Debt Collectors Practices

jamesd

You might consider handing him a copy of the Office of Fair Trading guidance on unfair debt collection business practices when he shows up as well.

"2.2 Examples of unfair practices are as follows: ...
f. contacting debtors at unreasonable times
g. ignoring or disregarding debtors' legitimate wishes in respect of when and where to contact them, for example, shift workers who ask not to be telephoned during certain times of the day
...
2.8 Examples of unfair practices are as follows: ...
c. refusing to deal with appointed or authorised third parties, such as Citizens Advice Bureaux, independent advice centres or money advisers
d. contacting debtors directly and bypassing their appointed representatives

Debt collection visits
2.11 Those visiting debtors must not act in an unclear or threatening manner.
2.12 Examples of unfair practices are:
a. not making the purpose of any proposed visit clear, for example, merely stating that collectors or field agents will call is not sufficient
b. visiting a debtor when it is known they are vulnerable, for example, when a doctor's certificate has been provided stating that the debtor is ill
c. continuing with a visit when it becomes apparent that the debtor is distressed or otherwise vulnerable, for example, it becomes apparent that the debtor has mental health problems
d. entering a property uninvited
e. not leaving a property when asked to
f. visiting or threatening to visit debtors without prior agreement when the debt is deadlocked or disputed
g. not giving adequate notice of the time and date of a visit
h visiting debtors, unless requested, at inappropriate locations such as work or hospital.

2.12g: Not giving adequate notice of the time and date of a visit

When a door-to-door debt collector makes an initial home visit to a debtor it may not always be possible for them to give adequate notice of the time and date of that visit. This is not necessarily unfair.

The key word is adequate. This was inserted to ensure that what the debtor regarded as adequate was key.

What is adequate will vary from debtor to debtor. When initial contact is made a debtor may be happy to speak to the debt collector there and then. If that is the case the visit would not be unfair. Where a debtor prefers to use that first visit to agree to a future visit at a more convenient time a debt collector should respect their wishes. A debtor may prefer to do so at a later date so they can seek advice about their situation or arrange for a third party to be there. What is important is that a debtor is given enough time to prepare. They should never be coerced into immediate discussions."

You aren't the debtor. You've informed him that the debtor doesn't live there. He no longer has any reason to visit you. Tell him not to do it again.

967stuart

Sorry, but how is the guy a "bully" op ?

He is doing his job.

Gordon_Hose

adouglasmhor wrote: »

That you made it up?

You can off course put up a no trespassers or no entry without permission sign though.

Debt Collectors have to give sufficient notice, along with a time and a date they will be calling. They never do this, they just turn up unannounced.

If they don't leave when requested they are trespassing.

If they step foot on your land without authorisation then they are trespassing, and under Common Law the landowner has the right to remove them, or have them removed.

Boris_Allen

Gordon_Hose wrote: »

Debt Collectors have to give sufficient notice, along with a time and a date they will be calling. They never do this, they just turn up unannounced.

If they don't leave when requested they are trespassing.

If they step foot on your land without authorisation then they are trespassing, and under Common Law the landowner has the right to remove them, or have them removed.

That's just the thing aint it. It's a civil matter so he aint no criminal for setting foot on your land guv'nor. Of course you have the right to have him removed, and can sue for any damages that he causes (unlikely if all he did was stroll up the path and knock on the door.

Of course, if he is actively harassing you and hasn't arranged the visit in advance (although telling you he'll be back at a certain time and you not objecting probably does warrant an invitation), then a stern complaint to OFT is in order.

I am absolutely amazed that this guy actually bothered to attend in person, considering how uncost-effective home visits usually are for DCAs. If it's not actually bothering ou too much, I don't see why you shouldn't just let him waste his time turning up, only so you can say the same thing and then shut the door.

Gordon_Hose

Nowhere did I say he was a criminal.

adouglasmhor

Gordon_Hose wrote: »

Debt Collectors have to give sufficient notice, along with a time and a date they will be calling. They never do this, they just turn up unannounced.

