Being harassed for a debt for a person who does not live here - help??

patman99

That's the trouble. Bailiffs (and the Courts who appoint them) rely on the information being correct. They don't have the power to go searching to check the address is correct.
All it takes is for one part of the address to be wrong & you get all sorts of hassle. Good advice about doing a Stat. Dec. And remember, Bailiffs are not like DCA scum. They have to abide by the rules as they are under Court control.

19lottie82

[QUOTE=Risco;61Yet I am getting threatening letters for a Mr Skinner who does not live or has ever lived here!

Last week I got a letter saying bailiffs had come round.

Today I have a letter saying a warrant has been issued and they will come in to my home and take good!

Secondly I wish to take them to the small claims court and sue them for harassment, can I do this?[/QUOTE]

YOU are getting letters? Or there are letter arriving for a Mr Skinner that you are opening? There's a big difference! Instead of opening them and working yourself into a tizz write 'not known at this address-return to sender' and pop them back in the post box


If the latter then ignore them. However IF a bailiff appears keep a copy of your tenancy agreement by the door to show them (you can pass this through and communicate through the letterbox if you want) to prove that you are the tenant, not a Mr Skinner. Don't let them in.

Chances are they prob won't even show up, but no, you can't "sue them for harassment in the small claims court", sorrry.

matttye

No chance of suing them for harassment because they're acting in good faith.

Write to the court with a copy of something that has your name and address on it and ask them to instruct the bailiffs that the defendant doesn't live there.

Flower08

19lottie82 wrote: »

YOU are getting letters? Or there are letter arriving for a Mr Skinner that you are opening? There's a big difference! Instead of opening them and working yourself into a tizz write 'not known at this address-return to sender' and pop them back in the post box

I was going to ask this. How do you know what the letters are saying? If they are not addressed to you don't open them just put 'not known at this address' and return them.
We have lived in our rented property for about 18 months now and regularly get letters for the previous owners (our landlord did a buy to let so they don't know the previous people!). I had guessed that some of them may be bills etc and sure enough we have had a few bailiffs turn up, I simply show our ID and tenancy agreement, tell them I have no idea who these people are and they leave.
They even came looking for their car to seize once which just happens to be the same colour and make as ours, my heart did nearly stop when they seemed to be taking a keen interest in it :rotfl:

ValHaller

Flower08 wrote: »

I was going to ask this. How do you know what the letters are saying? If they are not addressed to you don't open them just put 'not known at this address' and return them.
We have lived in our rented property for about 18 months now and regularly get letters for the previous owners (our landlord did a buy to let so they don't know the previous people!). I had guessed that some of them may be bills etc and sure enough we have had a few bailiffs turn up, I simply show our ID and tenancy agreement, tell them I have no idea who these people are and they leave.
They even came looking for their car to seize once which just happens to be the same colour and make as ours, my heart did nearly stop when they seemed to be taking a keen interest in it :rotfl:

You have made a good case for opening the letters and getting to see what may be incoming.

And a related thought - always open any letters addressed to the occupier. If you are a tenant, this may be your one chance to know that the LL is being repossessed.

Flower08

ValHaller wrote: »

You have made a good case for opening the letters and getting to see what may be incoming.

I always thought that it was illegal to open someone else's mail, am I wrong? Because even 18 months on I would say we still get at least 4 pieces of mail each week for them, is very annoying!
I always send them back but I am very tempted to open them and find out who its from so I can ring them and tell them to sod off :rotfl:

ValHaller

Flower08 wrote: »

I always thought that it was illegal to open someone else's mail, am I wrong?

It is mostly something of a myth. I can't be bothered to find previous threads which quote the act - but basically there are 2 ways of breaking the law

• Opening post in the course of transmission
• Opening post with the intent to act to the detriment of another person

In the first case, if the mail has fallen on your doormat, it is no longer in the course of transmission, In the second, well, as long as you are only looking to protect yourself from grief which the addressee may be directing on your address, there is no problem

rizla_king

Flower08 wrote: »

I always thought that it was illegal to open someone else's mail, am I wrong? Because even 18 months on I would say we still get at least 4 pieces of mail each week for them, is very annoying!
I always send them back but I am very tempted to open them and find out who its from so I can ring them and tell them to sod off :rotfl:

Only illegal when you do so:

"intending to act to a person's detriment and without reasonable excuse"

In practice that means that in circumstances like this, you are arguably acting within the law. Or at least that if the authorities were mad enough to prosecute, then would almost certainly fail to prove you acted in bad faith as above.

Flower08

ValHaller wrote: »

It is mostly something of a myth. I can't be bothered to find previous threads which quote the act - but basically there are 2 ways of breaking the law

• Opening post in the course of transmission
• Opening post with the intent to act to the detriment of another person

In the first case, if the mail has fallen on your doormat, it is no longer in the course of transmission, In the second, well, as long as you are only looking to protect yourself from grief which the addressee may be directing on your address, there is no problem

Thank you for that, is good to know well they are causing me grief because I am sick of bailiffs turning up at my door!

(sorry for hi-jacking thread OP)

Risco

Ok lots of replies so I will try and answer all the questions and make corrections where necessary.

1: The other person in the house is not my other half, just my housemate lol.
2: The letter I saw recently was handwritten, and court stamped on the back. This is why I opened it.