Previous owner's tenant had bad debt. Help...

FTB-FTW

Hi all

My partner and I were not exactly overjoyed to discover on moving in to our lovely new house (which we have purchased) that previous owner's tenant had not paid any of their bills. As a result there are numerous letters from debt agencies and bailiffs cluttering the hall. I don't want to get into whether we should have found this out beforehand, but what we can do about it now.

Most of the letters are dated back to June or July (property has been vacant for a while as purchase took forever) but some of the July ones say that bailiffs may come to take away the tenant's possessions.

We are now obviously quite worried that they may do just this, and remove OUR possessions, particularly since we are staying away from the property ourselves while we carry out some refurbishments.

We only found the news out today (Sunday) so could not make any calls to the agencies to inform them of the situation and plan to do this first thing tomorrow.

Can anyone help me out on

(a) what we should tell them and how they will know this is us, the new owners, calling and not the people who owe the money pulling a fast one

(b) what our legal right is if they do still want to chase up this person we've never met's debt.

thanks :mad:

spirit

Relax.

Debt does not log against an address but the occupier at the time. therefore there is no way you could have found this out before.

Secondly, even if you were aware of this, it is not your problem. Don't contact the debt collection agencies the [STRIKE][/STRIKE]bullies[STRIKE][/STRIKE] debt collectors will not believe you anyway and it will only make you more stressed.

the reason I say that they will not believe you is because some people will claim not to be the debtor or that they've moved away etc. What will happen is that they will ask you to prove you are who you say you are. Should they come to the door, just show them your completion statement from your purchase. On no account should you let them in your house.

Any other letters just strike through the address and write 'Gone away, return to sender'

Then get on with enjoying your new home. :A

FTB-FTW

Thanks spirit, think I still have that mad new house adrenaline rush going on that makes everything seem 10 times bigger than it really is.

So is there no way they can enter the property when we're out and take the stuff? That's our real worry of course. If they came to the door we would just show them our ID and proof of ownership...

garyhopef2s

Hi,

dont worry about it. The debt is not your so they cant do anything. We had the same problem when we moved in. The only problem is the annoyance of all of the letter and phone calls. Just write on all letters "No longer at this address" and post them back or open them up and ring the company telling them that they no longer live there. If anyone shows up at your door you legally dont have to tell or explain anything, but it might be worth you saying you are the new owners and that you dont want any more hasstle from them. If they keep hastling you threaten them with the police for harrassment and if necessary ring the police. The calls, etc will stop, but it can take a while.

good luck.

Gary

spirit

FTB-FTW wrote: »

Thanks spirit, think I still have that mad new house adrenaline rush going on that makes everything seem 10 times bigger than it really is.

So is there no way they can enter the property when we're out and take the stuff? That's our real worry of course. If they came to the door we would just show them our ID and proof of ownership...

Nope they can't. they are not court appointed bailiffs but bully-boys. Don't let yourself become intimidated by them.

Sagaris

Don't open the door to them - they can push past you - just show them the documentation through the window.
Don't leave any windows open as they can gain entry that way - better to be safe than sorry!

tbs624

garyhopef2s wrote: »

Hi,

dont worry about it. The debt is not your so they cant do anything. We had the same problem when we moved in. The only problem is the annoyance of all of the letter and phone calls. Just write on all letters "No longer at this address" and post them back or open them up and ring the company telling them that they no longer live there. If anyone shows up at your door you legally dont have to tell or explain anything, but it might be worth you saying you are the new owners and that you dont want any more hasstle from them. If they keep hastling you threaten them with the police for harrassment and if necessary ring the police. The calls, etc will stop, but it can take a while.

good luck.

Gary

It's also worth a call to the local Trading Standards Office if a debt collector is being particularly bothersome.

tbs624

Sagaris wrote: »

Don't open the door to them - they can push past you - just show them the documentation through the window.
Don't leave any windows open as they can gain entry that way - better to be safe than sorry!

Debt collectors are not permitted to do this - they can visit (or phone/write) but they do not have authority to enter the property or to seize any of your goods. Some may try it on because they are paid by results but if they do - phone call to police/TSO. You do not have to prove who you are.

As its a previous T who seems to be responsible for the debts give the debt collector the name and address of the LL/vendor and the estate agent, and tell them not to bother you again: if they persist lmake a formal complaint to the ICO (organisations are obliged to keep info up to date - if you notify them and they dont deal with it , you can make a complaint under the DPA)

FTB-FTW

spirit wrote: »

Nope they can't. they are not court appointed bailiffs but bully-boys. Don't let yourself become intimidated by them.

It looks like they are though - at least one of them says they are "in possession of a liability order issued by the magistrate's court" so sounds pretty official

betsie

Honestly dont worry we bought a repossion and the previous pwner hadnt paid any bills. If you get letters phone and tell them you have bought the house and Mr x no longer lives there. Ditto with phone calls.

We had a baliff knock but was very polite and left without me having to show him anything. They must come across this all the time and can easily check on the land reg details to see that you have bought it. As far as I know a baliff can only come in to your house if you invite him in, they can not force entry or barge past you to get in.

docmaggiemay

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/2750998

There was a similar thread about this yesterday. See my post down at the bottom of it. We had exactly the same issue, just tell them you are now the new owners, they may ask to see ID or something, but they will then go away. It is not worth their time hassling people that have nothing to do with it. An annoyance that will take a while to go away, but won't cause you any problems so don't worry.