Marston bailiffs and wrong address

userjcr

Hi there,

could somebody please advise how to deal with this problem.
I recently bought a house that was previously occupied by tenants, we moved in two months ago and soon realized that the previous occupiers never changed their address because we are getting all their mail. Now we are getting letters from Marston bailiffs addressed to a person that obvioulsly does not live here anymore which looks very threatening .
I know that Marston are real bulldogs and I'm at loss how to deal with them.
I called them up to explain that I am the new owner and that this person is not living at this address anymore but they don't seem to be interested in it.
Anyone can help on how to handle this situation. Many thanks in advance.

QfanatiQ

Contact your CAB office and seek adivce on composing a letter - by recorded delivery - to this company and have a NAME on it.

I have always understood it to be the case that as the named person no longer has any possession or lives at the address the Bailiff's are not allowed to enter/take anything. If there is any doubt, they will need the police present to enforce any warrant and hoping it will not get that bad, it could be that opportunity that shows they are no longer a resident.

There my be someone who has better/more direct advice.

Q

arcon5

Put them back in the postbox labelled 'return to sender - recipient not at this address' then ignore/forget about it.

They are not after you, they are after somebody else. If field agents visit, tell them where to go and shut the door or call the police. Collection agencies have no more rights than any other company. Baliffs cannot touch your property.

vikingaero

userjcr wrote: »

I called them up to explain that I am the new owner and that this person is not living at this address anymore but they don't seem to be interested in it.
Anyone can help on how to handle this situation. Many thanks in advance.

I bought a house and had all the mail/debts/correspondence from the previous occupier. It ended up with a bailiff on my doorstep and me struggling to convince him that I wasn't the guy they were after. This was in the days pre-MSE and I wasn't aware of my rights or even just shutting the door on them.

Bailiffs and debt companies are used to people writing "gone away" on envelopes and never believe it as this is the most common scam for debtors to use.

I would be proactive and open all the mail (which is not illegal for the pub lawyers) and write to all creditors/bailiffs by recorded delivery. A few £'s spent now will solve the headache. Also keep a copy of your solicitors disbursements letter by the front door to prove to any caller that you have just moved in - it saves the hunt for it later and having to hand over an original copy.

RobertoMoir

Bailiffs are not "collection agencies", but other than that I agree with arcon5 100%. Put letters in postbox as return to sender (or if you prefer, your bin) and then forget about them. It is up to the bailiffs to prove you are their target, not to you to prove that you are not, so don't worry.

vax2002

If anyone attends your house, just tell them you are the new occupants and insist they leave immediately stating you will use reasonable force to remove them from the property as a trespasser if this request is not complied with.

giraffe69

insist they leave immediately stating you will use reasonable force to remove them from the property as a trespasser if this request is not complied with.

All very well unless there are two of them weighing 22 stone each!

arcon5

giraffe69 wrote: »

All very well unless there are two of them weighing 22 stone each!

Then call the police. Use a weapon to defend your property.

F_T_Buyer

If you are really concerned about this, just get the solicitor (who you used to buy the property) to write a letter to the bailiffs - they might even do it for free as they've made some money out of you and may do so again when you buy/sell another house.

userjcr

Thanks to everyone, I will contact my solicitor and then write (recorded) to Marston. Just one more thing, are you aware if they can show up with a locksmith and force my door if I am not home? I'm quite concerned about that...

peachyprice

userjcr wrote: »

Thanks to everyone, I will contact my solicitor and then write (recorded) to Marston. Just one more thing, are you aware if they can show up with a locksmith and force my door if I am not home? I'm quite concerned about that...

They can only do that if you have let them in before. So if the do knock on the door DO NOT let them through the front door while you look for a letter to prove who you are, make them wait outside and shut the door.