28/1/12 by tegwin]
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Would the last person who leaves the country please switch off the lights and close the door!
www.verticalhorizonsmedia.tv
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wilkingj
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| posted on 28/1/12 at 10:34 AM |
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I would not ignore them. Debt collection agencies do not give up easily and just run away cos you tell them to F-Off.
They are used to dealing with far more awkward, generally abusive and difficult people than you.
C.A.B is probably the best and cheapest option for getting you started.
I strongly reccomend you deal with this company in writing if they wont heed your phone call. The cost of your time and a few stamps in minimal.
Making a phone call is the first step.
Then put it in writing to them. IMHO This is a MUST.
Also put "Cc - xxxx County Trading Standards" and send them a copy as well.
The TS probably wont get involved, but it shows the debt company you are taking this seriously.
A solicitor will cost you money. No win no fee, is usually for compensation cases where there is money to be had from the company you are in dispute
with. There is no big payout for you, so I doubt if they would be interested. You can but ask.
I just had an episode with a debt company, I posted on here, and eventually we got it stopped. Took a week or so, but was not that painful. Trouble
was it was my 86 year old outlaws and they were frightened by the company.
Still.. thats sorted now.
Just my 2 reils worth.
1. The point of a journey is not to arrive.
2. Never take life seriously. Nobody gets out alive anyway.
Best Regards
Geoff
http://www.v8viento.co.uk
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scootz
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| posted on 28/1/12 at 11:08 AM |
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I wouldn't worry about it.
You've done the responsible thing by returning the letters and contacting the company. I would just bin them now and forget all about it.
It's Evolution Baby!
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Dusty
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| posted on 28/1/12 at 11:16 AM |
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The problem is not yours. Tempting to do nothing but wrong. The effects of the problem are yours. One of those will be your address will be flagged up
at Experian, etc and any person using that home address will be at risk of a down graded credit rating. That will affect you one day.
Take advice from CAB or solicitor. Phone in response to each letter. Write if necessary. Debt collectors are not in the least phased by abuse but will
listen and even suggest remedies of how to get themselves off your back if you're nice. They don't want to waste time and money chasing a
debt in the wrong place. It reduces their profit.
I'm still wading through my sister in laws debts which we only found out about after her death and had her mail forwarded here. I was angry and
tried abuse on the first call I made, felt a complete idiot and had to restart the conversation. The debt collecting company had our address as
sisters new address. They must have discovered the forwarding information from the post office. Her debts were becoming attached to my address. Not
good. In our case death certificate copies and a standard letter are sent by me in response to each new demand. We check with Experian/Equifax
regularly.
Doing nothing is not an option.
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scootz
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| posted on 28/1/12 at 11:24 AM |
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Fair point... I hadn't thought about the credit rating aspect.
It's Evolution Baby!
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MakeEverything
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| posted on 28/1/12 at 11:36 AM |
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I had a squaddie mate of mine live with me for a while, and he had a car on finance that i didnt know. When he moved to the middle east, i got chased
by the finance company as they thought he still lived there.
I told them he didnt and that he was a lodger that had moved out, replied to their letter and heard nothing more.
One word of caution though. Make sure that if you choose to dismiss these collectors, then make sure that you have sought legal advice as the loan
may be secured against the property.
Also, the credit rating thing is very valid though you can write to experian and have them disassociate anyone with the property / you, that you have
no financial connection with.
Kindest Regards,
Richard.
...You can make it foolProof, but youll never make it Idiot Proof!...
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AndyW
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| posted on 28/1/12 at 11:39 AM |
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I once supplied the chasing debt agency with a copy of the council tax letter and reference number. It proved that the people registered at the
address are not the people being chased. Stopped after that. Remember they cannot send anyone round to "collect" the debt without a court
order. And they can only get the court order by being in posession of the original debt paperwork including the signed agreement. They have probably
brought the debt from another company.
