tenants have moved and we are getting loads of unpaid bills

G_M

kitschkitty wrote: »

......in all honesty it is better to return to sender all this post to retain the past tenants privacy.

There are apparantly a load of people/companies owed money by this tenant, so their 'privacy' would not be high on my priorities!

If I was a previous landlord, owed money by a vanishing tenant, I'd be grateful to anyone who pointed me in their direction so I could serve the appropriate court papers on them.

McKneff

Swan wrote: »

why? it's not against the law to open mail addressed to someone else

Where did I say it was against the law. It is not addressed to the OP, it isnt any of their business what is inside it, so why would they open it.
Thats what I said and that's what I meant.

jjlandlord

G_M wrote: »

Correct, but once it is delivered to the correct address on the envelope it is no longer 'mail'.

The Act applies to mail in transit ie prior to delivery.

There could still be pitfalls in opening private and confidential correspondence addressed to someone else.

My view is that there is generally not much use in opening mail.
Debt collection agencies with a clue will send to "the occupier" when mail gets returned.

Swan_2

McKneff wrote: »

Where did I say it was against the law. It is not addressed to the OP, it isnt any of their business what is inside it, so why would they open it.
Thats what I said and that's what I meant.

fair enough

I just didn't want the OP thinking they might be in trouble for opening the mail

melancholly

i'm sure this issue over opening post should be a sticky - there's at least one discussion a week about it!

shimano

We ended up in a situation where the previous owner had £1000s of delinquent debt, tried to claim they moved out 2 months before completion telling companies I was liable for their utility bills, being sued for breach of contract etc. We were RTSing constantly but they kept sending them, most of them changing to "The Occupier".

They got caught out, as we were given a forwarding address (by council as they had committed benefit/council tax fraud), and apparently they were flagged up by Experian, so they all managed to track them down. Now no letters.

Don't get why some people think they can escape the debt

kitschkitty

G_M wrote: »

There are apparantly a load of people/companies owed money by this tenant, so their 'privacy' would not be high on my priorities!

If I was a previous landlord, owed money by a vanishing tenant, I'd be grateful to anyone who pointed me in their direction so I could serve the appropriate court papers on them.

Why? If they don't personally owe you money why would you feel that way?

If the previous landlord doesn't have a forwarding address, it's not the new tenants place to provide them with any info - surely that IS breaking the law???

Riq

I always think it is better not to open the post and just return it as "not at this address".

I think if you open it then sellotape it back up it looks as though the person has opened it though "I don't want to pay that anymore" and just returned it and hope they go away. In my mind anyway, that's how the thought process goes! :rotfl:

mynameisclare

pizzle84 wrote: »

Why are you opening mail not addressed to you thats just rude and wrong!

Not as rude as moving without telling your creditors.

I return most stuff to sender, but a couple from debt collection agencies I opened to get their phone numbers so I could tell them the person had moved away. If they know, they will make a "gone away" note on the person's credit file so you won't keep getting the letters.

st999

There could still be pitfalls in opening private and confidential correspondence addressed to someone else

such as?

If it has my address on it I open it.

If it has someone else's address on it, if it is nearby I deliver it, or else hand it to the postie the next day.