Receiving mail at rental house for people we don't know, concerned about fraud?

purple.sarah

My husband and I moved into a privately rented house in July and we have been receiving mail for people not at the property, the land lady, the previous tenant and other names we don't know. We have passed mail on to the land lady and the previous tenant and returned the rest to sender. This is annoying and inconvenient but we don't want to rock the boat. Recently the land lady texted us to ask if we had received a letter for another name (not the previous tenant). We hadn't at the time but have just received it. We haven't opened the letter but it feels like it contains a debit or credit card. Now I am concerned that our address might be being used fraudulently to obtain credit. Who has a debit/credit card sent to an address they don't live at?! If we pass the letter on to our land lady what position does that put us in? We don't want bailiffs knocking at the door! What should we do?

Our land lady has been lovely previously, very hands off, ok with us owning pets, never inspects the property, lets us decorate etc. We don't want to rock the boat or offend her by accusing her of anything but we don't want to be involved in anything underhanded either.

theartfullodger

If landlady gets mail sent to property I'd worry - quite possibly on the fiddle. Especially if it's anything financial.

I'd simply return everything to sender: certainly don't pass mail for anyone else on to her. V suspicious.

Are you sure she owns the place? Check for £3 with land registry.

Everything else OK? Gas safety certificate etc?

artbaron

Sounds very dodgy if it does contain a credit or debit card. There's no legitimate reason I can think of that it would be delivered to your address if it's not addressed to you. Personally I would have been tempted to open the mail by accident because you reasonably assumed it was for you but I wouldn't advise doing that illegal act on purpose, oh no, definitely not, no way.

theartfullodger

Yes, it's surprising how many envelopes fall open.....

Yorkie1

artbaron wrote: »

Sounds very dodgy if it does contain a credit or debit card. There's no legitimate reason I can think of that it would be delivered to your address if it's not addressed to you. Personally I would have been tempted to open the mail by accident because you reasonably assumed it was for you but I wouldn't advise doing that illegal act on purpose, oh no, definitely not, no way.

*Sigh* yet again another resurrection of this urban myth.

It is not illegal per se. It is only illegal if, at the time of opening it, you intend to do something to the detriment of the addressee.

OP, I'd return anything like that to sender. It flags the problem up to the bank /sender.

artbaron

Yorkie1 wrote: »

*Sigh* yet again another resurrection of this urban myth.

It is not illegal per se. It is only illegal if, at the time of opening it, you intend to do something to the detriment of the addressee.

It wouldn't take a genius barrister to make the case that purposely opening mail not addressed to you which clearly contains a bank card could be construed as acting not in the interests of the addressee. Furthermore the offence is also one of wilfully preventing delivery. Hence my advice that mail may be opened accidentally but to do so purposely - and then crow about it - is not a great idea.

pmlindyloo

purple.sarah wrote: »

My husband and I moved into a privately rented house in July and we have been receiving mail for people not at the property, the land lady, the previous tenant and other names we don't know. We have passed mail on to the land lady and the previous tenant and returned the rest to sender. This is annoying and inconvenient but we don't want to rock the boat. Recently the land lady texted us to ask if we had received a letter for another name (not the previous tenant). We hadn't at the time but have just received it. We haven't opened the letter but it feels like it contains a debit or credit card. Now I am concerned that our address might be being used fraudulently to obtain credit. Who has a debit/credit card sent to an address they don't live at?! If we pass the letter on to our land lady what position does that put us in? We don't want bailiffs knocking at the door! What should we do?

Our land lady has been lovely previously, very hands off, ok with us owning pets, never inspects the property, lets us decorate etc. We don't want to rock the boat or offend her by accusing her of anything but we don't want to be involved in anything underhanded either.

Since you have only been living there since July it is possible that the mail that has been coming is junk mail and obviously the people haven't redirected the post. This is an entirely reasonable supposition and to return post/give to landlady/previous tenant is also quite a reasonable thing to do.

However, what is not reasonable is the fact that this has gone on for so long. Junk mail -yes- anything else a definite 'no'. After returning mail the first time the LL/previous tenant should have notified the senders of their new addresses.

What did they say about it?

The really worrying thing is the fact that the LL texted you to ask if you have received a letter for another name.

This is highly suspicious to me :cool:

You need to tell the LL politely that since it has been 4 months since you moved in you will be no longer forwarding mail and returning it all to sender.

If the LL kicks off then so be it. They cannot get you out until the end of your tenancy unless there is a break clause.

All sounds very dodgy to me so will ask the obvious question - is your deposit in a protection scheme and did you receive the prescribed information about it?

Forget how lovely they are - this is business

thelem

I'd be particularly worried about any letters addressed to the landlord that look as if they might be from her mortgage provider. That would suggest she doesn't have consent to let the property, and you could be kicked out by her mortgage provider with less than the usual notice.

Be careful about returning those to sender though, as that may alert the mortgage provider that the place has been let and get you kicked out. Much better to approach your landlord so she can arrange for the necessary consent.

Cissi

Definitely send this back marked "not known at this address". Not only do you not want to be part of any possibly dodgy dealings, but you don't want the address where you're the official resident to be associated with any bad credit etc!

Cissi

thelem wrote: »

I'd be particularly worried about any letters addressed to the landlord that look as if they might be from her mortgage provider. That would suggest she doesn't have consent to let the property, and you could be kicked out by her mortgage provider with less than the usual notice.

Be careful about returning those to sender though, as that may alert the mortgage provider that the place has been let and get you kicked out. Much better to approach your landlord so she can arrange for the necessary consent.

This particular letter seems to be addressed to someone else again, and if it contains a bank card I think it's unlikely to be related to the mortgage - but I may be wrong. I'd post it back to sender.

purple.sarah

I agree with the advice to send the letter back marked "not known at this address" but what should we say to the land lady if she asks if we received it? Lie or just let her know we can't forward mail? I know she can't kick us out till the end of the tenancy but I am sure there are other ways she could make life awkward and we were hoping for a good reference so if possible we want to maintain a good relationship with her.