Must add though, this happened whilst I was in a rented place. I then got a mortgage and moved away. The old rented place had stacks of debts against
it from a previous tennant, luckily had no effect on my credit rating.
Good luck.....
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Dangle_kt
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| posted on 28/1/12 at 11:40 AM |
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quote:
Originally posted by scootz
I wouldn't worry about it.
You've done the responsible thing by returning the letters and contacting the company. I would just bin them now and forget all about it.
We had the same problem, but after telling them for a few months we just binned everything that came after that.
I imagine you returning letters and calling is keeping the address as an active contact.
Ours stopped after about 2 years of binning them. We do still get the occasional one, but it's only one every 6 months or so.
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designer
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| posted on 28/1/12 at 11:47 AM |
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Get one of those free half hour consultations at a solicitors.
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britishtrident
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| posted on 28/1/12 at 12:21 PM |
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The majority of these debt collection agencies are cowboys they don't even bother to check against the electoral roll never mind check with the
legitimate credit reference agencies.
It is worth signing up and paying Experian or Equifax to monitor any credit applications against your address and send you regular updates on your
credit rating.
[I] “ What use our work, Bennet, if we cannot care for those we love? .”
― From BBC TV/Amazon's Ripper Street.
[/I]
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dray13dad
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| posted on 28/1/12 at 12:50 PM |
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Had this problem with last house some ten years ago.hit a problem that with opening letters not addressed to me but last owner i was in fact breaking
the law. All i could do was bin them.they did stop after about a year but only when they turned up on door step(they did have some large large
debts).If you ever find them on your door step never never let them in or open the door to them. once they are in you lose and have more of a fight.
don't even let them in if police are with them. they have to legal right to be there but once in all changes.
best one was to open front door to find baseball bat in my face, lucky he took my word at the time once showed council tax bills etc with letters from
solictor showing was new owner...
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robocog
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| posted on 28/1/12 at 12:54 PM |
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OK lots of good replies so far...thanks
At the moment (and for the forseeable future) we don't plan on moving - nor taking out any credit or loans
The credit rating thing against the bricks and mortar is not particularly bothersome and they can make the numbers keep spinning as far as they want
as far as I'm concerned
There's no way I'm spending a single penny on trying to 'clear our names' as our names are not the ones they are after
The frequency of the letters has declined over the years so its not as if we are drowning in them- last one was possibly 6 months ago
My concern is more along the lines of fraud
as I can only assume the original chap is STILL using this as an address for certain things?
(although we only seem to get the debt letters....no bank statements - no credit agreements or anything else -just that he is being chased and how
prompt payment will make the final payment so much easier and cheaper)
I suppose it could be just lazy debt collection agencies who are getting the address wrong?...but after such a long time?
Will take the last letter to the CAB in the week and see what they think
Regards
Rob
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motorcycle_mayhem
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| posted on 28/1/12 at 01:06 PM |
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If the credit thing isn't an issue, then possibly best to continue as you are....
My experience of this type of thing was after buying my 1st house (an ex-council place on a rather well-known estate in Surrey)... lots of letters
chasing debt (a few police knocks on the door over the lack of speeding and drink/drive court appearances) and some other pretty worrying things.
Thing is, I was at work when all the knocking was taking place. Eventually it all went quiet.
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Peteff
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| posted on 28/1/12 at 05:07 PM |
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I was receiving credit card letters and statements from a bank of which I am a customer but they were for a woman whose name does not even appear in
the local register. I've lived at this address for 28 years and I rang the bank explaining what was happening and that I was opening the letters
and could tell them every transaction this woman had made and how much she owed, to which they replied what I was doing was illegal. I told them I had
an account with them and if the letters came to my house they were my property and if they wanted me not to open them then stop sending them. They
stopped shortly after that.
yours, Pete
I went into the RSPCA office the other day. It was so small you could hardly swing a cat in there.
