How did they track a person to my property?! :mad:

helenyw

I received a letter from a solicitor's office yesterday, with an attached county court judgement against a woman who I have never heard of. It turns out that she rented a place in Bedfordshire, and recently left it without paying the rent and in ruins. Together with the unpaid rent and the money that the owner had to spend on getting the house in a livable condition again, she owes over £3,500.

I contacted the solictor's office and told that I have been the owner of my property for the last decade, and no one of that name has ever set foot in my property. I asked them how they got my address, and she said that they had "tracked" this woman to my property. I told her there has to be a mistake because I have all sorts of proof to show that I have been living there all this time.

Anyway, how does this "tracking" work, and how the **** did they track her to my property, especially when electricity and gas companies can't even get it right?! I just hope this cow hasn't affect my credit rating.

lynzpower

it sounds like it wasnt "this cows" fault.

It sounds as if whomever the tracers are, THEY are the ones who have created this problem.

Is the CCj against the person? Presumably it is. As I understand it it will have no bearing on your address- as the CCj is against the person, not secured on the property.

Xbigman

Are the names similar? Or possibly she just gave your address at random to throw tracers off her scent. Just return everything addressed to her marked 'not at this address' and ignore it. Only act if someone turns up at your door, in which case just show them proof you are not her.
Regards



X

dunstonh

On the radio recently there was a piece on a couple of frauds where letters like that are going out and people have been paying them scared of the action that would be taken against them. Be wary about what you so and what you supply. You dont want to give them a load of info that they could use against you with identity fraud.

helenyw

Xbigman wrote:

Are the names similar? Or possibly she just gave your address at random to throw tracers off her scent. Just return everything addressed to her marked 'not at this address' and ignore it. Only act if someone turns up at your door, in which case just show them proof you are not her.
Regards

X

The names are far from similar - hers is a long African name and mine is, well, you can guess.

I do feel that it is this person's fault - she was the one that left her previous accommodation in ruins and didn't pay the rent!

silvercar

helenyw wrote:

I do feel that it is this person's fault - she was the one that left her previous accommodation in ruins and didn't pay the rent!

Allegedly!

Even if it is true, you don't know her circumstances and unfair of you to call her a cow!

I moved house in July and since then have had baliffs knocking at the door looking for the previous owners who have "neglected" to tell people they have moved. Once I show them a utility bill in my name they apologise and go away. My credit rating has not been affected.

Robert_Sterling

Mistakes are sometimes made acccidently ( like that extra c ).

Mrs_pbradley936

This happened to me. Only the person owed Natwest bank a lot of money, I kept getting letters from Natwest addressed to this person but at my address. At the time I had been living there a couple of years so I ignored it .Then one day a couple of heavy set men who I assume to be bailiffs tuned up I told them I had never heard of the person they were looking for and they suggested that I went into a branch of Natwest and fill out a certain form and that way my address would be removed from any future enquires by Natwest or anybody they employed to track the person down.

DrFluffy

Something similar (ish) happened to me a few years back.

Some one with my name owed the mobile phone company I used nearly £5k. Somehow the debt collectors ended up with 'our' name, my mobile number but her address. They kept trying to get me to tell me my address, which I point blankly refused to do (knowing that they would then simply replace her address with mine, and then her debt would become mine).

They were calling me every hour on the hour, from 7.00am-11pm every day. I called the police and reported them for harrasment, I also issued the mobile phone company with a pre-action letter of intent to take them through the civil legal system.

It all soon stopped, but those 2 weeks before I got the balls to bite back were hell.

rjm2k1

The comment above about scams is a good point, what was the prefix of the phone number?

helenyw

silvercar wrote:

Allegedly!

Even if it is true, you don't know her circumstances and unfair of you to call her a cow!

Come off it! What kind of good excuse do you have for running off without paying the rent?! (and also leaving someone else's property in ruins - I was sent a thick inspection report on the property that showed the damage and the costs of repair)

silvercar wrote:

I moved house in July and since then have had baliffs knocking at the door looking for the previous owners who have "neglected" to tell people they have moved. Once I show them a utility bill in my name they apologise and go away. My credit rating has not been affected.

That said, I do not want to have to face bailiffs and waste time dealing with them. I did a google search on the solicitors and think they are legit, so I'll give them a call and provide evidence that no such person has ever set foot on my property.