MONEY MORAL DILEMMA: Would you give debt collectors someone's address?

golddustmedia

Princess_Pinky wrote: »

I would never pass on details to a Debt Collector. I too think it is akin to snhopping some one to the police.:T

So given that police generally deal with more serious crimes than debts... if you knew who had for example assaulted and mugged an OAP or perhaps burgled a family who were living on the breadline, then you wouldn't tell the police?
Personally I think that's the kind of problem society has now, people break the law because they believe they will get away with it or others think there is honour in "not shopping them in". Ever heard of perverting the "course of justice" or "witholding evidence"?

mrs.maverick

madmandy wrote: »

YES I WOULD!!!!

We rent out properties and a past tenant owed us thousands and had all sorts of debts too, but sadly she was too good at it and got away with everything, we even used an agency to reclaim money and she fobbed them off. We have been badly bitten by people with debts and would not hesitate to pass on any info!

Some people need help with their debts, but some almost have no hesitation in running up debt and walking away!

I absolutely agree! I have had countless tenants run up huge debts and run away without paying rent etc. And remember - companies like Virgin, and the utilities, have to cover their bad debts somehow, so that's when you find your bills are going up...There are too many people who don't give a stuff, think they can get away with it and often do because people don't want 'to shop them' out of some misguided idea that these people are innocent victims of circumstance, whereas they are cheats and shysters, full stop!:mad:
Don't get me started...!!!

ericthelobster

Tigsteroonie wrote: »

I wish I had this house's previous owner's address to forward all these blinkin' letters onto. One year after moving in, and we're STILL getting the debtors letters. That's a year of returning them to sender, marked "gone away". The companies don't seem to get the point.

Of course they will continue to send them... it doesn't take much of a stretch of the imagination to realise that the addressee would return them marked 'gone away' himself... so do you suppose that the companies are actually going to take it at face value?

It may not be strictly correct, but the best thing to do, when you have a stream of these letters all obviously coming from the same source, is to 'accidentally' open one (oops!) and contact the sender. They will typically be grateful to hear that the individual they are chasing has moved on (even if you don't know where), so they can focus their energies into locating them elsewhere; and they will usually request a copy of a council tax bill or tenancy agreement as proof you are who you say you are. Then the letters and bailiffs knocking on the door will all stop.

I've done this on several occasions when I've had tenants who have moved on with debts. And yes, absolutely I would pass on their details if I knew them (but unfortunately I usually don't, as I'm one of the people owed money :mad:)

Brightness

scotsbob wrote: »

Do unto others etc.

I wouldn't want anyone passing on my details, I certainly wouldn't do it to anyone else. Shopping someone to a debt collector is on a par with shopping them to the police.

What a ridicuilous comment! And yes, I would. We used to live in a village and bought a house that had been empty for a while. Once people knew we'd bought it we started to get harrassing letters etc from debt collectors, mortgage companies, banks and just about everyone else and his father.

Hubby was there decorating one night before we moved in & even had the tv licensing people on my doorstep (he produced ID and told them we hadn't moved in, where we lived and that we HAD informed them of our intended move, they were fine). Then there came the small businesses in the village... newsagents bill for £40+, milkman bill for 2 months, coalman bill for a month. I used these tradespeople and so wasn't going to see them struggle because the people we bought from thought they could dodge their bills.

This was almost 20 years ago and I'd still do it now. The culmination point for me was when driving to work one day I'd stopped at a level crossing and decided to open the mail that arrived as I was leaving.

I was under a lot of stress due to medical treatment for myself and with a poorly child and hubby working away. I opened this letter and all I read were the words 'repossess your house' 'mortgage unpaid since taking out' 'no money in current account' .... I sobbed all the way to work and when I got there was in a real mess. My boss took me up to the office and asked if she could see the letter and then said it wasn't for me but the people in the house before us.

The woman used to work at the same place as me so my boss got on the phone for me and wiped the floor with the people and gave them the forwarding address then promptly sent me home.

Until this happens to you, you just don't know how much strain it can put you under - especially when you pay your bills on time no matter what!

Oh and if someone you knew had committed some heinous crime can you honestly say you wouldn't shop them if you found out? I certainly would as would anyone with a shred of moral decency :mad:

wildthing01

i would never ever give the new address - it's got nothing to to with the debts - it's a simple matter of data protection for me - it's not my right to give out their address to 3rd parties - unless they gave it to me themselves and said i could pass it on. i wouldn't give it to anyone, let alone debt collectors. i would however make damn sure the debt collectors etc knew that i was not who they were looking for, and would get advice from CAB etc to protect myself.

Onslowette

YES I WOULD!
We've just had this issue ourselves. Forwarded post on, did return to sender, contacted the people who lived here before and pleaded with them to deal with it. Final straw was when baliffs started turning up. Yes, I can go and get ID etc as others have said. But its not nice to open the door to baliffs with 2 small children about or when I have visitors over. And its quite obvious they are baliffs to any nosey neighbours!!!

Ive got enough of my own debts/money issues to deal with without dealing with that. So now I open all post, I write to the companies and enclose proof of their new address!

Matari

No I wouldn't. The financial companies lend to people willy nilly, increasing their limits and not checking people's backgrounds properly so it serves them right if they can't get the money back.

lindsayu

Have been in this situation before and would definitely pass the details on. Why should I protect someone that I don't know who is making my life a misery?! And for the person who said something along the lines of "no, it's even worse than shopping them to the police" they talk about "Broken Britain", it's people like you creating that!

We moved in to a rental property and had letters from loads of different companies, bailiffs, court summons and at one point we had the police round. Maybe the person who wrote the comment above is used to things like that but I find it incredibly stressful and can think of much better ways to spend my time than fobbing them off.

ANT

mrs.maverick wrote: »

I absolutely agree! I have had countless tenants run up huge debts and run away without paying rent etc. And remember - companies like Virgin, and the utilities, have to cover their bad debts somehow, so that's when you find your bills are going up...There are too many people who don't give a stuff, think they can get away with it and often do because people don't want 'to shop them' out of some misguided idea that these people are innocent victims of circumstance, whereas they are cheats and shysters, full stop!:mad:
Don't get me started...!!!

Why is it necessary to protect people like these? They know exactly what they are doing when they ''move to a new address''. I am not saying that they are all on the take but if they are innocent and not intending to break the law by not paying the bills that they have racked up, why not leave the new address to the people that the debt is owed to? It is blindingly obvious to anyone, even with half a brain, that the new address has not been left because they think that they can get away with not paying.

I am bloody annoyed at all the DO-GOODERS (*!"*!* !*) that want to 'protect' these 'INNOCENT PEOPLE'.:mad::mad::mad::mad::mad:

mysterious_girl

You bet! Anyone who leaves a mess behind should be prepared to clean it up themselves.