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Ninehigh
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| posted on 28/1/12 at 07:35 PM |
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All of the above, but be glad it's only debts... One flat I lived at we got a sharp knock on the door early hours one time, to find armed police
asking for a previous tenant 
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T66
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| posted on 29/1/12 at 04:45 PM |
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Credit reference agencies - score people personally, they do not persecute homes/addresses.
Bailiffs have no powers to enter an address unless supported by a court order, they will not get that order by standing infront of a magistrate, under
oath asking to get into your home address without backing this up with why they need to be in there. IE You - Peter Smith has defaulted on a mortgage,
and they are acting to recover money & assets. Debt relates to people not addresses !
Can I suggest you do a credit check on all occupants of your house over the age of 18 - Its a few quid each using one of the sites below.
If you find nowt, theres nothing to worry about.
www.experian.co.uk
www.equifax.co.uk
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RK
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| posted on 29/1/12 at 05:43 PM |
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Here is food for thought, and is essentially the worst case scenario:
Stolen identity takes many forms. What do the police have to say about this? In Canada, there have been many cases whereby the house was taken from
under the rightful owners. The culprits checked the public municipal records of property ownership, and went and got loans/mortgages against the
property, after having the legal ownership of the property changed. It is incredible what can happen actually. There have been cases of people going
away for a few months, and coming back with new, innocent, people living in the house, AFTER it was sold on AGAIN!
The legal people should have checked EVERYTHING when you bought the place 7 years ago, but perhaps didn't do a good job. If they did do the
proper job, my guess here, is that the previous owner has kept this address, and has ID to "prove" it.
On the other hand, my wife's brother has had many debts, and essentially a life of problems, and was the immediate thought when I got calls like
this recently (one year's worth). Turned out to be my wife, who forgot to finish payments on my last year's Christmas present.
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robocog
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| posted on 29/1/12 at 05:43 PM |
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Well as it turns out that there is currently a free trial at credit expert (Experian) to see your personal data so I have just done that and had a
nosey
Yep nowt to worry about there
got a score of 992 / Excellent
No markers against anything apart from being marked down for
"You have no successfully settled non-mail order accounts"
I take it this is because we don't do anything on tick or own credit cards?
So it looks like its just lazy mofo's using his last address without checking or taking note of us stating he no longer lives here?
Just as a caution (I did not know this) to anyone else
Usual disclaimer - I am not a financial bod and know FA about this stuff or even pretend to know how it all works or even have the slightest scooby
what its all about
It /may/ be unwise to do lots of credit searches on yourself or even regular ones (says 6 monts intervals) - as each one leaves a
"footprint" which counts against youself
(so if your hankering after credit or a loan - it may be wiser to "suck it and see if you get declined" rather than having a peek
first??)
Counter intuitive to me...but what do I know?
Now just got to work out how to back out of the 30 day trial at Experian as I don't want to pay a monthly fee 
Regards
Rob
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Not Anumber
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| posted on 30/1/12 at 03:39 PM |
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I had this a few years ago with a number of agencies chasing a tenant who had rented my flat for a while.
I did have some sympathy with those trying to get their money but was none too impressed with the hassle as I'd only leased the place for a
short while because of negative equity.
For the first few weeks I just returned all letters until the court and bailiff notices started appearing.
At that point i thought i'd better start contacting them. Most immediately accepted that the tenant had left without a forwarding address. One
ignored me though and kept writing whatever i triued to do so so i went for a different approach and sent a formal Data Protection Act Request to
their head office advising them to update their records or I would complain to the Information Commisioner's office. The DPA requires anyone
keeping records on 'data subjects' to keep up to date and accurate records which they clearly had failed to do by writing to
someone's previous address.
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robocog
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| posted on 30/1/12 at 07:41 PM |
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aha..thats an interesting tactic and I will definately bear that one in mind
(as it must simply be down to laziness/incompetence of the chasers not to notice he moved 7+ years ago and we surely must have told all this debters
by now)
Regards
Rob
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