If they don't leave when requested they are trespassing.

If they step foot on your land without authorisation then they are trespassing, and under Common Law the landowner has the right to remove them, or have them removed.

They have to be there to be asked to leave don't they?

What if you are the tenant not the landowner?

What if your front door opens onto a public space, road, common close, footway, communal gardens?

What if he tells you to pay up and he will go and not before? Are you going to call the cops to move him and have all that embarrassment in front of your neighbours? They count on peoples weakness or embarrassment to get a result.


What if you stopped making things up, They are not trespassing until they refuse to leave?

Gordon_Hose

I'm not making things up lol.

What if, what if, what if...

There's loads of variables, but what I said is true.

Step onto private land with no authorisation and you are trespassing.

What is so hard to understand here? Or is it that you just want to be abrasive and start an argument?

adouglasmhor

If it's not locked up and there is no sign are you not permitting access?

Any person can enter a place if the landowners permit it. However, this does not necessarily make a permanent right of access, and unless they have dedicated a bit of land to be permanently open it is within the power of the landowner to ask any person to leave, assuming that person does not have some other lawful reason to be there. The landowner does not have to give a reason. If the person does not go immediately, by the shortest practical route, then they are trespassing. Despite the well known sign ‘trespassers will be prosecuted’, trespass is not a criminal offence and trespassers cannot usually be prosecuted. They can, however, be sued. There is little chance of such a matter ever being so serious as to be worth suing over, and so this rarely happens.

http://www.naturenet.net/law/common.html

Boris_Allen

Gordon_Hose wrote: »

Nowhere did I say he was a criminal.

Nowhere did I say you said he was a criminal

RobertoMoir

peajiphy wrote: »

I have a couple of questions on this. Firstly, is a debt collector allowed to come to your home at quarter to ten in the evening? Secondly, would a bank like Santander, sell a debt to a debt collector? Thirdly, it's my daughter who has the debt. Until three months ago, she lived with me. She now has her own place. If the debt collector comes to my home, obviously I wil tell him she no longer lives at this address, but am I legally obliged to inform him of her new address?

The only people who have the right to "bang on your door" (actually, your daughter's door, nobody has any right to harass you for someone else's debt!) in regard to collecting debts are bailiffs (and bailiffs' rights are not as simple as that, but this post will be long enough as it is).

Debt collectors are not bailiffs (so you need to be clear what it is you/your daughter are dealing with). Bailiffs cannot be engaged until a debtor has been taken to court, lost their case, and so-on.

Debt collectors who knock on your door or phone you have the following rights:

Their right leg
Their right arm
Their rig... you get the idea.

That's it. And yes, I *am* being very serious here, I just like to find fun new ways to say the same old things to stop myself getting too bored.

Oh yes... List of things you have to tell them.

|| This space intentionally left blank ||

Oh wait, there is one thing: (If they've knocked on your door) to stop trespassing and get off your property.
... you get the idea.

peajiphy wrote: »

Please don't misunderstand this as an attempt by her to get out of paying. She acknowledges the debt and wants to pay it off, but she has several other debts to deal with too and is trying to get the CAB debt advisor to work on her behalf (something this guy told her on the phone was not a good idea). Any advice will be gratefully received.

Should your daughter be getting help from a good quality, free debt advisory service of the kind that are talked about here? Yes, if she has money problems. Should she be using the CAB?... hmm... uh... so how's the weather up your way?

Be very careful about some of the stuff you "hear" either here or elsewhere. For example:

_By_Someone_else_in_the_thread wrote:

One trick to be aware of: debt collectors do not have right of entry unless invited in by you. If the debt collector makes a seemingly harmless request, such as asking to come in for a drink of water, and you allow them in, that counts in law as you 'inviting them in'.

This advice from your thread, while well intentioned, apparently manages to not only confuse bailiffs with debt collectors, it then gets the rules regarding the rights of bailiffs to gain entry to property totally wrong anyway.